I think I'm going to go ahead and stop responding to comments on this one, unless I change my mind. I'm not mad; I just would feel happier if I didn't have to argue about this.
Hey, I’ve never commented on a RUclips video so here goes. I’m 23M, and grew up reading PJO as it was coming out. It was a huge part of my childhood that I’ve recently been revisiting. Im super excited about the new show, watching the movies come out was disappointing to say the least. When I initially heard of the Annabeth casting, I didn’t know anything about the actress but was a bit disappointed because the annabeth I grew up with in my head was the stereotypical blonde white surfer girl. Because its probably is relevant, I’m white. Your video breaks down how I may have been feeling in a more mature way than I could ever have come up with. I’m now a lot more excited about this series, and just want the actors/actresses to portray their characters in the most accurate way. As long as Percy is seaweed brain and annabeth is wise girl I’m okay
I think this comment highlights how a lot of people might have felt after the casting. It's great that you kept an open mind though. I think more people should do that.
Hate to say it but this series will be another flop for the percy jackson universe. Disney has laid waste to every story they've touched as of late. Hiding behind "racist" backlash is not going to save them.
Dude, this is gold. I’m gonna screenshot this, and then five years from now when i get around to cleaning out my camera roll i’m gonna see it and laugh
you make very great points and i honestly couldn't agree more!! im so glad this video exists. you are absolutely right and i am immensely excited for the series!!
growing up as a lil afab blonde kid, annabeth meant a lot to me as a blonde girl who was 1) not the mean girl or 2) not the dumb one, or both. however, the whole point is that she is underestimated for her intelligence on the basis of her appearance - her being black continues that sentiment and develops it in an honestly more sincere way (she's a lil black girl who's also neurodivergent, the fact that afab ppl and kids of colour are already less likely to be diagnosed let alone when there's overlap) - she gets arcs of learning she doesn't always have to be alone/independent, that she can rely on others (particularly with percy), and is the primary love interest. it honestly makes perfect sense & maintains everything that's great about annabeth. when done well/thoughtfully, changing the race of characters to be more diverse has the capacity to elevate the text tbh rather than diminishing it, and i think that's exactly what's (hopefully) happened here
As long as they are good actors and they fit the age then I don't care. I honestly think people are just being racist at this point lmao grow up and be grateful you have a second opportunity for a live adaptation.
while i think some people are being racist, i also think its wrong to change annabeths race ,when it was said in the book she was blonde with grey eyes and in the art she is white, while Rick is also touting that the show is gonna be more like the books and how the movies sucked because they werent like to books.
Great video explaining what I’ve been trying to explain to others shading the choices.( btw your video format is amazing and hilarious, great catch.). People don’t seem to get that even if their not throwing hate at the actors, they are still indirectly throwing more hate at the actors through others messaging. I for one am worried about important things, like how their Filipino it, is the writing going to be good, and how the side characters will in interact in the background.
Yesss! It's more important how they write and film the story and how they showcase it rather than how the actors look. If Walker Scobell and Leah Jeffries embody the characters perfectly, who cares what color their hair and skin colors are
Being honest, I don't like the casting for Annabeth. I don't care if the physical appearance of the character is changed from the book if it isn't of significance to the story. I didn't care when the produces of Wrinkle in Time changed Meg from White to Black, or when JK Rowling claimed that Hermione had been Black all along (obviously she was trying to make a political statement, but Hermione's race is completely unrelated to her character development). None of those things bugged me, because they weren't of significance to the story or character. But for Annabeth, her physical appearance IS of significance. To start off, Annabeth was actively written to counteract stereotypes about certain types of White women. She is repeatedly described as having blonde "princess curls" and being of an athletic build. When Percy first sees her, he describes her as fitting the California Girl archetype perfectly. We associated this physical appearance with stupidity, meanness, or openness to any and all sexual encounters. To some, being a tall, beautiful blonde woman is an invitation. BUT THEN WE LEARN: Annabeth Chase is NOT a dumb blonde. She is not an airhead, nor is she a mean girl like Regina George. She is an incredibly intelligent, analytical woman with lofty ambitions independent of what others want from her. Her personality is played in direct contrast with her physical appearance; Rick made the conscious decision to write her character with the specific cultural baggage surrounding blonde women, constantly emphasizing her physical appearance throughout the books. In addition, Annabeth Chase is directly descended from the Norse (cough cough Magnus Chase series) and although you could make some roundabout argument about how Black Annabeth still could have Norse ancestors... c'mon. We know she's White. It's written into every physical description of her character and her ancestry is even a PLOT POINT upon which an entire series is based around. Finally, Rick has written many amazing Black characters and could have written even more for the show. Black people deserve their own representation, instead of being forced into the roles of White characters for woke points. Hazel is a well written character whose blackness is part of her story-- I think that is a lot better representation than simply shoving a Black girl into Annabeth's role and celebrating it as 'diversity.' That's not diversity, that's tokenism. All in all, I usually don't mind it when Black actresses play White roles. Usually it doesn't matter. But for ANNABETH CHASE, it matters A LOT. Disney intentionally cast a Black actress in a role that should have been played by a White girl in order to draw attention to the show. It was a marketing ploy, and they're just trying to make money. This is a case of tokenism and virtue signalling by a capitalist corporation, nothing more.
The thing is, you can do the exact same thing with a black woman. A lot of people stereotype black woman as dumber or obnoxious and rude and loud, and also I JUST started reading Percy Jackson this month and I’m on the 5th book already, it was almost ONE line where I remember her feeling like a dumb blonde. You don’t need to keep in one line, throwing it out won’t make so much of a difference. Having her be a black woman she can still go through the same thing- wanting to prove society wrong, that a black woman can be smart and independent.
@@Salsa4268 I wrote a whole essay about this in response to a different comment on this video, but here it is for your convenience. If you read through the entire thing you'll see that I cover the exact issue you're talking about, and how it's not as simple as you claim. Black girls deserve their own representation, instead of just taking the background and plotline of a White character. If you're going to talk about being underestimated for physical appearance, BOTH Black girls and White girls experience this-- I've seen so much commentary about how Black girls are "more" deserving of Annabeth's character. That seems so, so, so rude to me. Annabeth Chase was a huge inspiration for girls of all races, but you can't deny that her character was designed to challenge the way society views a certain group of people. White women. Minimizing the struggles that many of these women STILL FACE just to elevate another group of people is a horrible thing to do. Annabeth is clearly White-- not only White, she conforms to every single beauty standard expected of White women. On the outside, Annabeth is this slender, blonde haired, grey eyed California Girl with princess curls. Her name is extremely feminine and sounds like the sort of name you'd give to a princess in a fairy tale. But as you learn more about her character, you see that she has a sharp and aggressive side-- contrary to how conventionally attractive White women are often presented, as warm, bubbly, or even sexually inviting. From the pointed way Annabeth interacts with Percy when they first meet, you can infer that she's done with other people's shit. Annabeth is extremely closed off, it is only halfway through the story that we learn about her home life. Annabeth's biological parents are neglectful to the point of abuse and her stepmother is cruel and alienates her from an early age, preferring her own children. THIS IS LITERALLY CINDERELLA. The neglectful father, the evil stepmother, the absent biological mother who gives her child a magical gift (the New York invisibility cap)... not only does Annabeth LOOK like the stereotypical fairy tale princess, the way her life is SET UP is like the opening to a fairy tale. However, in addition to the "dumb blonde" stereotype in popular culture, she defies the "damsel in distress" stereotype SPECIFIC TO WHITE WOMEN that has been perpetuated for THOUSANDS of years through our folk and fairy tales. The thing that differentiates Annabeth and the women in these stories is who she is on the inside. Her intelligence, ambition, strength, pride, power... they all shine through BECAUSE this very specific situation has been set up. When you cast a Black girl as Annabeth, no matter how great of an actress she is, you miss the nuance. I can't speak from personal experience, but I've heard that there are a lot of stereotypes about Black women always being "strong" and "too masculine." There are stereotypes about Black people coming from broken homes, running away young. A Black Annabeth doesn't challenge any of those ideas-- the only stereotype she would refute is "Black women aren't intelligent" or possibly "Black women are inherently sexual." With the first statement, Rick takes great pains to show his Black characters as highly intelligent, capable individuals. Beckendorf is a genius engineer/inventor, Carter Kane is incredibly book smart, and Hazel is a wonderful artist (who later becomes a witch!!!). I don't think that Annabeth's architectural/strategic intelligence is missing from the Black characters of the Riordanverse. Whereas if you take White Annabeth out of the picture, the only other (nice, not evil, important, plot significant) White female character is Sadie Kane (I'm not counting Rachel because half the fandom hates her lol) and while her street smarts are great, the intellectual curiousity is... well :) Don't get me wrong I love Sadie, I'm just saying Annabeth as she is fills an important role in the Riordanverse. The second point where I could see Black girls needing Annabeth is the argument that Black girls are always sexualized, and Annabeth doesn't want to be defined by her physical beauty. True... but then if you think about the WAYS in which Black and White women are sexualized, it is often different. Black girls are seen as more mature and sexually forward, whereas blonde hair is a sign of youth and White girls are often painted as pure, naive... and some people find that sexually attractive. Look at Marilyn Monroe-- she was a sex icon who relied on an image of innocence that contrasted with her physicality. Villians in PJO call Annabeth "little girl" and constantly see her as more innocent while a constant struggle for her in the first book is how Chiron sees her as too young to go on quests even when she has more experience than anyone else at camp. Annabeth's struggle isn't people thinking she's too mature, it's them thinking she's too innocent. This casting doesn't break stereotypes the same way. A Black girl from a broken household, abandoned by her parents, homeless at a young age. She can be hostile and aggressive, relying on a projection of strength to hide inner conflict. Let's be honest, we've heard this story before. All in all, Annabeth is White. The actress who was chosen to play her did NOT deserve such horrible treatment, and I do believe that some of it was motivated by racism. But at the end of the day, Annabeth's character is tied to her race, just like Hazel's is. We should be raising POC up without tearing White women down. I saw this on Twitter: "when will people understand that casting annabeth as a black girl and showing other black girls that they can be smart and brave like her is FAR more groundbreaking than showing blonde girls they can defeat the dumb blonde stereotype." "Little Black girls are gonna have ANNABETH CHASE as a character that looks like them AND is one of the smartest, most powerful characters in children’s lit" Annabeth was so powerful BECAUSE she was the one to truly defeat the stereotypes about White women and girls. She was pivotal in my childhood and really influenced the way generations of kids see the world. To then say that she isn't White, that the struggles White women have faced (and still continue to face) don't matter at all is so incredibly disrespectful. I'm sorry for this really long essay, please let me know what you think and if any of your opinions shifted after hearing this perspective :)
@@lauramartens30 I can see where your coming from and honestly I agree with it a lot. I can see how it could upset a lot of blonde white girls seeing their character who broke their stereotype be race switched and I understand how important it is to her character. But Rick already chose her, he’s not going to change his mind so I think we should celebrate all of the things Leah could bring to the table with having a black Annabeth and honestly I have never seen a black girl in a ‘golden trio’ and I think it’s only fair we finally let more young girls get representation and break their stereotypes. Hermione from Harry Potter, Clary from shadowhunters, cinder from cinder (lol), and Annabeth from pjo. All white girls, a black girl has never been able to see herself on screen in a character she loves, these white blonde girls needed Annabeth and she was there and now young black girls need her. I think we should celebrate how much this could impact even more young girls instead of bash why it’s not necessarily the right way to do it. Rick will not change his mind and the faster we accept and embrace her the better for everyone. Truly, I think Leah will bring a lot of beautiful things to the show and she is a great actor, and I think people of color will FINALLY get a chance to see themselves! And this is coming from a white passing Mexican girl btw. But again, I completely see where your coming from and I agree, it wasn’t the right way to show representation, but it’s already done you know. Might as well embrace her!
