Her skin color won't affect the personality that we all know and love as Annabeth, she will do just fine, I have faith in the person WHO WROTE THE CHARECTER!!
Unless your story is about race is some way your character’s race does not matter. Annabeth’s race does not matter! It’s her personality and how well of an actress Leah is and if Rick approves of her so do I
@@PaintSplashProductionsfacts! like if they changed like franks race, it would be wrong because it makes up his story but it isn't a problem with annabeth
@@martinmarsano3960 ok, I have no rebuttal for that.......DID HE REALLY?, but rick did say that he wanted to do a better job sense the og movies where awful, I believe in Rick
I feel like people forget that Leah has been acting longer than most of the young cast. I don't get why people doubt her so much. She's very talented and can embody any role she gets
Bro no one is attacking Leah or thinks she will be a bad actor, people just wish Rick casted people that actually look and represent physical attributes of the original characters he created.
@@cookbrookscooks Did you miss the part where people were cyberbullying her, got her tik tok account banned, and created a petition to remove her from the role? I'm not addressing people who were just hoping for a trait by trait adaptation of the characters. I'm talking about the people who didn't even give her a chance to demonstrate how she would adapt the role and just assumed the show would be horrible because the actors don't look like the original characters.
No the main issue is that we grew up with a certain Annabeth, a character we came to love and visualize. Leah is going to do an incredible job, no doubt but it’s not wrong for us to expect the book Annabeth. It’s just nostalgia honestly lol, but Leah is going to do an awesome job and I’m still pretty excited.
Bruh does Walker have black hair? Or sea green eyes? Sure it’s not the exact character descriptions of the book. Big whoop. Why would it matter only skin tone wise. If you have that opinion about every little detail that isn’t the exact same as the book okay, fine, whatever, you’re still incorrect because at that point read the damn book but hey at least you’re balanced. But you can’t only have that opinion because someone’s skin tone doesn’t match. That’s stupid. I literally haven’t seen any of the people who complain about Leah not being white complain about any other physical detail. I don’t understand why it’s a deal breaker for so many people that someone who didn’t look exactly how a fake person was described was casted and decided by the author himself as the best representation of the personality of that character. Are you going to tell me the whole time you were reading those books that you’re evidently a fan of you were just picturing this blonde California girl and not getting that somehow messes up the portrayal of who Annabeth is as a person, the way she speaks, the way she acts, her motivations, and her feelings? Because then you have issues. Nostalgia isn’t a good defense for you feeling the need to get in here and make a comment about Leah. You didn’t really have a right to expect anything appearance wise when it came to any of the actors. You’ve still got art both official and not, you have animations and animatics, you have your own brain. You aren’t being deprived of anything. You’re being given who Rick thinks is the best people to portray the characters he wrote. I think most reasonable people went into the production of the show expecting nothing out of appearances with the ability to recognize that they don’t have a bearing on the actual character and therefore wouldn’t be accounted for in casting.
i want to thank you for the work you put in to help let us know what’s going on with this series that we all love so much! you’ve been such an amazing person that i know i can rely on to share accurate information. it’s so crazy to think that it’s been a full three years since the announcement and a year since you began this channel. we love and appreciate you!!
I don’t understand why you would hate on her! Yes, I was a bit disappointed at first too (please, hear me out), because book Annabeth looks almost exactly like me and her character is also very similar to mine. So I was (or still am) a little sad, this Annabeth looks different that me now. But, that’s no reason to accuse them of such things or be against her casting! As Rick Riordan already said, she was cast because she can embody the role perfectly and I think portraying the character well is so much more important than looks!
I get that, but it's not like book Annabeth is changing. She'll always be the same Annabeth. I was really happy when I saw this casting because people have always compared me to Hazel even though I relate way more to Annabeth. I really like that we'll have this one too but no one can ever take the place of the original trio audiences fell in love with.
I get it. we have a vision in our head of what a live action annabeth and Percy look like and now we have to adjust a bit. its a little sad to let that go but at the end of the day, its just a physical description and the book is always there.
@@any_me...LOL Yeah, that’s another important aspect! I personally like to see them a bit as two separate Annabeths, because I will always see Book-Annabeth the way she’s described as in the books, but Movie-Annabeth is equally as important and just another „version“ of the character!
I can't believe it's been three years. Also how based is rick. I'm certain Leah will be such a good annabeth. Everything I've seen from her so far convinces me of that.
