Not gonna lie — I've been a little late to jump aboard the Hunger Games train. (In fact, I finished the first book about an hour and a half ago. Whatever, don't judge, some of us have work and kids and Game of Thrones episodes to catch up on and stuff.) But oh, what a wild ride it has been. Between speculating over Haymitch's past and Peeta and Katniss's futures and whether or not District 12 has toilet paper, I have many questions about the trilogy; however, one of the things that has not yet crossed my mind is the sexual orientation of Hunger Games stylist Cinna, who is played by Lenny Kravitz in the upcoming movie.
Apparently, I am the only person in the world who hasn't wondered whether a made-up character from a tweeny novel enjoys having a baguette in his basket, because the question pops up everywhere in comments sections on Hunger Games fan sites. It's also foremost on the mind of an enterprising Movieline reporter, who asked Kravitz about Cinna's sexual orientation point-blank during an interview. Kravitz responded:
"I have no idea. I have no idea. I played him right in the middle, and one of the inspirations is a friend of mine, actually, who I grew up with. He’s bisexual and you could think he’s gay, you could think he’s straight, you’re not really sure. It’s very subtle. You wouldn’t know it, but Cinna’s speech patterns and the way he enunciates was kind of based on this person that’s just a friend of mine, who I thought was a good example."
Kravitz also addressed the fact that many readers assume Cinna is gay due to his profession as a stylist, telling interviewer Jen Yamato: "That was a question: How far do we take it? If we had gone the outrageous route, it would have been just another stereotypical statement. Immediately I’m thinking science fiction, crazy costumes, this sort of possibly effeminate costumes… then when I got to the set I thought, this is really smart. The look of the Capitol and the way everybody dressed, it was real — it wasn’t this outrageous costumey stuff."
So there you have it, Hunger Games fans: Cinna may or may not be gay. When it comes to settling that burning question, I guess the odds aren't ever in your favor. Whether Cinna prefers boy tributes to girl tributes, however, one thing about the character is certain: that man is the foxiest human being of all time. If I lived in District Twelve, I'd sign up for tesserae and add my name to the reaping like, eighteen times on the off-chance that Cinna's hand would graze my boob during a costume fitting. Which is possibly the dorkiest sentence anyone has ever uttered, so please excuse me while I dig a hole in my backyard and refuse to come out until the movie is released next Friday.
