#pjo tv show discourse

[itsmoonpeaches]

I promise I'm not trying to start anything but I feel like I point out different things than most people are thinking with this show.

So my take on this is that book 1 in and of itself is pretty light. Besides the fact that they sanitized the pending war between Zeus and Poseidon (which is big mind you), they actually made the stakes feel high when Percy almost died twice (lol) so I will not judge until the whole season is out.

Also, they made Sally "dying" feel a lot worse in the show so there's that. Nowhere in the book was I convinced that she was actually dead. It doesn't help that Percy immediately thinks in the book that he will save her from the Underworld and not tell anyone. In the show, he's actually convinced. The scene is heartwrenching. If I didn't know better until Grover revealed it, I would've been convinced too.

Like what actually happens in those chapters up till Medusa in the book? Overall in the first 3 episodes, they watered down Medusa's fight but made her story more compelling. The problem with that episode was simply the fact that the fight had low stakes as a feeling because it was so quick.

I don't think the stakes feel low in the terms that characters can be killed on this quest. In fact, I felt more that characters could die in the show than in the book. I didn't really get that feeling until, like OP said, The Titan's Curse in the books. Percy almost died twice in this season already back-to-back and they were very convincing near-deaths. They have huge emotional impact on an individual character level. It actually makes me excited for Tyson's near-death in Sea of Monsters and what they can do for Bianca and Zoe in The Titan's Curse.

The show is good with individual stakes. What it is lacking is overall stakes.

What I don't feel are strong in the show are the stakes which are the gods and the war. What they watered down is not the danger to the characters and the risk of dying. They watered down how important the gods are supposed to feel (minus Dionysus and Hermes imo so far) and the war that threatens the world because they are about to fight. That is what I'm concerned about. They need to up the stakes for the gods. The gods are the gods. They control the nature of the world. I don't feel that yet.

actually to bring up how watered down and sanitized the first 3 episodes of percy jackson has been, it raises concerns for later books. the stakes are supposed to be high from book 1 and the bar continues to be raised. it’s an action packed series with monsters and gods and deadly quests. there’s the possibility of being killed. which raises the question, when titan’s curse rolls around, how will they handle not one but two character deaths? this is the book that’s the turning point in the series, where everyone senses this tonal shift and that they’re favorite characters could actually die. that kronos is serious and this impending war will be real, with real casualties, injuries, and intense battle scenes. how do you sanitize a literal war?

[daisy-mooon]

Annabeth's character is supposed to represent smart women who have their intelligence and authority devalued and undermined because of their appearance, not specifically blondes lmao please be serious

[shaniacsboogara]

lin manuel miranda as hermes is incredible actually. i think it was valid some people were unsure about his casting at first, since he's such a recognizable (and heavily memed) celebrity, but that man can act. his delivery, the intensity behind his eyes... he was immersed and in character every single moment he was on screen. imo he was really great and believable as hermes, and i really enjoyed his performance

[missempanada]

I'm gonna say something that is probably gonna get me in hot waters but: the whole discourse around Nico di Angelo's race is painfully US-centric. Race doesn't really matter in the original Percy Jackson saga, however in Nico's case, the place and time he was born and raised in is an integral part of his character.

Do I have anything against the actor chosen for Nico being a POC? No, I wouldn't. But we need to keep in mind that's a child who spent his formative years in fascist Italy. A country where very strict racial laws were kept in place.

The Leggi Razziali were the first racial laws passed in Italy and that was in 1928 - Nico would've been 4 years old when that happened. And the Manifesto della razza published 10 years later prohibited marriages between Italians, Jews and Africans, as Italians were seen as descendants of the Aryan race. Also most Africans that lived in Italy in the 1930s came from colonized areas. RR wasn't even able to get into all the nuances of Nico growing up gay in fascist Italy and this would add on another topic that needs to be carefully discussed. Can it be done? Of course. But considering how changing Medusa's story ended up being a hot mess (in my opinion), I wouldn't have much faith in it.

I've seen some kids on Twitter saying Nico's race doesn't matter because "this is a fictional story about greek gods and about how them fighting led up to WW2". And while yes, that may be fictional and kind of ridiculous, Italian fascism is very much real. It's something that real Romani, African and Jewish Italians were affected by. It's also something that White Italians were affected by if they were gay or leftist. And it's something that keeps on affecting people nowadays especially with the rise of neo-fascism we have got going on in Southern Europe. Just because it doesn't affect YOU as a USAmerican it doesn't mean that these issues shouldn't be tackled carefully. To cast a POC boy to play Nico and not explain any of this would be a disservice.

Which leads me to the next thought: I've barely seen any people call for a Roma or Sinti Nico, which would make much more sense geographically and historically than, let's say, an "East Asian Nico" (unless he was Japanese which, again, leads back to fascism). And I can't help but wonder if the reason for this is that there's much less Roma and Sinti people in the US compared to Europe. That would be proof to me of how a lot of USAmericans aren't able or don't want to understand how the world works under a race system that isn't their own.

I feel sorry for the kid they cast as Nico because depending on what race he is he's gonna see either racists or "woke" people complaining about his casting.