A few things to take notice of in this situation: 1. The books were released in the 2000s. Back then, racial diversity was not as normalized as it is today. Because of this, white characters in media were the norm, not POC. It's entirely possible that Rick originally wanted Annabeth to be POC. But even if he didn't, there's still no denying that books with white characters did better monetarily. 2. A significant part of Annabeth's character is her struggle to be taken seriously due to being a blonde. Now, Annabeth will be a POC, and the same feeling of struggling to be taken seriously because of a physical, uncontrollable attribute will be a part of her story. 3. Leah is the right age to play Annabeth, and she is an experienced child actor who clearly enjoys acting. ALl the evidence points to her doing a great job in the PJ series. **Also, Annabeth is a FICTIONAL character, people -- if you are seriously this upset over casting for a character who is not real, go touch grass!!!
@@skyofbob blonde hair and black skin?that's a new one. Edit: I googled some,I take it back,it could of been done I suppose,but lilagoldfarb is correct
@@AlexSanchez-gd7wb I think it would looks good on her. But I don’t think it’s happening. No pics with her in blonde. I really wanted to have Leah with blonde tips or something
This is not a documentary (like the Netflix Cleopatra series). This is an ADAPTATION. It's perfectly fine to cast someone of a different skin colour to play a certain character, because at the end of the day, the purpose of movies/tv shows is to be entertained.
Nope. Race swapping characters that are described in books is not okay. You find it okay because it's going in a specific direction and you are racist.
@@massimo4307 ? it is not based on preexisting material that say that the characters HAVE to be a specific skin colour. I find it okay because the character's background and character arcs have nothing to do with her skin colour. Annabeth being a smart blonde was tounched on a tiny bit in the books, but not enough to the point where her entire arc focuses on that one trait.
@@tanzenuanchorgreenps7864 The skin color does matter to the character arc, since the character is that color and therefore cannot be a different color while being the same character. It is blatant racism that people like you are okay with turning white characters black and defend such.
I think some of the people who criticized Leah was simply criticizing the fact that she didn't look like the Annabeth described in the books, I mean, I was annoyed when Annabeth had straight brown hair instead och blond wavy hair in the first movie adaptation. people simply look at it differently, I wanted a book appropriate actor, rick wanted a actor who embodied the personality of the character. some people were simply driven by racism though, I'm sure, I'm just adding this to the conversation. and also even tough I would have loved actors who look more like the characters described in the books, I wouldn't direct my criticism towards the literal child actor, and instead towards the person who cast her, rick. (I don't think it's a very big deal, but if I did, I would turn to rick, not Leah, you get the idea)
they made Zeus black. okay. but Ares (in myths Ares is son of zeus) is white af They made Annabeth black, okay, I appreciate that. This young actress look stunning and very talented, I like how this young lady is perfect for the role of Annabeth, her energy and vibe are great matching for this role. If Athene and her partner/father of Annabeth will be white, that was going really dumb. I’m not a racist and I support all races as well as opportunities to show the world new talented actors, just it looks little bit weird and confusing. all the best and peace ❤
I want to make this clear here and now for the ppl who still have a problem with the casting *It was literally an open audition*. Leah was one of the girls, around 12-13 who chose to audition and try to get the role. Rick, and the production team simply thought she did the best performance. Simple as that. I'm pretty sure that skin color or ethnicity is not a top priority when casting characters *in an open fucking audition*. Please find something relevant to complain about, move on and actually be happy that the show is coming. To most of us, performance and how the actors bring the character to life, are more important. And I've heard pretty good things. Honestly, this constant complaining of "wahhhh... they are ruining the show with their woke shit! Wahhh..." is ruining the show for some of us. If it's such a big problem the don't fucking watch but don't ruin it for us and let us enjoy the show ourselves.
Bro no one is attacking Leah or thinks she will be a bad actor, people just wish Rick casted people that actually look and represent physical attributes of the original characters he created.
@@cookbrookscooks, so are we recognizing the racism if you are right? Are we working on it? Or are we denying it here? I'm confused with your statement
@@cookbrookscooksI want to agree with you because I do know they’re people who wish for Annabeth to look like her book set more but I’ve definitely seen too many comments saying that her casting is… too many bad words to her and the casting direction.
It is very relevant to the literal background of the character's story. Otherwise, Riordan would have simply not described her at all, or described her as being black from the beginning. I personally won't watch this trash-heap, and will laugh when the ratings come out. If I ruin it for people like you, so be it; I will continue to call out racists like you who support race swapping.