@@Salsa4268 You make great points! If you're looking for a triumvirate/golden trio with a black girl I would recommend the series "Ever Afters" the first book is called Of Giants and Ice-- it is definitely middle grade lol but the inventor/mad scientist/genius child of the group is a black girl named Lena who is SO COOL! Also in the Mysterious Benedict Society it's not a trio but a group of 4 kids, but the genius/bookish kid is a black boy named Sticky Washington. I 100% agree that there needs to be more representation of black kids in smart/nerdy roles... I just don't think Annabeth was the right character to do that with😭😭 Still gonna watch the show though ;)
@@lauramartens30 Yea I agree, I like what you said about the Twitter post. They need their own representation not take someone’s else’s because your right Annabeth was important to a lot of blonde white girls who needed a smart person to look up to. Still, I can’t wait to see how Leah portrays her, and I’ll definitely check out that book series you recommended!
I personally think the Luna Lovegood situation is different than Annabeth because in the PJO books she was always described as having blonde hair. Personally that is my opinion. I just want to clarify that Leah is such a good actress for the role of Annabeth Chase and seeing her stand up to haters made me cry. It confirmed she was the perfect Annabeth.
I think that since Rick Riordan’s imagery is so strong, I will always imagine the book characters, when reading or referencing the books, as how they are described in the books. But film and TV are completely different mediums of art, and I’m so happy that they are taking creative liberties and casting based on talent. It’s not possible for the human brain to imagine a new person in their head, that’s why everyone in your dream is a person you’ve seen before in one way or another. Therefore, everyone will have a different version of Annabeth, and no one will ever be satisfied. I remember when Jennifer Laurence got so much hate for not being skinny enough as described by the Hunger Games book. Like come on guys. It’s not that deep. Let’s not force more actors/actresses into eating disorders.
Let me clarify first that I am black I probably don't need to specify that but I will. I literally saw this news today I haven't really been keeping up with the casting like that lol. So my reaction definitely was a little irritated with Annabeth being black, but I saw rick's message and I had a better understanding of the situation and I was like you know what I was wrong let's see how this plays out, I trust Rick will do fine. I really want this show to be good as a big fan of the series since the movies were complete I hope this does the series justice
First, may I say that I LOVE your singing voice!! But on another note, I also agree with these points and am actually excited about this casting! I have little sisters that didn't grew up on the book, but will watch this show, will see a girl character that's smart and strong that's a person of color like us! That's what I'm mostly looking forward too!!
At first I wasn’t convinced about Annabeth’s casting, but your arguments are good and I can now imagine how it could make the storyline/ plot even better. But it would depend on how well they incorporate everything in the show, I really hope Disney+ does the PJO universe justice.
It's OK to have a different race portray Annabeth, Grover or Percy as long as the iconic look is still there. Golden hair/gray eye color or at least just one of those things would have been appreciated. Removing the iconic look entirely it's just pretty upsetting. But it doesn't stop there. we've now removed the iconic look from Percy Jackson main character. Harry Potter characters didn't always look exactly the way the book intended but at least the main characters kept some of the similarities making it believable for both audiences book and screen. I think this casting choice could be fine but, compromises should be made to keep integrity of these characters.
I don’t mind that the actor for Annabeth is black, I just care about how the first time around a lot of the fans that are trying to support the new black version of annabeth were a lot of the same fans that were furious in the movie adaptation that Alexandra daddario didn’t have blonde hair. If she does a good job playing annabeth than all power to her and I won’t pay any attention to it, I just don’t like that it feels like Disney is almost trying to force the character to be black.
Honestly, there was so much wrong in how they adapted the movies from the books and I think fans latched on the easiest physical feature of Annabeth’s hair to fix to showcase how no thought or care had gone into the films. I say this because I heard just as much complaining about the age difference. However, even back then, Rick said the issue was the age and the lack of respect for the books and not the physical appearance.
When I was reading the books, I always thought that "tan" in Annabeth's case meant closer to the skin color that Mirabelle from Encanto is, and her description of a "classic California girl" meant her vibe not her appearance. Annabeth has always been not exactly white in my mind, so when I first saw the official art I was so confused. I'm excited that they cast Leah because sure she's not exactly what I imagined Annabeth to be, but she was picked by Uncle Rick and from the little I've seen of her she seems perfect for the role.
I know you said you are not going to respond to comments anymore and I respect that, but I'm going to write one anyways just to give another side of the story. I'm from Italy (yay, like Nico!) and these books have been a HUGE part of my early adolescence. To be completely honest, when I got the news that Annabeth was to be played by a person of color, I was a little disappointed. This is not because I don't think she has the talent nor because I think less of her, but for different reasons. Firstly, in the books, Riordan spends an INSANE amount of time describing Annabeth's hair and eyes through Percy's pov and it's quite unsettling to have to adjust to such a drastic change. To follow your own experiment, I also have to say that I disliked the first movie's Annabeth for the same reason, as she had brown and straight hair (in the book, it's curly/wavy). So I guess my problem isn't with the fact that Leah is black, but the way screen portrayals always have to change things for no reason whatsoever. This takes me to the other and perhaps more important part of my opinion. PJ already is an extremely diverse universe: Piper is Cherokee, Frank is chinese and of greek descent, Nico is italian, Leo is mexican, Reyna is puertorican, Hazel is black. All right, they all come in the second series, but what about Beckendorf, Chris Rodriguez, Ethan Nakamura? To be fair, Grover's skin is never described in detail so he could very easily be black, with his curly dark hair and dark eyes. I actually appreciated it in the movies (probably the only thing btw). So I guess my point is, there really was no need to make a "Californian blonde" black because Riordan already is an amazing writer and includes all kinds of boys and girls into his stories. I'm just saying that, in reverse, this practice is called "whitewashing". I respect wanting to add diversity where is needed (an example might be the GoT tv show, in which I appreciated what they did because in the books black people almost did not exist), but I think in this case it was completely unnecessary. All that said, I'll be watching the series as soon as it's out in my country because I think it's going to be fantastic, so it's not like I'm going to cry about it. Also, if you notice something off with my English feel free to edit it in your head, because it's obviously not my mother tongue.
Im just happy they did it bc they thought the actors were best for the roles and not bc they thought bringing in more representation should be a priority. Id rather have an actor who can play annabeth really well and not look like she was described in the books than one that looks exactly like her and isnt my annabeth.
Yes!!! Make KiKi Layne Athena!! I love her!! 🙌 I know you were worried about being all over the place but I thought all your points were very well made, and I'm glad to see people talk about the out of pocket responses for Annabeth, completely uncalled for, no one asked 🙄 Also for all the people pretending they are not racist, movie Annabeth had brown hair and blue eyes, and I don't believe that Alexandria Daddario was cyberbullied for not being blonde...food for thought...
Alexandria was harrased for not being blond. When they did the second movie they made her blond. The second movie is worse so it's not like book accurate looks improved it much. But I agree there are many people who are using the blond hair thing as an excuse to be racist. When I saw the casting I was disappointed that we were not going to see the Annabeth described in the books but I never messaged the actor about how she isn't really Annabeth or said anything negative about the chose to cast her. All these people sending this poor girl hate can simply not watch the show if they hate it that bad. Saying the only reason Leah got the part is for diversity is very dehumanizing. She auditioned for the role like everyone else and beat out the rest. I can not wait to see how she plays Annabeth.
i have little problem with the actors themselves. my issue is we get few. like. three details on how a charater looks..then he trashes it. so 13ish years of percy being black messy hair, sea green eyes and tanned skin. trashed. to be. a white boy, with blond hair, and blue eyes. im most mad on clarrise.she was 6 feet, buff and built like a tank! and to yank away that, little, only physical detail. to make her short, skinny and everything. like..yikes. makes me worried for things.
6:15 yo you said this and it made me think of that part of the second book, circe’s island, she got her hair done in the books, they could totally do something cool with that!!
Awesome vlog❗️As a cis white, blond, round face girl with ADHD and dyslexia I have never thought about how a book character is described and if it wasn’t for film and tv show adaptations I have never paid attention to a book characters description. I don’t think that they should dye her hair or give her a blond wig. I also don’t pay attention to a characters eye colour in films or tv shows unless the eye colour is very obvious. In the Percy Jackson films Athena has dark hair so I just figured that Annabeth’s dad is blond. Imho opinion either Athena or Annabeth’s dad could be black. I love the casting and I love the choices and I can’t wait for the show to watch it.
Ditto, I’ve read the every single book set in the mythology universe Ricks written, dozens of time. I never really developed an image of the characters until I went back and reread for like the 12th time. It just wasn’t important. The only one that stuck with me was that nico is Italian for whatever reason.
who cares if you don't care about detail. the casting is as disgusting as you. you say you are blonde and white. now imagine watching your stupid face everyday and suddenly one day you are shown black by the mirror. how would you feel wouldn't you flip out . I mean when things are not exactly like in the books then why name the show Percy Jackson why not "peter johnson and the identity swap thief " and if the reason of this stupid casting is diversity. then the three female characters from the 7 heroes in the heroes of Olympus are all black (close to black) how diverse is that for you. if it's ok with you if black panther 2 is played by a white actor because Chadwick Boseman is dead.
@@TheAmityElf alright, I apologize beforehand if this seems wrong, I’m not sure how to phrase it, but, would it matter what race Athena is if that was the case?
@@gandireddyshailaja4195 No problem. I think I kind of mentioned it in the video, or tried to, but no, it doesn't matter what race Athena is; the gods don't have genes. They do pass on traits (which seems a lot like having genes), but they can appear however they want, except when there's some supernatural thing stopping them.
I am against people dying Walker’s hair or Leah’s hair and putting a blond wig on Leah. Because it loses the importance of the character. I didn’t notice or care about film Annabeth’s hair or film Percy’s eye colour.
Why is it okay to race swap a original white character? It’s not okay to race swap a original black character so why is it okay to do this? It’s not okay.
@@TheAmityElf I don’t believe that it would be okay to race swap every character that has ever been made because then, what is the point of the characters originality that the creator gave them.
For Annabeth’s dad, I’d also like to point out that Percy convinces Annabeth to get back in touch with her dad and stepmom and they come to settle their differences and such and actually come to have a very good relationship. Now forgive me, I’m white so my perspective is probably a bit skewed from a racial standpoint, as in, I haven’t experienced racial issues and conflicts like people of other races have, but I’m genuinely wondering. Wouldn’t that “particular vibe” you mentioned the show would give if it was a white dad ignoring his black daughter, kind of…. Maybe not go away completely, but be a bit better by the end? Like, it would certainly look bad at the start, but is it not redeemable in your eyes?
It’s redeemable, but just in general there’s already a lot of fraught relationships with black dads in media, and it’s already such a big talking point for racists (this idea that black dads are less reliable or present) that the initial impression is more the problem.