[rotisseries]

tired of people who want pjo movie references in the disney+ show. "logan lerman should've been-" i don’t care. "poker face in the casino-" actually i hope ms. gaga keeps her entire discography miles away from it. i don't care move on

[homosexualyuki]

the pjotv sally jackson slander is so weird to me because i feel like the change from the book counterpart actually makes a lot of sense considering the situation shes put in. in the books sally is this nurturing, generous, and self sacrificing mother. the ideal mother if u will. but thats not to say that she isnt like that in the show as well. she obviously cares about her kid, from his schooling, to his safety, to being preoccupied with his sense of identity before he realizes his place in the world. all in all, tv show sally seems to have the same priority as book sally: keep her son safe.

regardless, i agree that shes not the same as her book counterpart because it would be so stupid to claim otherwise. however the traits that were added onto tv sally provide a level of realism that the books didnt have. in her situation (a young poor single mother with a neurodivergent demigod kid that she isnt provided the resources to protect him other than sending him away), her stern somewhat “cold” attitude makes sense, her frustrations make sense, and i truly dont understand the disdain her actions have garnered.

[lizthefangirl]

after browsing the tag i need to say it: girl this show got greenlit, cast, scored, produced, and promoted!!! it’s endorsed by the author!!! and it’s hitting a whole lot of nails on the head!!! it’s made with love!!! enjoy what we have!!! they can’t improve without feedback!!! it’s the first season!!!! damn!!!!

[fruitypurpledragon]

HEAR ME OUT, Percy Jackson as a SITCOM.

The internal monlogue, akward zooms that catalyse the comedic effect, long seasons and being able to carry the sarcastic spirit of the books.

[artemx746]

fuck anybody trying to gatekeep the pjo fandom. Anybody who hasn’t read the books is totally valid and saying they shouldn’t theorise about the character’s motivations is stupid. The show is very different from the books and not allowing anybody who hasn’t read the 15+ books to interact with the fandom is stupid

Fandom is supposed to be fun, don’t ruin it.

[the-great-kraken]

OKAY people are *still* being weird about annabeth's casting so you want to know what shows these people up the most??

the fact they don't care about grover.

yes, they changed annabeth's race for the show. they also changed grover's in the show. guess who fans care about?

annabeth is (rightfully) perceived as this intelligent, skilled, badass character. she's conventionally attractive. she's part of the most beloved relationship in the series. she's a leader. she's one of the most iconic middle grade characters of her generation.

grover, meanwhile, is perceived as secondary. he doesn't have many active combat scenes. he's almost always brushed aside as a third wheel best friend. most fans don't perceive him as desirable or attractive. while not stupid, he's not notably intelligent. he's in an almost servant-like role at camp.

it is SO telling that the only character you care about being race swapped is the one considered more desirable, intelligent, and capable.

[thishazeleyeddemon]

are the new fans aware Grover is not actually developmentally 24

[daisy-mooon]

Twitter is throwing a tantrum that TikTokkers are struggling to infer Annabeth's love of architecture from the show, saying that they have no literacy comprehension.

Except the TikTokkers are right lol

Annabeth lists ten facts about a building and immediately says it's a temple to Athena. She doesn't sound excited when she says it, she sounds mildly interested. She doesn't derail the group's quest because she's always wanted to visit, she brings them there because Percy's been poisoned.

To the regular viewer, it does not sound like she has an obsession with architecture. It sounds like she just knows this stuff because 1) She's an Athena child and it's a temple to Athena, 2) because the show told her she was smart in like episode two.

Annabeth doesn't rush around giddily, looking around and staring. She just kinda stands there. Where's the excitement and enthusiasm? Leah is a great actor, but these directors and writers are ass. We don't need to see Annabeth in stoic, calm dramatic silence. We need to see her be excited about her literal obsession, her literal hyperfixation!

It's also worth noting that Annabeth only talks about buildings ONCE. She doesn't say she likes architecture, she doesn't read her architecture books, we don't see her talking about the buildings they pass, we don't hear anything about Athena being the goddess of architecture, NOTHING. This is the FIRST time we've ever heard Annabeth talk about architecture and she is literally just listing facts.

Every time a new episode comes out, I become firmly more and more convinced that Twitter is watching a different show to me. Stop sucking this shows dick and actually THINK about the complaints.

[bloodpen-to-paper]

I don't know what to call this collection because even I don't fully understand the criteria but under it I currently have audience reception from The Last of Us HBO series episode 3 where you had that vocal minority of people dissing the show for filming in some random forest and saying it was 10 miles west of Boston (which has no forest) and Percy Jackson and the Olympians making the change to have Poseidon reach out and save Percy when he fell off the arch cause in the books Rick Riordan didn't know shit about St. Louis geography and put that the Missouri river was right under the arch when it in fact was not

[thissmycomingofage]

I swear I won't handle any anti SJW discourse surrounding the pjo series. I will be so freaking annoying defending my babies you have no idea. NO ONE who ever read those books can say the series is forcing diversity (if it ever was a real thing) and believe themselves.

[animerunner]

Someone: -wants better visuals but at the same time the show to come out faster-

Me: -already feeling tired of the fandom having unrealistic expectations-

Honey no you can’t have both of these things. We might get a faster turn around with no strikes this time. But in general expecting the timeline to speed up if the strikes hadn’t happened will not give you the better result

You can have one or the other not both.

[bensonnstabler]

not me having to filter percy jackson spoilers for the next ep because they've deviated so far from the original plot