No one should judge anyone for their race as well as I am sure Leah is one of the greatest actors there’ll ever be for the role, and I am soo excited to see the Percy Jackson books as a proper series at last, who isn’t?? Btw thx for keeping us informed about both the book and series ❤
The personality is the important part! I don't care what race she is, the person that wrote her character thinks she's perfect for the role! There shouldn't be an argument, she is Annabeth, and I'm incredibly fucking excited to see her perform in this show. She was the best for Annabeth out of thousands, so fuck off about "Annabeth is white." Not in this adaptation she's not.
Personally, her being black doesn’t affect the character for me at all but it’s honestly just weird that they changed her race because they’re are so a many wonderful POC characters in the books. Don’t make characters black just because, make black characters.
maybe in hoo, the original five books though I think there was just beckendorf? anyway, it’s not like the casting call was only for black girls, it was an open casting call, and leah did the best job. simple as that. Complaining that they cast a black girl is essentially complaining that they didn’t compromise the quality of the acting to keep the role white.
@@seguaye Luke Castellan and Chris Rodriguez are probably Hispanic judging by their last names. Drew and Ethan are Asian. Just speculation at this point.
@@lionheart3290 I know!! I'm super excited and if the show comes out on New Years Day, that would be even cooler. It would also line up with the late 2023 early 2024 estimate they keep talking about.
I think I watched almost all your videos since the first one. It helps me very much because I'm not in social media, but Percy Jackson is my childhood favorite. Thank you for your news report!
Lets separate racism from characterisation. People were critiquing the choice of actor not because of her abilities as an actor, but how her physical characteristics do not match Annabeth's characteristics. As a reader having a strong visual description of a character to grasp hold of helps the reader connect with that character immediately. While this is a baseline presentation and can lead to stereotyping, one is still able to imply the characters, culture, background, potential economic and social status. We as a species, like it or not, make immediate judgements based off of visual stimuli. In the end of the day, whilst depictions can be scrutinized over, as shown, its up to the author, creator etc to make be as faithful as he or she likes in the adaptation of the story. Let's just not however, continue to use Rascism as a byword for characterisation critique.
I cannot believe that a year on from the casting, people are STILL hating on Leah! Most of their arguments revolve around "Annabeth breaking the dumb blonde stereotype is just SO important to her character! By making her black, you're taking away the only thing her character ever stood for, and you'll change who she is!" IT'S NOT! IT'S NOT MENTIONED UNTIL MARK OF ATHENA! IT'S NOT IMPORTANT TO HER CHARACTER AT ALL! Annabeth's character is about being smart, strong and brave, not about breaking some useless stereotype that doesn't even exist anymore, anyway.
Not to mention it's like the most minimal form of discrimination. Like, I know it was an era for maybe a decade, but it's almost like there's other groups of people in the world who faced greater discrimination for longer periods of time. It kind of irritates me that people act like because blonde girls were being stereotyped for a little while, they all of a sudden think that their stereotype must be broken immediately when there's other people who've been being discriminated for way before that time and are still being discriminated against today. Annabeth's character isn't about breaking stereotypes. Is it sad the characters can't just melt off the pages into the tv show? Sure. Is it worth it to humiliate yourself online by trashing a literal child just cause she's not white and blonde? No, I don't think it is.
I was so happy to see another vid from you! This channel is definitely a glimmer of hope right now for me as it’s giving me so much information on a show I’m looking forward to and the series I love so much. Keep up the good work!👍
I admit I was a bit disappointed at first with Percy and Annabeth’s casting at first because they didn’t really look like the characters. However, im watching the show with an open mind and what really matters is their performance. So im still very excited and from what i heard, they’re talented actors so I guess we’ll just have to see
It has nothing to do about color or her acting abilities. It's about keeping people's childhood original and immersive. Yall are the same people fine with changing history in shows just for diversity. Cant tell me you couldn't get her described personality that matches her description
It's urban fantasy where Olympians bonk humans of all ethnicities,and people act like this is a documentary of real history we know there is a difference between fiction and a documentary
@berengustav7714 It doesn't matter whether it really happened or if it's a made up child's book. Nobody claimed its a documentary. He should have integrity and not change his story. It wouldn't make a difference if the character wasnt already described to look a certain way already. It kills the immersion for nothing. Just look at the characters that were left up to interpretation, they have already been race swapped twice. Once the character has been established as one race you cant change the race without ruining immersion. Still changes the whole character
With a book full of such color, I just don't understand why they couldn't give us an annabeth that looked like the character. And that goes for the whole cast. He wrote it in a way that placed a certain look to the children of the gods. Although I'm sure she's a wonderful actress, all we fans asked for was or favorite series to be accurate on our second chance. The movie version was filled with a full cast of amazing actors and actresses, but it was wildly inaccurate. We had a second chance to see these characters from our childhood on screen, and I still feel like it's wrong. The book was full of a colorful cast, we didn't need to change it for the show. I'm unfortunately disappointed yet again.