Another reason they shouldn't straiten her hair is because Leah has naturally curly hair just like Annabeth. They don't need to go out of their way to change it. Kind of interesting they did cast a black Chiron though. Also, another reason there may have been more videos for Walker I'd because he was a main character in a movie with Ryan Renolds. Aryan was only ever a side character in the movies he was in and I haven't seen anything that Leah's in yet so I'm not really sure about that one
Hey, I know you said you weren’t going to reply to comments on this video anymore, but I have a thought I’d love to discuss with you if you see this comment, that’s related to this whole controversy. I’ve seen a lot of people, mainly white people, trying to argue that changing a white character to a black character is racist. And this argument is mainly used by white people, in two ways: to claim that it’s racist towards white people by taking away their representation, and to claim that it’s racist towards black people because it’s like saying “There’s not enough black girl roles that are important enough, so here’s a white one instead!” As a white girl myself, I personally feel absolutely no racial offence towards myself with this casting. In fact, I’m just happy that this will give Black girls an opportunity to have more positive representation, because I hardly ever see them have that. All of the tv shows and movies I watch depict Black girls as the token “best friends” of the white main character, although it’s so painfully obvious that that friendship is one sided, because the Black character doesn’t seem to have any significance, and just seems to follow the white character’s every move like a headless chicken or something. Or they’re portrayed as the antagonists of the movie or show, to add to the stereotype, that’s got to be very harmful, that Black people are bad people. The other argument, that it’s offensive and racist towards Black people because it’s like saying that their roles aren’t important enough, is the argument I’d love to get your thoughts on. Personally, I feel like, as I’ve said just now, it’s a good way to give Black girls more positive representation, especially in this adaptation. The first series of Percy Jackson, which the (hopefully) 5 seasons of this adaptation will depict, were very white-focused, and the only girl who is described as being a POC in the first series is Zoey Nightshade. She’s only around for Titan’s Curse and is killed off. So, I think having Annabeth as a Black girl will give Black girls more positive representation. However, I’ve seen some people of colour support the white people using this argument because they don’t like tokenisation, and race-swapping is not a supportive thing for them as some people think, because by stealing a white character from a white person, it’s not giving this new POC character who was white, a chance to reflect and respect their ethnicity, because the character was originally written for a white person (probably not the best way to put it, but I hope it makes sense!). What are your thoughts on this?
I think the greatest risk that can arise from race-swapping is accidentally running into stereotypes, kind of like I mentioned with the Annabeth absentee father thing; some things take on a new connotation when you change a character's race. But that kind of risk is mitigated by just giving things a little bit of thought in the adaptation process. Honestly, I find navigating those kinds of issues more fascinating than demoralizing. One thing I am also fascinated with is how it is always held to be a good thing that Sigourney Weaver's character from Alien was originally written as a man but then cast as a woman; it's held to be true that this was a case of good female representation, because they wrote a full character, who wasn't bogged down by what the writers might have thought to do if they'd thought of the character as female, and then made the character female. Now, I think great POC representation happens when members of a community write characters of their own community specifically to reflect their culture. And I think a lot of really clumsy representation *can* happen when non-members of a community deliberately write members of a community. (A lot of people, for example, dislike how Rick wrote Piper with some Native American stereotypes, etc.) It seems like, under these conditions, taking a character who has full dimensions and making her a person of color should be a Sigourney Weaver thing. Especially since, like you mentioned, there are very few characters of color in the PJO series. (There was also Beckendorf, I feel compelled to mention, but he's another example of a minor character who dies pretty much as soon as he matters, so who's counting? 😉)
@@TheAmityElf Thank you! I’ve actually never seen Alien, or heard of that character, but hopefully Leah being Annabeth will work out the same as Sigourney Weaver’s casting! I’m British, and I didn’t actually know what Native Americans even were until I did some research after I read the Lost Hero, so I didn’t realise that Piper was written with Native American stereotypes. And yeah, I know Beckendorf is also a POC, he’s actually one of my favourites out of the more minor characters in the first series, but the reason I only referenced Zoey Nightshade is because I’ve seen comments of people going “Rick has so much diversity in the books! There were other Black girl roles she could’ve played!” and then they talk about Hazel, so I always have to bring up the fact that Hazel wasn’t introduced until Heroes of Olympus, and this adaptation is not Heroes of Olympus. I always mention that Zoey Nightshade is the only girl in the first series who is described as a POC, and by the time the casting for Titan’s Curse comes around, she’ll be too old for her, so I’ve just got in the habit of only really referencing Zoey Nightshade as a POC character.
Besides the we had already a bpoc Athena in Hades! There's always 2 to make a child. And the blond hair of Annabeth don't came from her mom. So Annabeth dad could be bpoc and so down the line Magnus although. What a cool alternative. 😎
All I want for this TV series is to have one and a bath and 1 Clarice II do not want 1 actor to play both or 4 of them to just merge the character into 1 you know that's annoying
I don’t know why I’m watching this video a year after the casting was announced But it’s wild that I still see racist comments against black annabeth all the time under edits and posts God it’s so exhausting I feel like we’re not advancing at all
It's pretty disheartening. I find it reassuring that some people have commented on this video saying it helped them think through their feelings, but also there are some comments that kind of make me think the person making them didn't understand some of what I was saying...
As long as they give her stormy gray eyes as it says in the book and she is a good actress then I am perfectly fine. There are just certain aspects of the book where descriptions of the characters are immensely important to their development and the rest of the story.
Well, people who do not want to see the entire cabin being that of black kids are not racist, you're just changing the race of a lot ton of characters. Like literally epople would be rioting if it was the other way around XD But I do agree, according to the novel, gods work differently. The problem with the change, is that as you have noticed, everything has to be changed. Quiron is supposed to be Greek, it wouldn't make any sense for him to be Black. But again, so should be Atenea. And I'm sorry, but it is 95% sure that she's being used as a token.
Literally no one would blink an eye if the whole cabin was white. Maybe someone would Tweet that they'd like to see more diversity on the show, but no one would consider it weird or unusual if the whole cabin were white. And I never said that everything has to be changed; I said it would be good if Chiron were black, but no one said it's an imperative thing. And black people have existed all throughout history in lots of different places; there is no historical reason that he shouldn't be black. There might be historical reasons that he shouldn't be a centaur, though, but we've agreed as partakers of entertainment that it's fine that he is. A black character existing is not inherently tokenism; there is a particular set of tropes that it would have to meet in order for her to be "token", and assuming before you've seen the show that it will meet those tropes tends to come from a place of prejudice. Thanks for watching!
@@TheAmityElf Of course not, because they were described as such. I was obviously thinking about an entire cabbin of black people (described as such) being changed to a cabin full of white people. About Chiron and history, there were barely any black people in ancient Greek, and the very few that did exist were 99% slaves, so the odds of Greeks imagining an important mythological figure of their culture being black are simply 0. A black character existing is 100% not tokenism, I fully agree on that (well, it may be tokenism, but usually it is not, it's just a character, period). However a white character existing, but choosing a black actor to portray a white character is 95% tokenism. I'm leaving that 5% out just in case, but it certainly looks and feels like it. This doesn't mean I think the kid is a bad actress, she's probably really good, but I'm not going to pretend it's not a weird choice.
goodaim shield 1. The books did not say that all of them were white. 2. I’m saying that a cabin being fully white that was not described in any racial way in canon would not register to the average viewer as a problem, but a cabin being fully non-white (not even black, mind you; the idea being posed here is just multiracial) that wasn’t specifically designated as such would suddenly be worth dissecting, and the way to get rid of that discomfort in white viewers is by showing more of it.
hear me out, i dont mean this in a racist way, just my veiw as girl who grew up on these books. i was definitely dissapointed when i first found out about how annabeth would appear because ive grown up on the description of her being tan and blonde, and the occasional mention in the book as how annabeth had to fight to be taken seriously as a blond, because of the stereotypes surrounding "dumb blondes". I trust that Leah will be awesome, she is a professional and i beleive she will be able to bring annabeth to life in her own way. it will be different from the books, but rick riordan himself said that leah was his first choice to portray annabeth. plus, in regards to the whole "but them athena has to be black and the whole athena cabin would be black/mixed too: in 'The Lost Hero' from HoA, Leo notes that all the Hepheastus cabin kids looked different, different skin tones, hair colors, etc., and that no one would be able to say "hey, its the hepheastus bunch!" This also demonstrates how the gods appearances change and how the mortal parents traits contribute to the demigod's appearance.
@Sexi boi she is only described in terms of skin tone as "having a deep tan", which is implied that she is white, but tanned from training in the sun for months. but, if this specific actress is Rick's choice,we have to trust that she will be able to bring Annabeth to life in a new way. she was Rick's first choice for Annabeth, and he created her in the first place
Here’s mother take on this I found it on another comment on another video it doesn’t belong to me: I don't mind the casting choices I've seen. I've seen people object to Annabeth being played by a black actor, which I'm assuming was something you objected to since you mentioned race specifically. So I'll offer another perspective that might help. I really liked that Annabeth in the books was a blonde girl because at the time there were all these jokes and stereotypes about the "blonde bimbo". Annabeth existing as herself in the books was a challenge to those misogynistic stereotypes since she was so intelligent, wise, and competent. There are even moments in the series where characters underestimate Annabeth because of her appearance, and she even plays into that to her advantage. That's part of why she meant so much to many girls who read the books and why so many were so bothered by the actor in the movies having the wrong hair colour, even though it was such a minor deviation. Those stereotypes aren't so common these days though. However, due to racist and misogynistic stereotypes many people underestimate black girls in similar ways. And while a black actor doesn't reflect the physical appearance of the character in the books, I think the casting choice does more accurately reflect the way Annabeth's character challenges misogynistic stereotypes. So in that way you could see the deviation from the character's appearance as remaining more true to the characterisation now that society has changed Personally, I'm just glad the actors are appropriate ages. Apparently their acting and personalities really suit the characters too, and that's very important. It can be hard to find good child actors and Rick seems to think they've succeeded at that. I don't think anything will compare to how I imagined things in the books, and I already have the books, so that's another reason I don't care too much if details differ so long as it stays spiritually true to the books. With Rick working on the project closely I'm sure any deviations from the book will still be true to Rick's style and what we love about his stories. Maybe you still won't see it the same way, but hopefully this'll help you see it from another perspective and make you more comfortable giving the tv series a chance.
@@imgonnaputsomedirtinureyedabs I am excited to see it, but I was disappointed at Annabeth looking different from how she is directly described, it's a pet peeve of mine when things don't match. she was described as tan with blond hair curled like a princess, and thats how I'm used to seeing her, in the fanart I've seen online and in my own head. I know it will stay true to the books, but that won't take away my little pet peeve. in my original comment I mentioned that I trusted Rick and his decision, especially since he personally chose Leah to portray Annabeth. I am a little disappointed, sure, that she won't look exactly like how I've pictured her all my life, but I'll get used to it over time as the show is released. I trust Rick, and I trust Leah. I do understand your reasoning of making Annabeth black as times have changed as to what people underestimate. but still, I'm going to have to see the series before I can get used to the idea because I've been seeing Annabeth in a certain way for so long.
First and foremost for the people out there, do not attack the child she is not the problem and will never be. The problem is with this character is that they're throwing her into wood chipper and taking away what made the character the character. Rick said he doesn't want to change the character hair color and with Annabeth her basic whole thing was "I'm not a dumb blonde girl" so I don't see how Leah Jeffery will overcome since they won't be changing her hair, so they will probably have to come up with a different reason for her
Like I said in the video, the idea of Annabeth being underestimated for her physical appearance is as viable for a black girl as for a blond girl, if not more. I really don't think there's anything to come up with.
@@TheAmityElf I agree her appearance is viable but I don't see I'm smarter than I look working here and I'm not saying she's not smart... I guess what I'm really trying to say is that I fear this might turn into something like Halo series which I don't know if you have scene or plan on watching so I'm not going to spoil anything but they changed master chief to the point he's unrecognizable and I fear they might do that with Annabeth. I'm not the best at articulating my thoughts and words sorry
@@VentrissLin If the character is written the same and the significance of her looking the way she does remains in both cases, then I don't see anything fundamental to the character being changed. I see no reason to expect the character to be unrecognizable if the literal author of the series is behind the project. The way I see it, the fact that there are already so many blond characters to fill the "smart character" niche and the "main protagonist's love interest" niche means the train of thought goes, "Why is Annabeth white and blond?" "Because it provides conflict for her character to be underestimated by those who make assumptions about her intelligence based on her physical appearance." "Is that still applicable if she's black instead?" "Yes." "Then why is it important that she's blond specifically?" "..." I'm not seeing the answer to that one. If there are already a lot of blond main characters for those who are invested in blondness to get attached to, and if the character's particular hangups are still viable after the change, then I don't see that anything at all is being lost, other than just the opportunity to see what you imagined when you read the book. And that is something I addressed in the video.
My problem with the Disney+ Percy Jackson series isn’t the casting, it’s the show being live action. If it was animated, we can have a NATURAL blonde Annabeth and the actress.
@@TheAmityElf, there are people that don’t like race swaps on principle like The Artistic Aloubell and Patience Xina because it makes them feel like they’re being given used Valentines that weren’t intended for them (a Charlie Brown reference The Artistic Aloubell used). The RUclipsrs above used the casting of the new Ariel to illustrate their opinion on race swaps and preference for characters specifically created to be black instead of race swaps.
@@brandonbaggaley2317 Sure, some people feel that way, and it is interesting to verse one's self on the many perspectives on the subject. I don't share in those feelings at all. I mostly feel like the fact that characters are assumed to be white is annoying and unnecessary. The books don't literally say, to my recollection, that Annabeth is Caucasian. They say that she's tan, they say that she has blond hair. Those things are possible for a person of any race. I find it annoying that people will get attached to the whiteness of a character when, to my mind, it often doesn't matter. If a character is described with freckles and red hair, that could be Erin Kellyman; it doesn't have to be someone white. Stuff like that; the idea that giving a character certain features make their race inflexibly white is silly to me, and works in the interest of people who just don't want to see people of color in works of fiction they like. Much like the video I referenced about Rue from The Hunger Games.
For those who don't know the gods even in Percy Jackson is described to look how you imagine them so by that logic Athena can be black for some and white for others
I would say the issue is less of annabeth being black and more the racial politics behind it. To be clearer it seems like identity politics are being put over book accuracy. And when identity politics get involved more likely than not the story suffers. That is not to say there is not a good way of race swapping, though personally I find it to be a cop out. This is not to say that I think Leah will do a terrible job because I am sure she is gonna do great. That being said a characters physical look in general is very important because it can make them more recognizable. I just think when it comes to diversity in media they can do better than race swapping because while people don’t like this point but it is true the fact that race swapping is allowed one way but not the other is still wrong. Race swapping in general is done poorly most of the the time and is just wrong I would say. Make new characters don’t take old ones.
I think that if they’d specifically set out to race swap, then it would have been more of a problem, but they did race-blind casting. There were plenty of blonde white girls who auditioned, and we have no idea how far along any of them got in the process, but Leah ultimately proved herself to be the best fit for Annabeth in the showrunners’ eyes, and I have full confidence that her performance will elevate the story rather than cheapen it
@@samjensen392 yeah I think she gave a killer performance but also with a series this popular and with so many people auditioning there definitely were people that did very well and fit the look physically. But if that is the direction he wants to go then it’s fine I guess I just am not as interested in the show personally.
You wouldn't said that if they make Hazel white did you double standard. We just want the original characters like how they were describe in the books. Is it so hard to understand that ? I agree with you in one thing It is stupid to say black Athena is bad.She could be black or Annabeth could be black too but she is not in the books so why push it ? We have black characters in the books. They can add more in the tv series that is fine too but don't mess with already white characters that doesn't make any sense . It is fake diversity ! It is a publicity method and a lot of black people find it offensive. Instead we can make new movies with new lead balck characters. I agree that media needs more diversity but this shouldn't be the way. I would like to say that I support and respect balck people I don't have any hate for any actor or actress that will play the characters .I just want the characters that I grow up with as I imagine and read in the books. And it is not just Annabeth I think Percy is different too . In the books he has jet black hair and sea green eyes . The actor looks more blonde to me. I just emphasis the race change because it is a big difference in apperance wise. For exemple Annabeth has insecurities about being blonde and it is important for character arc etc.
Well, I address a lot of what you just said in the video which you may not have watched in full, and in replies to comments other people have made, but regarding the idea that this is a publicity stunt: They only announced that the character was cast. There is no buzz about the casting without people much like yourself making a big deal about it. They announced the casting of Annabeth with no more or less fanfare than they announced the casting of Percy. They didn't say "Annabeth is black now!" They said "Leah is Annabeth". The author said that the actress was cast because she was the best for the part. If he saw an amazing audition from someone who acted like the kind of Annabeth he wants to see onscreen, then him going "but unfortunately you're not a white girl, so bye" would be racism. And the fact that you, not having seen her act, can only imagine that she was singled out for her blackness so the show can gain woke points when clearly it aroused as much controversy as praise is also symptomatic of a racist mindset. Your mind is more ready to believe the show took that kind of risk for shock value than that a black girl gave a really good audition, convinced the author of her understanding of the character, and earned the part. Everyone has a racist mindset, but it's up to us to account for it and make corrections. The fact that you're addressing the disparity in representation for white girls and black girls but still feel that changing Hazel's race would be the same thing as changing Annabeth's race suggests to me that maybe you don't comprehend the nature or effects of that disparity on a very deep level at all, I'm afraid. I'm not trying to ad hominem you; it just feels like you're paying lip service to the issues at hand but not really understanding how they're relevant. Characters like Annabeth are not routinely given to black girls. Hazel, a thirteen year old girl dating a sixteen year old boy, falls into all kinds of tropes. More broadly, the types of people you most often see as main love interests in media affect your perceptions of beauty. There are lots of ways that unequal representation affects the larger societal mindset, and making new black characters who white fans will just ignore (and we know this because we've seen it happen) or making black shows and movies that white people just won't watch (statistically) doesn't really move the needle. I don't care if they make every black character white, if they make a proportional amount of white characters black. Do you want white Hazel? Would you find that to be a fair exchange? Small side-thing: Annabeth can be blond and still be black, so your whole "but here is how here blondness ties into her character" argument can pretty much go away. And also, it was already addressed in the video; the ways in which her blondness affected her character are not at all weakened by her being black.
That's true! I regret not mentioning it in the video, but yeah, the books never specifically say that Annabeth is Caucasian, and none of her phenotypes are exclusive to white people.
I literally just wanted the actors to have similar ages to the characters. And if they do choose to have Annabeths hair as blonde. They should consider changing walker scobel’s hair to a dark brown or smth like that.
Good news! Your being black has no bearing on your being wrong (and contributing to the growing misuse of the word woke). Like I’ve said, if she gave an incredible audition and they turned her away on the grounds of race, then they would be racist. And assuming in the absence of evidence that her audition wasn’t the reason she was chosen demonstrates a racial bias which you should examine. Have a great day.
Okay, don’t get me wrong, I think she show will be great. It’s just that we grew up with annabeth being white and now it’s like boom. She’s a whole new person. However I don’t care about the hair or eyes, I just think they should’ve at least gotten her ethnicity right. If the race is never specified in the books, I don’t think it should matter. But if it is, I think that people should take that into consideration, and Rick clearly didn’t. So yeah, those are my thoughts.
@@TheAmityElf I think the show will be great don’t get me wrong, but why change someone’s entire race? Maybe it would be okay if they gave her grey eye contacts to resemble a trait in Athena and explain that her father was black, but changing a race is not going to portray annabeth. The next generation of kids will watch the show and this is all they will see of annabeth. This is simply just not annabeth.
@@sunshineseda The character's personality is more important than her race. If they see an Annabeth who is smart and courageous and loves her friends and is passionate about architecture and otherwise emulates her character in the books, her race is completely irrelevant. And it's not even like they went into it determined to make Annabeth black; a black girl evidently had the best audition, so they cast her. There were no prominent black female characters in the book series. (Hazel is not from that series; Heroes of Olympus is separate from PJO.) You would seriously rather a series with no black female characters of note than a slight change in the phenotypes of an established character? Also, did you watch the video, or did you just comment? Because the things I said in the video largely addressed what you're saying.
@@TheAmityElf well they also cast a girl to play clarisse who is black + Grover so I understand where you’re coming from, but I think there’s plenty people of color.
I think I'm going to go ahead and stop responding to comments on this one, unless I change my mind. I'm not mad; I just would feel happier if I didn't have to argue about this.
Hey, I’ve never commented on a RUclips video so here goes. I’m 23M, and grew up reading PJO as it was coming out. It was a huge part of my childhood that I’ve recently been revisiting. Im super excited about the new show, watching the movies come out was disappointing to say the least. When I initially heard of the Annabeth casting, I didn’t know anything about the actress but was a bit disappointed because the annabeth I grew up with in my head was the stereotypical blonde white surfer girl. Because its probably
is relevant, I’m white. Your video breaks down how I may have been feeling in a more mature way than I could ever have come up with. I’m now a lot more excited about this series, and just want the actors/actresses to portray their characters in the most accurate way. As long as Percy is seaweed brain and annabeth is wise girl I’m okay
I'm glad the video helped you work through your feelings. Thank you for the comment!
I think this comment highlights how a lot of people might have felt after the casting. It's great that you kept an open mind though. I think more people should do that.
Hate to say it but this series will be another flop for the percy jackson universe. Disney has laid waste to every story they've touched as of late. Hiding behind "racist" backlash is not going to save them.
Dude, this is gold. I’m gonna screenshot this, and then five years from now when i get around to cleaning out my camera roll i’m gonna see it and laugh
@@seguaye 😂😂😂😂
you make very great points and i honestly couldn't agree more!! im so glad this video exists. you are absolutely right and i am immensely excited for the series!!
growing up as a lil afab blonde kid, annabeth meant a lot to me as a blonde girl who was 1) not the mean girl or 2) not the dumb one, or both. however, the whole point is that she is underestimated for her intelligence on the basis of her appearance - her being black continues that sentiment and develops it in an honestly more sincere way (she's a lil black girl who's also neurodivergent, the fact that afab ppl and kids of colour are already less likely to be diagnosed let alone when there's overlap) - she gets arcs of learning she doesn't always have to be alone/independent, that she can rely on others (particularly with percy), and is the primary love interest. it honestly makes perfect sense & maintains everything that's great about annabeth. when done well/thoughtfully, changing the race of characters to be more diverse has the capacity to elevate the text tbh rather than diminishing it, and i think that's exactly what's (hopefully) happened here
You really manifested black Chiron wow, and watching these videos is making me really excited for the show now omgs I can't wait !