I am mostly disappointed with Rick Riordan. He himself criticised the films for being inaccurate and this was foolish from him. He could not have ever imagined that this would have gone down well. Not only it is hypocritical to do exactly what the films did after criticising them, it is also dam right selfish. He is responsible for the hate that Leah Jeffries received, he put a child in such a position and it makes me feel bad for her. Imagine if Marvel had cast some white people in Wakanda, that just does not make sense. Saying that it is racist to cast based of skin colour to match a book description is like saying it is sexist to cast based on a book description. I really enjoy Rick Riordan's books and I will continue to enjoy him as a writer, however, it was foolish of him to go through with this and I cannot respect the fact that he exposed a young girl to so much hate.
The only obstacle I can think of at all is on the Confederate boat in The Sea of Monsters, where the undead sailors don't like Percy, since he's from New York, but are more accepting of Annabeth when she says she's from Virginia. I am not saying that it affects the plot in a major way, and I can't wait to see what Rick does about it in the show.
Of course there will be backlash when you change white blonde Annabeth to black. Backlash was bad enough that Rick have to become shield for them. Hope they don't change the plot like appearance of main cast, also why is percy blonde hope they his hair too. White people must be pissed with white character turning black and brown, funny thing those who are doing this are white too. Now what a brown Harry potter or something in new harry potter series.
L casting. Skipping this show. And before y'all jump on me calling me "rACisT" lemme explain Annabeth being cast as black person. It has nothing to do with race. When you read a book you kinda have to imagine the places & the characters AS THE BOOK DESCRIBES THEM IN GREAT DETAIL. So you form this mental image of them in your head. Most of the Percy Jackson fans have been carrying that image in our head for a decade. So when an adaptation changes that completely it's not acceptable. It's not about race, it's about accuracy & being faithful to the source material. You can't just change that. I'm not even white but I find this an insult to the source material. Why does hollywood ruin everything with identity politics & "diversity & inclusion". Disney & Netflix are notorious for race swapping on purpose just for sake of diversity. If you want diversity why not play characters that are actually black in the source material? Like Miles Morales. And I hate the Percy Jackson's cast too his hair isn't black. I was so hyped for this adaptation but they killed it before it even had a chance. Sad. I'm sorry but I can't get into a movie/tv show that can't even get it's main characters right
Since it’s a book you are forced to create a picture in your head out of words. So people are going to envision those characters differently regardless. Creating diversity was never on the minds of those casting the characters. They considered personality to be more important. Which is actually an opinion, and is debatable both ways. I’m sure many people value looks over personality in an adaptation, so you’re not wrong. These are also younger actors, and it was their choice wether or not they wanted to, say, dye their hair. They can’t get everything perfect, and what they decide is more valuable won’t line up with what everybody else thinks. If you decide not to watch the show, nobody will notice. I’m not saying you should, but not watching it isn’t a statement. No it’s not racist, I agree.
I really don't care about the skin color I just want the personality to be right . I hope they give her a blonde hair and gray eyes I could live without it but I hope
What a joke, he is ignoring his own writing. I don't care if she is an amazing actor, she looks nothing like Annabeth. If Annabeth was written as Asian, and she was made White. A bunch of people would cry and get upset. But it's ok to erase a White character, because White character don't matter anymore. People get called racist because they want the character to look like they do in the books? If Annabeth was written as Black, I would have no problem at all, but she is written as a tanned skinned, blonde haired typically looking California girl. Except she has grey eyes. And I bet she would have had blue eyes if she wasn't Athena's daughter. Part of her character is overcoming people not thinking she is smart because she blonde. People don't just want good actors, they want to see and recognize the characters. I watched the movies and disliked them, partly because Annabeth had freaking brown hair. I guess looking like the character doesn't matter anymore. Like a blonde haired blue eyed viking, now being Black. The kid who plays Percy doesn't completely look wrote either. And I am pretty sure Grover's skin is never really said, so he is up for interpretation. I will say it one more time, acting is more then just portraying the character well. You also have to look like the character. Raceswapping of all kinds is wrong, stop being lazy and create new amazing characters who are people of color. I would love some more Asian characters in fantasy and adventure books.
Just wanted to say thank you for all your amazing videos. You have kept me updated in the coming and goings of the Percy Jackson universe; you deserve all those 9.86k followers. 🙂
Her skin color won't affect the personality that we all know and love as Annabeth, she will do just fine, I have faith in the person WHO WROTE THE CHARECTER!!
Unless your story is about race is some way your character’s race does not matter. Annabeth’s race does not matter! It’s her personality and how well of an actress Leah is and if Rick approves of her so do I
@@PaintSplashProductions EXACTLYY!!
@@PaintSplashProductionsfacts! like if they changed like franks race, it would be wrong because it makes up his story but it isn't a problem with annabeth
Can i remind you that Eoin Colfer said he liked the Artemis fowl movie and then we got THAT THING?!?
@@martinmarsano3960 ok, I have no rebuttal for that.......DID HE REALLY?, but rick did say that he wanted to do a better job sense the og movies where awful, I believe in Rick
I feel like people forget that Leah has been acting longer than most of the young cast. I don't get why people doubt her so much. She's very talented and can embody any role she gets
Bro no one is attacking Leah or thinks she will be a bad actor, people just wish Rick casted people that actually look and represent physical attributes of the original characters he created.
@@cookbrookscooks Did you miss the part where people were cyberbullying her, got her tik tok account banned, and created a petition to remove her from the role? I'm not addressing people who were just hoping for a trait by trait adaptation of the characters. I'm talking about the people who didn't even give her a chance to demonstrate how she would adapt the role and just assumed the show would be horrible because the actors don't look like the original characters.
@@any_me...LOL Wait a minute, I had no idea about the petition stuff! They seriously made a petition to get her kicked out of the role?
@queenoface2296 You are a joke just because people are attacking her online doesn't take away from the fact.
@@-dark_knight. aw, how nice of you to defend people abusing a child
People had no right to act like someone’s skin color would affect the way they can act as a character
Exactly
The real test is if she is the Annabeth we read
No the main issue is that we grew up with a certain Annabeth, a character we came to love and visualize. Leah is going to do an incredible job, no doubt but it’s not wrong for us to expect the book Annabeth. It’s just nostalgia honestly lol, but Leah is going to do an awesome job and I’m still pretty excited.
Bruh does Walker have black hair? Or sea green eyes? Sure it’s not the exact character descriptions of the book. Big whoop. Why would it matter only skin tone wise. If you have that opinion about every little detail that isn’t the exact same as the book okay, fine, whatever, you’re still incorrect because at that point read the damn book but hey at least you’re balanced. But you can’t only have that opinion because someone’s skin tone doesn’t match. That’s stupid. I literally haven’t seen any of the people who complain about Leah not being white complain about any other physical detail. I don’t understand why it’s a deal breaker for so many people that someone who didn’t look exactly how a fake person was described was casted and decided by the author himself as the best representation of the personality of that character. Are you going to tell me the whole time you were reading those books that you’re evidently a fan of you were just picturing this blonde California girl and not getting that somehow messes up the portrayal of who Annabeth is as a person, the way she speaks, the way she acts, her motivations, and her feelings? Because then you have issues. Nostalgia isn’t a good defense for you feeling the need to get in here and make a comment about Leah. You didn’t really have a right to expect anything appearance wise when it came to any of the actors. You’ve still got art both official and not, you have animations and animatics, you have your own brain. You aren’t being deprived of anything. You’re being given who Rick thinks is the best people to portray the characters he wrote. I think most reasonable people went into the production of the show expecting nothing out of appearances with the ability to recognize that they don’t have a bearing on the actual character and therefore wouldn’t be accounted for in casting.
@@dipendersingh6979 yes the only big thing is the hair but I can't actually seem to find anything big about Annabeth's skin tone
i want to thank you for the work you put in to help let us know what’s going on with this series that we all love so much! you’ve been such an amazing person that i know i can rely on to share accurate information. it’s so crazy to think that it’s been a full three years since the announcement and a year since you began this channel. we love and appreciate you!!
thank you so much for this!!
I don’t understand why you would hate on her! Yes, I was a bit disappointed at first too (please, hear me out), because book Annabeth looks almost exactly like me and her character is also very similar to mine. So I was (or still am) a little sad, this Annabeth looks different that me now. But, that’s no reason to accuse them of such things or be against her casting! As Rick Riordan already said, she was cast because she can embody the role perfectly and I think portraying the character well is so much more important than looks!
Me too!!! I will always be a little bit sad that she doesn’t look like book her, but she’s a talented young lady who I’m happy to call our Annabeth!
I get that, but it's not like book Annabeth is changing. She'll always be the same Annabeth. I was really happy when I saw this casting because people have always compared me to Hazel even though I relate way more to Annabeth. I really like that we'll have this one too but no one can ever take the place of the original trio audiences fell in love with.