Lol, that's the power of the platform. 🤣
Thats true hdhshsj, loved your take btw ❤
@@Purple-ur2sc Thank you!
As long as they are good actors and they fit the age then I don't care. I honestly think people are just being racist at this point lmao grow up and be grateful you have a second opportunity for a live adaptation.
while i think some people are being racist, i also think its wrong to change annabeths race ,when it was said in the book she was blonde with grey eyes and in the art she is white, while Rick is also touting that the show is gonna be more like the books and how the movies sucked because they werent like to books.
Great video explaining what I’ve been trying to explain to others shading the choices.( btw your video format is amazing and hilarious, great catch.). People don’t seem to get that even if their not throwing hate at the actors, they are still indirectly throwing more hate at the actors through others messaging.
I for one am worried about important things, like how their Filipino it, is the writing going to be good, and how the side characters will in interact in the background.
Ummm filming not Filipino, wtf autocorrect.
@@birdee3475 Lol, that is such an odd change!
Yesss! It's more important how they write and film the story and how they showcase it rather than how the actors look. If Walker Scobell and Leah Jeffries embody the characters perfectly, who cares what color their hair and skin colors are
Wait...a daughter of aphrodite? ...do you mean.....SILENA?!
why is this video so underrated I think your opinions are really good!
Being honest, I don't like the casting for Annabeth. I don't care if the physical appearance of the character is changed from the book if it isn't of significance to the story. I didn't care when the produces of Wrinkle in Time changed Meg from White to Black, or when JK Rowling claimed that Hermione had been Black all along (obviously she was trying to make a political statement, but Hermione's race is completely unrelated to her character development). None of those things bugged me, because they weren't of significance to the story or character.
But for Annabeth, her physical appearance IS of significance.
To start off, Annabeth was actively written to counteract stereotypes about certain types of White women. She is repeatedly described as having blonde "princess curls" and being of an athletic build. When Percy first sees her, he describes her as fitting the California Girl archetype perfectly. We associated this physical appearance with stupidity, meanness, or openness to any and all sexual encounters. To some, being a tall, beautiful blonde woman is an invitation.
BUT THEN WE LEARN: Annabeth Chase is NOT a dumb blonde. She is not an airhead, nor is she a mean girl like Regina George. She is an incredibly intelligent, analytical woman with lofty ambitions independent of what others want from her.
Her personality is played in direct contrast with her physical appearance; Rick made the conscious decision to write her character with the specific cultural baggage surrounding blonde women, constantly emphasizing her physical appearance throughout the books.
In addition, Annabeth Chase is directly descended from the Norse (cough cough Magnus Chase series) and although you could make some roundabout argument about how Black Annabeth still could have Norse ancestors... c'mon. We know she's White. It's written into every physical description of her character and her ancestry is even a PLOT POINT upon which an entire series is based around.
Finally, Rick has written many amazing Black characters and could have written even more for the show. Black people deserve their own representation, instead of being forced into the roles of White characters for woke points. Hazel is a well written character whose blackness is part of her story-- I think that is a lot better representation than simply shoving a Black girl into Annabeth's role and celebrating it as 'diversity.' That's not diversity, that's tokenism.
All in all, I usually don't mind it when Black actresses play White roles. Usually it doesn't matter.
But for ANNABETH CHASE, it matters A LOT.
Disney intentionally cast a Black actress in a role that should have been played by a White girl in order to draw attention to the show. It was a marketing ploy, and they're just trying to make money. This is a case of tokenism and virtue signalling by a capitalist corporation, nothing more.
The thing is, you can do the exact same thing with a black woman. A lot of people stereotype black woman as dumber or obnoxious and rude and loud, and also I JUST started reading Percy Jackson this month and I’m on the 5th book already, it was almost ONE line where I remember her feeling like a dumb blonde. You don’t need to keep in one line, throwing it out won’t make so much of a difference. Having her be a black woman she can still go through the same thing- wanting to prove society wrong, that a black woman can be smart and independent.
@@Salsa4268 I wrote a whole essay about this in response to a different comment on this video, but here it is for your convenience. If you read through the entire thing you'll see that I cover the exact issue you're talking about, and how it's not as simple as you claim.
Black girls deserve their own representation, instead of just taking the background and plotline of a White character. If you're going to talk about being underestimated for physical appearance, BOTH Black girls and White girls experience this-- I've seen so much commentary about how Black girls are "more" deserving of Annabeth's character. That seems so, so, so rude to me. Annabeth Chase was a huge inspiration for girls of all races, but you can't deny that her character was designed to challenge the way society views a certain group of people. White women. Minimizing the struggles that many of these women STILL FACE just to elevate another group of people is a horrible thing to do.
Annabeth is clearly White-- not only White, she conforms to every single beauty standard expected of White women. On the outside, Annabeth is this slender, blonde haired, grey eyed California Girl with princess curls. Her name is extremely feminine and sounds like the sort of name you'd give to a princess in a fairy tale. But as you learn more about her character, you see that she has a sharp and aggressive side-- contrary to how conventionally attractive White women are often presented, as warm, bubbly, or even sexually inviting. From the pointed way Annabeth interacts with Percy when they first meet, you can infer that she's done with other people's shit.
Annabeth is extremely closed off, it is only halfway through the story that we learn about her home life. Annabeth's biological parents are neglectful to the point of abuse and her stepmother is cruel and alienates her from an early age, preferring her own children. THIS IS LITERALLY CINDERELLA. The neglectful father, the evil stepmother, the absent biological mother who gives her child a magical gift (the New York invisibility cap)... not only does Annabeth LOOK like the stereotypical fairy tale princess, the way her life is SET UP is like the opening to a fairy tale.
However, in addition to the "dumb blonde" stereotype in popular culture, she defies the "damsel in distress" stereotype SPECIFIC TO WHITE WOMEN that has been perpetuated for THOUSANDS of years through our folk and fairy tales. The thing that differentiates Annabeth and the women in these stories is who she is on the inside. Her intelligence, ambition, strength, pride, power... they all shine through BECAUSE this very specific situation has been set up.
When you cast a Black girl as Annabeth, no matter how great of an actress she is, you miss the nuance. I can't speak from personal experience, but I've heard that there are a lot of stereotypes about Black women always being "strong" and "too masculine." There are stereotypes about Black people coming from broken homes, running away young. A Black Annabeth doesn't challenge any of those ideas-- the only stereotype she would refute is "Black women aren't intelligent" or possibly "Black women are inherently sexual." With the first statement, Rick takes great pains to show his Black characters as highly intelligent, capable individuals. Beckendorf is a genius engineer/inventor, Carter Kane is incredibly book smart, and Hazel is a wonderful artist (who later becomes a witch!!!). I don't think that Annabeth's architectural/strategic intelligence is missing from the Black characters of the Riordanverse. Whereas if you take White Annabeth out of the picture, the only other (nice, not evil, important, plot significant) White female character is Sadie Kane (I'm not counting Rachel because half the fandom hates her lol) and while her street smarts are great, the intellectual curiousity is... well :) Don't get me wrong I love Sadie, I'm just saying Annabeth as she is fills an important role in the Riordanverse.
The second point where I could see Black girls needing Annabeth is the argument that Black girls are always sexualized, and Annabeth doesn't want to be defined by her physical beauty. True... but then if you think about the WAYS in which Black and White women are sexualized, it is often different. Black girls are seen as more mature and sexually forward, whereas blonde hair is a sign of youth and White girls are often painted as pure, naive... and some people find that sexually attractive. Look at Marilyn Monroe-- she was a sex icon who relied on an image of innocence that contrasted with her physicality. Villians in PJO call Annabeth "little girl" and constantly see her as more innocent while a constant struggle for her in the first book is how Chiron sees her as too young to go on quests even when she has more experience than anyone else at camp.
Annabeth's struggle isn't people thinking she's too mature, it's them thinking she's too innocent.
This casting doesn't break stereotypes the same way. A Black girl from a broken household, abandoned by her parents, homeless at a young age. She can be hostile and aggressive, relying on a projection of strength to hide inner conflict. Let's be honest, we've heard this story before.
All in all, Annabeth is White. The actress who was chosen to play her did NOT deserve such horrible treatment, and I do believe that some of it was motivated by racism. But at the end of the day, Annabeth's character is tied to her race, just like Hazel's is. We should be raising POC up without tearing White women down.
I saw this on Twitter:
"when will people understand that casting annabeth as a black girl and showing other black girls that they can be smart and brave like her is FAR more groundbreaking than showing blonde girls they can defeat the dumb blonde stereotype."
"Little Black girls are gonna have ANNABETH CHASE as a character that looks like them AND is one of the smartest, most powerful characters in children’s lit"
Annabeth was so powerful BECAUSE she was the one to truly defeat the stereotypes about White women and girls. She was pivotal in my childhood and really influenced the way generations of kids see the world. To then say that she isn't White, that the struggles White women have faced (and still continue to face) don't matter at all is so incredibly disrespectful.
I'm sorry for this really long essay, please let me know what you think and if any of your opinions shifted after hearing this perspective :)
@@lauramartens30 I can see where your coming from and honestly I agree with it a lot. I can see how it could upset a lot of blonde white girls seeing their character who broke their stereotype be race switched and I understand how important it is to her character. But Rick already chose her, he’s not going to change his mind so I think we should celebrate all of the things Leah could bring to the table with having a black Annabeth and honestly I have never seen a black girl in a ‘golden trio’ and I think it’s only fair we finally let more young girls get representation and break their stereotypes. Hermione from Harry Potter, Clary from shadowhunters, cinder from cinder (lol), and Annabeth from pjo. All white girls, a black girl has never been able to see herself on screen in a character she loves, these white blonde girls needed Annabeth and she was there and now young black girls need her. I think we should celebrate how much this could impact even more young girls instead of bash why it’s not necessarily the right way to do it. Rick will not change his mind and the faster we accept and embrace her the better for everyone. Truly, I think Leah will bring a lot of beautiful things to the show and she is a great actor, and I think people of color will FINALLY get a chance to see themselves! And this is coming from a white passing Mexican girl btw. But again, I completely see where your coming from and I agree, it wasn’t the right way to show representation, but it’s already done you know. Might as well embrace her!
@@Salsa4268 You make great points! If you're looking for a triumvirate/golden trio with a black girl I would recommend the series "Ever Afters" the first book is called Of Giants and Ice-- it is definitely middle grade lol but the inventor/mad scientist/genius child of the group is a black girl named Lena who is SO COOL! Also in the Mysterious Benedict Society it's not a trio but a group of 4 kids, but the genius/bookish kid is a black boy named Sticky Washington.
I 100% agree that there needs to be more representation of black kids in smart/nerdy roles... I just don't think Annabeth was the right character to do that with😭😭
Still gonna watch the show though ;)
@@lauramartens30 Yea I agree, I like what you said about the Twitter post. They need their own representation not take someone’s else’s because your right Annabeth was important to a lot of blonde white girls who needed a smart person to look up to. Still, I can’t wait to see how Leah portrays her, and I’ll definitely check out that book series you recommended!