Honestly same I was iffy about it at first but it’s whatever not much you can do just have faith yknow 🙂
I get it. we have a vision in our head of what a live action annabeth and Percy look like and now we have to adjust a bit. its a little sad to let that go but at the end of the day, its just a physical description and the book is always there.
@@any_me...LOL Yeah, that’s another important aspect! I personally like to see them a bit as two separate Annabeths, because I will always see Book-Annabeth the way she’s described as in the books, but Movie-Annabeth is equally as important and just another „version“ of the character!
Are you gonna do reviews of the Percy Jackson episodes and they come out?
i would really enjoy this too and it would create a great environment to talk about them!!
Loved your video. Glad ur here to update us.
the birthsaversarry thing is super cool.
Leah's middle name is pronounced "Sa-vay" for those unaware 😊❤
thank you for informing me! I’ll take note for future videos
@@riordanversereport you're welcome!! 👍
After the five seasons they should come back and do a movie for the 6 book
I can't believe it's been three years. Also how based is rick. I'm certain Leah will be such a good annabeth. Everything I've seen from her so far convinces me of that.
Based? I think you mean racist.
@@massimo4307Lol, what are you on about? You'll need to clarify that for me.
A few things to take notice of in this situation:
1. The books were released in the 2000s. Back then, racial diversity was not as normalized as it is today. Because of this, white characters in media were the norm, not POC. It's entirely possible that Rick originally wanted Annabeth to be POC. But even if he didn't, there's still no denying that books with white characters did better monetarily.
2. A significant part of Annabeth's character is her struggle to be taken seriously due to being a blonde. Now, Annabeth will be a POC, and the same feeling of struggling to be taken seriously because of a physical, uncontrollable attribute will be a part of her story.
3. Leah is the right age to play Annabeth, and she is an experienced child actor who clearly enjoys acting. ALl the evidence points to her doing a great job in the PJ series.
**Also, Annabeth is a FICTIONAL character, people -- if you are seriously this upset over casting for a character who is not real, go touch grass!!!
I mean I’m sure we all would rather a blonde Annabeth but the chemistry with walker and her attitude are more important
she can still have blonde hair tho...
@@skyofbob blonde hair and black skin?that's a new one. Edit: I googled some,I take it back,it could of been done I suppose,but lilagoldfarb is correct
@@AlexSanchez-gd7wb I think it would looks good on her. But I don’t think it’s happening. No pics with her in blonde. I really wanted to have Leah with blonde tips or something
@@AlexSanchez-gd7wb dye exists and so do weaves... i promise you that black people can do quite a bit with their hair
@@AlexSanchez-gd7wb I've met a black girl with blonde hair. Just because you haven't seen it doesn't mean it's not possible.
This is not a documentary (like the Netflix Cleopatra series). This is an ADAPTATION. It's perfectly fine to cast someone of a different skin colour to play a certain character, because at the end of the day, the purpose of movies/tv shows is to be entertained.
Nope. Race swapping characters that are described in books is not okay. You find it okay because it's going in a specific direction and you are racist.
@@massimo4307 ? it is not based on preexisting material that say that the characters HAVE to be a specific skin colour. I find it okay because the character's background and character arcs have nothing to do with her skin colour. Annabeth being a smart blonde was tounched on a tiny bit in the books, but not enough to the point where her entire arc focuses on that one trait.
@@tanzenuanchorgreenps7864 The skin color does matter to the character arc, since the character is that color and therefore cannot be a different color while being the same character. It is blatant racism that people like you are okay with turning white characters black and defend such.
@@tanzenuanchorgreenps7864 Annabeth being a girl is also not important to the character arc, so I guess we can make her a guy and that would be okay?
@@massimo4307 ? one of annabeth's character arcs was getting over her crush on luke
I think some of the people who criticized Leah was simply criticizing the fact that she didn't look like the Annabeth described in the books, I mean, I was annoyed when Annabeth had straight brown hair instead och blond wavy hair in the first movie adaptation. people simply look at it differently, I wanted a book appropriate actor, rick wanted a actor who embodied the personality of the character. some people were simply driven by racism though, I'm sure, I'm just adding this to the conversation. and also even tough I would have loved actors who look more like the characters described in the books, I wouldn't direct my criticism towards the literal child actor, and instead towards the person who cast her, rick. (I don't think it's a very big deal, but if I did, I would turn to rick, not Leah, you get the idea)
That’s fair.
they made Zeus black. okay. but Ares (in myths Ares is son of zeus) is white af
They made Annabeth black, okay, I appreciate that. This young actress look stunning and very talented, I like how this young lady is perfect for the role of Annabeth, her energy and vibe are great matching for this role.