I personally think the Luna Lovegood situation is different than Annabeth because in the PJO books she was always described as having blonde hair. Personally that is my opinion. I just want to clarify that Leah is such a good actress for the role of Annabeth Chase and seeing her stand up to haters made me cry. It confirmed she was the perfect Annabeth.
I think that since Rick Riordan’s imagery is so strong, I will always imagine the book characters, when reading or referencing the books, as how they are described in the books. But film and TV are completely different mediums of art, and I’m so happy that they are taking creative liberties and casting based on talent.
It’s not possible for the human brain to imagine a new person in their head, that’s why everyone in your dream is a person you’ve seen before in one way or another. Therefore, everyone will have a different version of Annabeth, and no one will ever be satisfied. I remember when Jennifer Laurence got so much hate for not being skinny enough as described by the Hunger Games book. Like come on guys. It’s not that deep. Let’s not force more actors/actresses into eating disorders.
Let me clarify first that I am black I probably don't need to specify that but I will. I literally saw this news today I haven't really been keeping up with the casting like that lol. So my reaction definitely was a little irritated with Annabeth being black, but I saw rick's message and I had a better understanding of the situation and I was like you know what I was wrong let's see how this plays out, I trust Rick will do fine. I really want this show to be good as a big fan of the series since the movies were complete I hope this does the series justice
First, may I say that I LOVE your singing voice!!
But on another note, I also agree with these points and am actually excited about this casting! I have little sisters that didn't grew up on the book, but will watch this show, will see a girl character that's smart and strong that's a person of color like us! That's what I'm mostly looking forward too!!
Thank you so much! And yeah, I am extremely hyped for this show. I feel like it's going to be awesome.
I completely relate to this comment
At first I wasn’t convinced about Annabeth’s casting, but your arguments are good and I can now imagine how it could make the storyline/ plot even better. But it would depend on how well they incorporate everything in the show, I really hope Disney+ does the PJO universe justice.
So do I.
I personally love the casting of the trio and I can’t wait to see them bring the characters to life!
Same here!
It's OK to have a different race portray Annabeth, Grover or Percy as long as the iconic look is still there. Golden hair/gray eye color or at least just one of those things would have been appreciated. Removing the iconic look entirely it's just pretty upsetting. But it doesn't stop there. we've now removed the iconic look from Percy Jackson main character. Harry Potter characters didn't always look exactly the way the book intended but at least the main characters kept some of the similarities making it believable for both audiences book and screen. I think this casting choice could be fine but, compromises should be made to keep integrity of these characters.
It would be upsetting, but it wouldn't make or break the show for me. It would be more screaming in a pillow quick and then moving on 😄
I don’t mind that the actor for Annabeth is black, I just care about how the first time around a lot of the fans that are trying to support the new black version of annabeth were a lot of the same fans that were furious in the movie adaptation that Alexandra daddario didn’t have blonde hair. If she does a good job playing annabeth than all power to her and I won’t pay any attention to it, I just don’t like that it feels like Disney is almost trying to force the character to be black.
Honestly, there was so much wrong in how they adapted the movies from the books and I think fans latched on the easiest physical feature of Annabeth’s hair to fix to showcase how no thought or care had gone into the films. I say this because I heard just as much complaining about the age difference. However, even back then, Rick said the issue was the age and the lack of respect for the books and not the physical appearance.
When I was reading the books, I always thought that "tan" in Annabeth's case meant closer to the skin color that Mirabelle from Encanto is, and her description of a "classic California girl" meant her vibe not her appearance. Annabeth has always been not exactly white in my mind, so when I first saw the official art I was so confused.
I'm excited that they cast Leah because sure she's not exactly what I imagined Annabeth to be, but she was picked by Uncle Rick and from the little I've seen of her she seems perfect for the role.
I know you said you are not going to respond to comments anymore and I respect that, but I'm going to write one anyways just to give another side of the story. I'm from Italy (yay, like Nico!) and these books have been a HUGE part of my early adolescence. To be completely honest, when I got the news that Annabeth was to be played by a person of color, I was a little disappointed. This is not because I don't think she has the talent nor because I think less of her, but for different reasons. Firstly, in the books, Riordan spends an INSANE amount of time describing Annabeth's hair and eyes through Percy's pov and it's quite unsettling to have to adjust to such a drastic change. To follow your own experiment, I also have to say that I disliked the first movie's Annabeth for the same reason, as she had brown and straight hair (in the book, it's curly/wavy). So I guess my problem isn't with the fact that Leah is black, but the way screen portrayals always have to change things for no reason whatsoever. This takes me to the other and perhaps more important part of my opinion. PJ already is an extremely diverse universe: Piper is Cherokee, Frank is chinese and of greek descent, Nico is italian, Leo is mexican, Reyna is puertorican, Hazel is black. All right, they all come in the second series, but what about Beckendorf, Chris Rodriguez, Ethan Nakamura? To be fair, Grover's skin is never described in detail so he could very easily be black, with his curly dark hair and dark eyes. I actually appreciated it in the movies (probably the only thing btw). So I guess my point is, there really was no need to make a "Californian blonde" black because Riordan already is an amazing writer and includes all kinds of boys and girls into his stories. I'm just saying that, in reverse, this practice is called "whitewashing". I respect wanting to add diversity where is needed (an example might be the GoT tv show, in which I appreciated what they did because in the books black people almost did not exist), but I think in this case it was completely unnecessary.
All that said, I'll be watching the series as soon as it's out in my country because I think it's going to be fantastic, so it's not like I'm going to cry about it. Also, if you notice something off with my English feel free to edit it in your head, because it's obviously not my mother tongue.
Im just happy they did it bc they thought the actors were best for the roles and not bc they thought bringing in more representation should be a priority. Id rather have an actor who can play annabeth really well and not look like she was described in the books than one that looks exactly like her and isnt my annabeth.
I agree that it should be about the acting!
No blond Annabeth and yet Leah is doing the role perfectly ❤
Yes!!! Make KiKi Layne Athena!! I love her!! 🙌 I know you were worried about being all over the place but I thought all your points were very well made, and I'm glad to see people talk about the out of pocket responses for Annabeth, completely uncalled for, no one asked 🙄 Also for all the people pretending they are not racist, movie Annabeth had brown hair and blue eyes, and I don't believe that Alexandria Daddario was cyberbullied for not being blonde...food for thought...
in fact if she was harassed and there were many fans who complained about it, this has nothing to do with the skin
Um, yes she was. Fans did complain about her not being blonde.
Alexandria was harrased for not being blond. When they did the second movie they made her blond. The second movie is worse so it's not like book accurate looks improved it much. But I agree there are many people who are using the blond hair thing as an excuse to be racist. When I saw the casting I was disappointed that we were not going to see the Annabeth described in the books but I never messaged the actor about how she isn't really Annabeth or said anything negative about the chose to cast her. All these people sending this poor girl hate can simply not watch the show if they hate it that bad. Saying the only reason Leah got the part is for diversity is very dehumanizing. She auditioned for the role like everyone else and beat out the rest. I can not wait to see how she plays Annabeth.
Yasss Kiki would be perfect especially if she gets like golden braids
i have little problem with the actors themselves. my issue is we get few. like. three details on how a charater looks..then he trashes it. so 13ish years of percy being black messy hair, sea green eyes and tanned skin. trashed. to be. a white boy, with blond hair, and blue eyes. im most mad on clarrise.she was 6 feet, buff and built like a tank! and to yank away that, little, only physical detail. to make her short, skinny and everything. like..yikes. makes me worried for things.
6:15 yo you said this and it made me think of that part of the second book, circe’s island, she got her hair done in the books, they could totally do something cool with that!!
That's true! That could be a really cool moment! I forgot about that!
Awesome vlog❗️As a cis white, blond, round face girl with ADHD and dyslexia I have never thought about how a book character is described and if it wasn’t for film and tv show adaptations I have never paid attention to a book characters description. I don’t think that they should dye her hair or give her a blond wig. I also don’t pay attention to a characters eye colour in films or tv shows unless the eye colour is very obvious. In the Percy Jackson films Athena has dark hair so I just figured that Annabeth’s dad is blond. Imho opinion either Athena or Annabeth’s dad could be black. I love the casting and I love the choices and I can’t wait for the show to watch it.
Ditto, I’ve read the every single book set in the mythology universe Ricks written, dozens of time. I never really developed an image of the characters until I went back and reread for like the 12th time. It just wasn’t important. The only one that stuck with me was that nico is Italian for whatever reason.
who cares if you don't care about detail. the casting is as disgusting as you. you say you are blonde and white. now imagine watching your stupid face everyday and suddenly one day you are shown black by the mirror. how would you feel wouldn't you flip out .
I mean when things are not exactly like in the books then why name the show Percy Jackson why not "peter johnson and the identity swap thief "
and if the reason of this stupid casting is diversity. then the three female characters from the 7 heroes in the heroes of Olympus are all black (close to black) how diverse is that for you.
if it's ok with you if black panther 2 is played by a white actor because Chadwick Boseman is dead.
To clarify, Athena’s children are born from her thoughts right?
Yes. They emerge fully-formed from her head. Though they do still have bellybuttons.
@@TheAmityElf alright, I apologize beforehand if this seems wrong, I’m not sure how to phrase it, but, would it matter what race Athena is if that was the case?
@@gandireddyshailaja4195 No problem. I think I kind of mentioned it in the video, or tried to, but no, it doesn't matter what race Athena is; the gods don't have genes. They do pass on traits (which seems a lot like having genes), but they can appear however they want, except when there's some supernatural thing stopping them.
Ayyyy your friend called it Chirons actor is black. Can't wait for the parental scene's for annabeth 🥲
I am against people dying Walker’s hair or Leah’s hair and putting a blond wig on Leah. Because it loses the importance of the character. I didn’t notice or care about film Annabeth’s hair or film Percy’s eye colour.
The importance was already lost when they made the cast
Why is it okay to race swap a original white character? It’s not okay to race swap a original black character so why is it okay to do this?
It’s not okay.
If every white character became a black character and every black character became a white character, I certainly wouldn’t mind.
@@TheAmityElf Well, you’re entitled to that opinion. I don’t think it’s right what Hollywood is doing to her character, though.
@@TheAmityElf I don’t believe that it would be okay to race swap every character that has ever been made because then, what is the point of the characters originality that the creator gave them.
@@TheAmityElf If Hazel became White, would you mind?
@@lauramartens30 If every white character in PJO became black and Hazel became white, I wouldn't mind.
For Annabeth’s dad, I’d also like to point out that Percy convinces Annabeth to get back in touch with her dad and stepmom and they come to settle their differences and such and actually come to have a very good relationship. Now forgive me, I’m white so my perspective is probably a bit skewed from a racial standpoint, as in, I haven’t experienced racial issues and conflicts like people of other races have, but I’m genuinely wondering. Wouldn’t that “particular vibe” you mentioned the show would give if it was a white dad ignoring his black daughter, kind of…. Maybe not go away completely, but be a bit better by the end? Like, it would certainly look bad at the start, but is it not redeemable in your eyes?
It’s redeemable, but just in general there’s already a lot of fraught relationships with black dads in media, and it’s already such a big talking point for racists (this idea that black dads are less reliable or present) that the initial impression is more the problem.