If Athene and her partner/father of Annabeth will be white, that was going really dumb.
I’m not a racist and I support all races as well as opportunities to show the world new talented actors, just it looks little bit weird and confusing.
all the best and peace ❤
Maybe her dad is half black half Norwegian.
I want to make this clear here and now for the ppl who still have a problem with the casting
*It was literally an open audition*.
Leah was one of the girls, around 12-13 who chose to audition and try to get the role. Rick, and the production team simply thought she did the best performance. Simple as that.
I'm pretty sure that skin color or ethnicity is not a top priority when casting characters *in an open fucking audition*.
Please find something relevant to complain about, move on and actually be happy that the show is coming.
To most of us, performance and how the actors bring the character to life, are more important. And I've heard pretty good things.
Honestly, this constant complaining of "wahhhh... they are ruining the show with their woke shit! Wahhh..." is ruining the show for some of us. If it's such a big problem the don't fucking watch but don't ruin it for us and let us enjoy the show ourselves.
Bro no one is attacking Leah or thinks she will be a bad actor, people just wish Rick casted people that actually look and represent physical attributes of the original characters he created.
@@cookbrookscooks, so are we recognizing the racism if you are right? Are we working on it? Or are we denying it here? I'm confused with your statement
@@cookbrookscooks They’ve literally gotten her tiktok banned TWICE and have tried boycotting the show. Many people are attacking her
@@cookbrookscooksI want to agree with you because I do know they’re people who wish for Annabeth to look like her book set more but I’ve definitely seen too many comments saying that her casting is… too many bad words to her and the casting direction.
It is very relevant to the literal background of the character's story. Otherwise, Riordan would have simply not described her at all, or described her as being black from the beginning. I personally won't watch this trash-heap, and will laugh when the ratings come out. If I ruin it for people like you, so be it; I will continue to call out racists like you who support race swapping.
No one should judge anyone for their race as well as I am sure Leah is one of the greatest actors there’ll ever be for the role, and I am soo excited to see the Percy Jackson books as a proper series at last, who isn’t??
Btw thx for keeping us informed about both the book and series ❤
The personality is the important part! I don't care what race she is, the person that wrote her character thinks she's perfect for the role! There shouldn't be an argument, she is Annabeth, and I'm incredibly fucking excited to see her perform in this show. She was the best for Annabeth out of thousands, so fuck off about "Annabeth is white." Not in this adaptation she's not.
We stand behind Leah along with Rick and the team. If someone messes with Leah they better be ready to mess with a whole ass Camp
Congrats on 1 year anniversary of your channel! Hopefully you reach 10k subs before the Percy Jackson series comes out
Personally, her being black doesn’t affect the character for me at all but it’s honestly just weird that they changed her race because they’re are so a many wonderful POC characters in the books. Don’t make characters black just because, make black characters.
maybe in hoo, the original five books though I think there was just beckendorf? anyway, it’s not like the casting call was only for black girls, it was an open casting call, and leah did the best job. simple as that. Complaining that they cast a black girl is essentially complaining that they didn’t compromise the quality of the acting to keep the role white.
@@seguaye Luke Castellan and Chris Rodriguez are probably Hispanic judging by their last names. Drew and Ethan are Asian. Just speculation at this point.
Every non-white hero in Percy Jackson and The Olympians is either unalived, is a traitor or both.
Love your work!
The main trio's actors all look perfect for each character.
I can imagine them playing them so well.
That picture of Rick at the end got me…. Wedding Rick looks like he could throw a football over a mountain
We also have a release date of New Years day!!
WE DO?????
Seriously??? That would seriously be so cool
@@any_me...LOL I say that because a tie in edition of the book comes out in November
@@lionheart3290 I know!! I'm super excited and if the show comes out on New Years Day, that would be even cooler. It would also line up with the late 2023 early 2024 estimate they keep talking about.
Wait… WAS THIS CONFIRMED?! AHH! I’m so excited, if it is!
I think I watched almost all your videos since the first one. It helps me very much because I'm not in social media, but Percy Jackson is my childhood favorite. Thank you for your news report!
Lets separate racism from characterisation.
People were critiquing the choice of actor not because of her abilities as an actor, but how her physical characteristics do not match Annabeth's characteristics. As a reader having a strong visual description of a character to grasp hold of helps the reader connect with that character immediately. While this is a baseline presentation and can lead to stereotyping, one is still able to imply the characters, culture, background, potential economic and social status. We as a species, like it or not, make immediate judgements based off of visual stimuli. In the end of the day, whilst depictions can be scrutinized over, as shown, its up to the author, creator etc to make be as faithful as he or she likes in the adaptation of the story.