For me, at least. Others might disagree.
@@TheAmityElf ah, gotcha. That makes sense :)
Another reason they shouldn't straiten her hair is because Leah has naturally curly hair just like Annabeth. They don't need to go out of their way to change it. Kind of interesting they did cast a black Chiron though. Also, another reason there may have been more videos for Walker I'd because he was a main character in a movie with Ryan Renolds. Aryan was only ever a side character in the movies he was in and I haven't seen anything that Leah's in yet so I'm not really sure about that one
I don't agree with the casting, however, people going after the actress need to grow up.
percy’s going to be the token white kid of camp half-blood now!
Hey, I know you said you weren’t going to reply to comments on this video anymore, but I have a thought I’d love to discuss with you if you see this comment, that’s related to this whole controversy.
I’ve seen a lot of people, mainly white people, trying to argue that changing a white character to a black character is racist. And this argument is mainly used by white people, in two ways: to claim that it’s racist towards white people by taking away their representation, and to claim that it’s racist towards black people because it’s like saying “There’s not enough black girl roles that are important enough, so here’s a white one instead!” As a white girl myself, I personally feel absolutely no racial offence towards myself with this casting. In fact, I’m just happy that this will give Black girls an opportunity to have more positive representation, because I hardly ever see them have that. All of the tv shows and movies I watch depict Black girls as the token “best friends” of the white main character, although it’s so painfully obvious that that friendship is one sided, because the Black character doesn’t seem to have any significance, and just seems to follow the white character’s every move like a headless chicken or something. Or they’re portrayed as the antagonists of the movie or show, to add to the stereotype, that’s got to be very harmful, that Black people are bad people. The other argument, that it’s offensive and racist towards Black people because it’s like saying that their roles aren’t important enough, is the argument I’d love to get your thoughts on. Personally, I feel like, as I’ve said just now, it’s a good way to give Black girls more positive representation, especially in this adaptation. The first series of Percy Jackson, which the (hopefully) 5 seasons of this adaptation will depict, were very white-focused, and the only girl who is described as being a POC in the first series is Zoey Nightshade. She’s only around for Titan’s Curse and is killed off. So, I think having Annabeth as a Black girl will give Black girls more positive representation. However, I’ve seen some people of colour support the white people using this argument because they don’t like tokenisation, and race-swapping is not a supportive thing for them as some people think, because by stealing a white character from a white person, it’s not giving this new POC character who was white, a chance to reflect and respect their ethnicity, because the character was originally written for a white person (probably not the best way to put it, but I hope it makes sense!). What are your thoughts on this?
I think the greatest risk that can arise from race-swapping is accidentally running into stereotypes, kind of like I mentioned with the Annabeth absentee father thing; some things take on a new connotation when you change a character's race. But that kind of risk is mitigated by just giving things a little bit of thought in the adaptation process. Honestly, I find navigating those kinds of issues more fascinating than demoralizing.
One thing I am also fascinated with is how it is always held to be a good thing that Sigourney Weaver's character from Alien was originally written as a man but then cast as a woman; it's held to be true that this was a case of good female representation, because they wrote a full character, who wasn't bogged down by what the writers might have thought to do if they'd thought of the character as female, and then made the character female. Now, I think great POC representation happens when members of a community write characters of their own community specifically to reflect their culture. And I think a lot of really clumsy representation *can* happen when non-members of a community deliberately write members of a community. (A lot of people, for example, dislike how Rick wrote Piper with some Native American stereotypes, etc.) It seems like, under these conditions, taking a character who has full dimensions and making her a person of color should be a Sigourney Weaver thing. Especially since, like you mentioned, there are very few characters of color in the PJO series. (There was also Beckendorf, I feel compelled to mention, but he's another example of a minor character who dies pretty much as soon as he matters, so who's counting? 😉)
@@TheAmityElf Thank you! I’ve actually never seen Alien, or heard of that character, but hopefully Leah being Annabeth will work out the same as Sigourney Weaver’s casting! I’m British, and I didn’t actually know what Native Americans even were until I did some research after I read the Lost Hero, so I didn’t realise that Piper was written with Native American stereotypes. And yeah, I know Beckendorf is also a POC, he’s actually one of my favourites out of the more minor characters in the first series, but the reason I only referenced Zoey Nightshade is because I’ve seen comments of people going “Rick has so much diversity in the books! There were other Black girl roles she could’ve played!” and then they talk about Hazel, so I always have to bring up the fact that Hazel wasn’t introduced until Heroes of Olympus, and this adaptation is not Heroes of Olympus. I always mention that Zoey Nightshade is the only girl in the first series who is described as a POC, and by the time the casting for Titan’s Curse comes around, she’ll be too old for her, so I’ve just got in the habit of only really referencing Zoey Nightshade as a POC character.
Besides the we had already a bpoc Athena in Hades! There's always 2 to make a child. And the blond hair of Annabeth don't came from her mom.
So Annabeth dad could be bpoc and so down the line Magnus although. What a cool alternative. 😎
All I want for this TV series is to have one and a bath and 1 Clarice II do not want 1 actor to play both or 4 of them to just merge the character into 1 you know that's annoying
Yeah, they definitely did cast separate actors for Annabeth and Clarisse.
I don’t know why I’m watching this video a year after the casting was announced But it’s wild that I still see racist comments against black annabeth all the time under edits and posts God it’s so exhausting I feel like we’re not advancing at all
It's pretty disheartening. I find it reassuring that some people have commented on this video saying it helped them think through their feelings, but also there are some comments that kind of make me think the person making them didn't understand some of what I was saying...
I read Aryan Simhadri was in the DCOM "Spin." I think it's still on my DVR.
Also, Filipino Athena please. Filipino everyone please. 😊
Definitely!
As long as they give her stormy gray eyes as it says in the book and she is a good actress then I am perfectly fine. There are just certain aspects of the book where descriptions of the characters are immensely important to their development and the rest of the story.
Yeah but not really for the main cast in any of the books
Well, people who do not want to see the entire cabin being that of black kids are not racist, you're just changing the race of a lot ton of characters. Like literally epople would be rioting if it was the other way around XD But I do agree, according to the novel, gods work differently. The problem with the change, is that as you have noticed, everything has to be changed. Quiron is supposed to be Greek, it wouldn't make any sense for him to be Black. But again, so should be Atenea. And I'm sorry, but it is 95% sure that she's being used as a token.
Literally no one would blink an eye if the whole cabin was white. Maybe someone would Tweet that they'd like to see more diversity on the show, but no one would consider it weird or unusual if the whole cabin were white. And I never said that everything has to be changed; I said it would be good if Chiron were black, but no one said it's an imperative thing. And black people have existed all throughout history in lots of different places; there is no historical reason that he shouldn't be black. There might be historical reasons that he shouldn't be a centaur, though, but we've agreed as partakers of entertainment that it's fine that he is. A black character existing is not inherently tokenism; there is a particular set of tropes that it would have to meet in order for her to be "token", and assuming before you've seen the show that it will meet those tropes tends to come from a place of prejudice. Thanks for watching!
@@TheAmityElf Of course not, because they were described as such. I was obviously thinking about an entire cabbin of black people (described as such) being changed to a cabin full of white people.
About Chiron and history, there were barely any black people in ancient Greek, and the very few that did exist were 99% slaves, so the odds of Greeks imagining an important mythological figure of their culture being black are simply 0.
A black character existing is 100% not tokenism, I fully agree on that (well, it may be tokenism, but usually it is not, it's just a character, period). However a white character existing, but choosing a black actor to portray a white character is 95% tokenism. I'm leaving that 5% out just in case, but it certainly looks and feels like it. This doesn't mean I think the kid is a bad actress, she's probably really good, but I'm not going to pretend it's not a weird choice.
goodaim shield 1. The books did not say that all of them were white.
2. I’m saying that a cabin being fully white that was not described in any racial way in canon would not register to the average viewer as a problem, but a cabin being fully non-white (not even black, mind you; the idea being posed here is just multiracial) that wasn’t specifically designated as such would suddenly be worth dissecting, and the way to get rid of that discomfort in white viewers is by showing more of it.
hear me out, i dont mean this in a racist way, just my veiw as girl who grew up on these books.
i was definitely dissapointed when i first found out about how annabeth would appear because ive grown up on the description of her being tan and blonde, and the occasional mention in the book as how annabeth had to fight to be taken seriously as a blond, because of the stereotypes surrounding "dumb blondes". I trust that Leah will be awesome, she is a professional and i beleive she will be able to bring annabeth to life in her own way. it will be different from the books, but rick riordan himself said that leah was his first choice to portray annabeth. plus, in regards to the whole "but them athena has to be black and the whole athena cabin would be black/mixed too: in 'The Lost Hero' from HoA, Leo notes that all the Hepheastus cabin kids looked different, different skin tones, hair colors, etc., and that no one would be able to say "hey, its the hepheastus bunch!" This also demonstrates how the gods appearances change and how the mortal parents traits contribute to the demigod's appearance.
@Sexi boi she is only described in terms of skin tone as "having a deep tan", which is implied that she is white, but tanned from training in the sun for months. but, if this specific actress is Rick's choice,we have to trust that she will be able to bring Annabeth to life in a new way. she was Rick's first choice for Annabeth, and he created her in the first place
@Sexi boi yeah I agree, but we'll just have to wait and see if guess
@Sexi boi Idt they “made her black” it’s more like they chose a black actress
Here’s mother take on this I found it on another comment on another video it doesn’t belong to me:
I don't mind the casting choices I've seen. I've seen people object to
Annabeth being played by a black actor, which I'm assuming was something you objected to
since you mentioned race specifically. So I'll offer another perspective that might help. I really
liked that Annabeth in the books was a blonde girl because at the time there were all these
jokes and stereotypes about the "blonde bimbo". Annabeth existing as herself in the books
was a challenge to those misogynistic stereotypes since she was so intelligent, wise, and
competent. There are even moments in the series where characters underestimate Annabeth
because of her appearance, and she even plays into that to her advantage. That's part of why
she meant so much to many girls who read the books and why so many were so bothered by
the actor in the movies having the wrong hair colour, even though it was such a minor
deviation. Those stereotypes aren't so common these days though. However, due to racist and
misogynistic stereotypes many people underestimate black girls in similar ways. And while a
black actor doesn't reflect the physical appearance of the character in the books, I think the
casting choice does more accurately reflect the way Annabeth's character challenges
misogynistic stereotypes. So in that way you could see the deviation from the character's
appearance as remaining more true to the characterisation now that society has changed
Personally, I'm just glad the actors are appropriate ages. Apparently their acting and
personalities really suit the characters too, and that's very important. It can be hard to find
good child actors and Rick seems to think they've succeeded at that.
I don't think anything will compare to how I imagined things in the books, and I already have
the books, so that's another reason I don't care too much if details differ so long as it stays
spiritually true to the books. With Rick working on the project closely I'm sure any deviations
from the book will still be true to Rick's style and what we love about his stories.
Maybe you still won't see it the same way, but hopefully this'll help you see it from another
perspective and make you more comfortable giving the tv series a chance.
@@imgonnaputsomedirtinureyedabs I am excited to see it, but I was disappointed at Annabeth looking different from how she is directly described, it's a pet peeve of mine when things don't match. she was described as tan with blond hair curled like a princess, and thats how I'm used to seeing her, in the fanart I've seen online and in my own head. I know it will stay true to the books, but that won't take away my little pet peeve.
in my original comment I mentioned that I trusted Rick and his decision, especially since he personally chose Leah to portray Annabeth. I am a little disappointed, sure, that she won't look exactly like how I've pictured her all my life, but I'll get used to it over time as the show is released. I trust Rick, and I trust Leah. I do understand your reasoning of making Annabeth black as times have changed as to what people underestimate. but still, I'm going to have to see the series before I can get used to the idea because I've been seeing Annabeth in a certain way for so long.
I honestly think the actress for Anna Beth was good in other things but walker scobell is not a good actor and not is he a good Percy
I still have my Harry Potter books and I am not going to get rid of them and I don’t support Rowling.
First and foremost for the people out there, do not attack the child she is not the problem and will never be. The problem is with this character is that they're throwing her into wood chipper and taking away what made the character the character. Rick said he doesn't want to change the character hair color and with Annabeth her basic whole thing was "I'm not a dumb blonde girl" so I don't see how Leah Jeffery will overcome since they won't be changing her hair, so they will probably have to come up with a different reason for her
Like I said in the video, the idea of Annabeth being underestimated for her physical appearance is as viable for a black girl as for a blond girl, if not more. I really don't think there's anything to come up with.
@@TheAmityElf I agree her appearance is viable but I don't see I'm smarter than I look working here and I'm not saying she's not smart... I guess what I'm really trying to say is that I fear this might turn into something like Halo series which I don't know if you have scene or plan on watching so I'm not going to spoil anything but they changed master chief to the point he's unrecognizable and I fear they might do that with Annabeth. I'm not the best at articulating my thoughts and words sorry
I completely agree with what you said! Don't worry, you articulated well
@@lauramartens30 thank you I usually have people what I write before I post and didn't this time so I'm glad to see I'm improving
@@VentrissLin If the character is written the same and the significance of her looking the way she does remains in both cases, then I don't see anything fundamental to the character being changed. I see no reason to expect the character to be unrecognizable if the literal author of the series is behind the project. The way I see it, the fact that there are already so many blond characters to fill the "smart character" niche and the "main protagonist's love interest" niche means the train of thought goes, "Why is Annabeth white and blond?" "Because it provides conflict for her character to be underestimated by those who make assumptions about her intelligence based on her physical appearance." "Is that still applicable if she's black instead?" "Yes." "Then why is it important that she's blond specifically?" "..." I'm not seeing the answer to that one. If there are already a lot of blond main characters for those who are invested in blondness to get attached to, and if the character's particular hangups are still viable after the change, then I don't see that anything at all is being lost, other than just the opportunity to see what you imagined when you read the book. And that is something I addressed in the video.
My problem with the Disney+ Percy Jackson series isn’t the casting, it’s the show being live action. If it was animated, we can have a NATURAL blonde Annabeth and the actress.
I kind of mentioned this in another video, but I prefer it in live action. And I feel no attachment to the idea of Annabeth being a natural blond.
@@TheAmityElf, there are people that don’t like race swaps on principle like The Artistic Aloubell and Patience Xina because it makes them feel like they’re being given used Valentines that weren’t intended for them (a Charlie Brown reference The Artistic Aloubell used). The RUclipsrs above used the casting of the new Ariel to illustrate their opinion on race swaps and preference for characters specifically created to be black instead of race swaps.
@@brandonbaggaley2317 Sure, some people feel that way, and it is interesting to verse one's self on the many perspectives on the subject. I don't share in those feelings at all. I mostly feel like the fact that characters are assumed to be white is annoying and unnecessary. The books don't literally say, to my recollection, that Annabeth is Caucasian. They say that she's tan, they say that she has blond hair. Those things are possible for a person of any race. I find it annoying that people will get attached to the whiteness of a character when, to my mind, it often doesn't matter. If a character is described with freckles and red hair, that could be Erin Kellyman; it doesn't have to be someone white. Stuff like that; the idea that giving a character certain features make their race inflexibly white is silly to me, and works in the interest of people who just don't want to see people of color in works of fiction they like. Much like the video I referenced about Rue from The Hunger Games.
Wow The cast looks great!
Well girl have Annabelt smile! You might have Guts like Annabeth too
excellent news on chiron
Haha, it's all coming together!
I hate the casting I really wanted to see a accurate Percy Jackson and the rest of the character real fans care
For those who don't know the gods even in Percy Jackson is described to look how you imagine them so by that logic Athena can be black for some and white for others
Exactly!
I would say the issue is less of annabeth being black and more the racial politics behind it. To be clearer it seems like identity politics are being put over book accuracy. And when identity politics get involved more likely than not the story suffers. That is not to say there is not a good way of race swapping, though personally I find it to be a cop out. This is not to say that I think Leah will do a terrible job because I am sure she is gonna do great. That being said a characters physical look in general is very important because it can make them more recognizable. I just think when it comes to diversity in media they can do better than race swapping because while people don’t like this point but it is true the fact that race swapping is allowed one way but not the other is still wrong. Race swapping in general is done poorly most of the the time and is just wrong I would say. Make new characters don’t take old ones.
I think that if they’d specifically set out to race swap, then it would have been more of a problem, but they did race-blind casting. There were plenty of blonde white girls who auditioned, and we have no idea how far along any of them got in the process, but Leah ultimately proved herself to be the best fit for Annabeth in the showrunners’ eyes, and I have full confidence that her performance will elevate the story rather than cheapen it
@@samjensen392 yeah I think she gave a killer performance but also with a series this popular and with so many people auditioning there definitely were people that did very well and fit the look physically. But if that is the direction he wants to go then it’s fine I guess I just am not as interested in the show personally.
You wouldn't said that if they make Hazel white did you double standard. We just want the original characters like how they were describe in the books. Is it so hard to understand that ? I agree with you in one thing It is stupid to say black Athena is bad.She could be black or Annabeth could be black too but she is not in the books so why push it ? We have black characters in the books. They can add more in the tv series that is fine too but don't mess with already white characters that doesn't make any sense . It is fake diversity ! It is a publicity method and a lot of black people find it offensive.
Instead we can make new movies with new lead balck characters. I agree that media needs more diversity but this shouldn't be the way. I would like to say that I support and respect balck people I don't have any hate for any actor or actress that will play the characters .I just want the characters that I grow up with as I imagine and read in the books. And it is not just Annabeth I think Percy is different too . In the books he has jet black hair and sea green eyes .
The actor looks more blonde to me. I just emphasis the race change because it is a big difference in apperance wise. For exemple Annabeth has insecurities about being blonde and it is important for character arc etc.
Well, I address a lot of what you just said in the video which you may not have watched in full, and in replies to comments other people have made, but regarding the idea that this is a publicity stunt:
They only announced that the character was cast. There is no buzz about the casting without people much like yourself making a big deal about it. They announced the casting of Annabeth with no more or less fanfare than they announced the casting of Percy. They didn't say "Annabeth is black now!" They said "Leah is Annabeth". The author said that the actress was cast because she was the best for the part. If he saw an amazing audition from someone who acted like the kind of Annabeth he wants to see onscreen, then him going "but unfortunately you're not a white girl, so bye" would be racism. And the fact that you, not having seen her act, can only imagine that she was singled out for her blackness so the show can gain woke points when clearly it aroused as much controversy as praise is also symptomatic of a racist mindset. Your mind is more ready to believe the show took that kind of risk for shock value than that a black girl gave a really good audition, convinced the author of her understanding of the character, and earned the part. Everyone has a racist mindset, but it's up to us to account for it and make corrections.
The fact that you're addressing the disparity in representation for white girls and black girls but still feel that changing Hazel's race would be the same thing as changing Annabeth's race suggests to me that maybe you don't comprehend the nature or effects of that disparity on a very deep level at all, I'm afraid. I'm not trying to ad hominem you; it just feels like you're paying lip service to the issues at hand but not really understanding how they're relevant. Characters like Annabeth are not routinely given to black girls. Hazel, a thirteen year old girl dating a sixteen year old boy, falls into all kinds of tropes. More broadly, the types of people you most often see as main love interests in media affect your perceptions of beauty. There are lots of ways that unequal representation affects the larger societal mindset, and making new black characters who white fans will just ignore (and we know this because we've seen it happen) or making black shows and movies that white people just won't watch (statistically) doesn't really move the needle.
I don't care if they make every black character white, if they make a proportional amount of white characters black. Do you want white Hazel? Would you find that to be a fair exchange?
Small side-thing: Annabeth can be blond and still be black, so your whole "but here is how here blondness ties into her character" argument can pretty much go away. And also, it was already addressed in the video; the ways in which her blondness affected her character are not at all weakened by her being black.
The new Grover character has been in the new version of the film Cheaper by the dozen. And I don’t think that Aryan is a perfect Grover. 😹😀
Don’t judge things by their A parents
I'm black from Africa and I have grey eyes and my sister has blond hair and green eyes where black tho light skinned buy still it's not uncommon
That's true! I regret not mentioning it in the video, but yeah, the books never specifically say that Annabeth is Caucasian, and none of her phenotypes are exclusive to white people.
Would love to see Chiron and Annabeth relationship
I literally just wanted the actors to have similar ages to the characters. And if they do choose to have Annabeths hair as blonde. They should consider changing walker scobel’s hair to a dark brown or smth like that.
I'm black but casting of annabeth is OFF! the Woke virus want to the creator.
Good news! Your being black has no bearing on your being wrong (and contributing to the growing misuse of the word woke). Like I’ve said, if she gave an incredible audition and they turned her away on the grounds of race, then they would be racist. And assuming in the absence of evidence that her audition wasn’t the reason she was chosen demonstrates a racial bias which you should examine. Have a great day.
Okay, don’t get me wrong, I think she show will be great. It’s just that we grew up with annabeth being white and now it’s like boom. She’s a whole new person. However I don’t care about the hair or eyes, I just think they should’ve at least gotten her ethnicity right. If the race is never specified in the books, I don’t think it should matter. But if it is, I think that people should take that into consideration, and Rick clearly didn’t. So yeah, those are my thoughts.
I disagree that she’s a whole new person. I don’t think that having a new skin color should be considered any different from having a new hair color.
@@TheAmityElf I think the show will be great don’t get me wrong, but why change someone’s entire race? Maybe it would be okay if they gave her grey eye contacts to resemble a trait in Athena and explain that her father was black, but changing a race is not going to portray annabeth. The next generation of kids will watch the show and this is all they will see of annabeth. This is simply just not annabeth.
@@sunshineseda The character's personality is more important than her race. If they see an Annabeth who is smart and courageous and loves her friends and is passionate about architecture and otherwise emulates her character in the books, her race is completely irrelevant. And it's not even like they went into it determined to make Annabeth black; a black girl evidently had the best audition, so they cast her. There were no prominent black female characters in the book series. (Hazel is not from that series; Heroes of Olympus is separate from PJO.) You would seriously rather a series with no black female characters of note than a slight change in the phenotypes of an established character? Also, did you watch the video, or did you just comment? Because the things I said in the video largely addressed what you're saying.
@@TheAmityElf well they also cast a girl to play clarisse who is black + Grover so I understand where you’re coming from, but I think there’s plenty people of color.