Let's just not however, continue to use Rascism as a byword for characterisation critique.
I cannot believe that a year on from the casting, people are STILL hating on Leah! Most of their arguments revolve around "Annabeth breaking the dumb blonde stereotype is just SO important to her character! By making her black, you're taking away the only thing her character ever stood for, and you'll change who she is!" IT'S NOT! IT'S NOT MENTIONED UNTIL MARK OF ATHENA! IT'S NOT IMPORTANT TO HER CHARACTER AT ALL! Annabeth's character is about being smart, strong and brave, not about breaking some useless stereotype that doesn't even exist anymore, anyway.
Not to mention it's like the most minimal form of discrimination. Like, I know it was an era for maybe a decade, but it's almost like there's other groups of people in the world who faced greater discrimination for longer periods of time. It kind of irritates me that people act like because blonde girls were being stereotyped for a little while, they all of a sudden think that their stereotype must be broken immediately when there's other people who've been being discriminated for way before that time and are still being discriminated against today. Annabeth's character isn't about breaking stereotypes. Is it sad the characters can't just melt off the pages into the tv show? Sure. Is it worth it to humiliate yourself online by trashing a literal child just cause she's not white and blonde? No, I don't think it is.
I was so happy to see another vid from you! This channel is definitely a glimmer of hope right now for me as it’s giving me so much information on a show I’m looking forward to and the series I love so much. Keep up the good work!👍
I admit I was a bit disappointed at first with Percy and Annabeth’s casting at first because they didn’t really look like the characters. However, im watching the show with an open mind and what really matters is their performance. So im still very excited and from what i heard, they’re talented actors so I guess we’ll just have to see
I hope this doesn't become a new little mermaid or Velma problem.
It has nothing to do about color or her acting abilities. It's about keeping people's childhood original and immersive. Yall are the same people fine with changing history in shows just for diversity. Cant tell me you couldn't get her described personality that matches her description
It's urban fantasy where Olympians bonk humans of all ethnicities,and people act like this is a documentary of real history we know there is a difference between fiction and a documentary
@berengustav7714 It doesn't matter whether it really happened or if it's a made up child's book. Nobody claimed its a documentary. He should have integrity and not change his story. It wouldn't make a difference if the character wasnt already described to look a certain way already. It kills the immersion for nothing. Just look at the characters that were left up to interpretation, they have already been race swapped twice. Once the character has been established as one race you cant change the race without ruining immersion. Still changes the whole character
Listen Leah Jeffries IS AN AMAZING ACTOR but I’m just against the casting decision what if Hazel was cast by a white girl?
This bullshit still happen oh come on just drop it you should be happy that the show is happening
This situation isn't even Leah's fault. It's crazy to see people giving literal DEATH THREATS to her because of her skin color..... #Leahisourannabeth
I have faith in the cast if Rick is one of the people who managed it
With a book full of such color, I just don't understand why they couldn't give us an annabeth that looked like the character. And that goes for the whole cast. He wrote it in a way that placed a certain look to the children of the gods. Although I'm sure she's a wonderful actress, all we fans asked for was or favorite series to be accurate on our second chance. The movie version was filled with a full cast of amazing actors and actresses, but it was wildly inaccurate. We had a second chance to see these characters from our childhood on screen, and I still feel like it's wrong. The book was full of a colorful cast, we didn't need to change it for the show. I'm unfortunately disappointed yet again.
I am mostly disappointed with Rick Riordan. He himself criticised the films for being inaccurate and this was foolish from him. He could not have ever imagined that this would have gone down well. Not only it is hypocritical to do exactly what the films did after criticising them, it is also dam right selfish. He is responsible for the hate that Leah Jeffries received, he put a child in such a position and it makes me feel bad for her. Imagine if Marvel had cast some white people in Wakanda, that just does not make sense. Saying that it is racist to cast based of skin colour to match a book description is like saying it is sexist to cast based on a book description. I really enjoy Rick Riordan's books and I will continue to enjoy him as a writer, however, it was foolish of him to go through with this and I cannot respect the fact that he exposed a young girl to so much hate.
We all have to remeber that Wa all love Annabeth for her personality and qualities not her appearens
The only obstacle I can think of at all is on the Confederate boat in The Sea of Monsters, where the undead sailors don't like Percy, since he's from New York, but are more accepting of Annabeth when she says she's from Virginia. I am not saying that it affects the plot in a major way, and I can't wait to see what Rick does about it in the show.
this is the stuff that makes me want to wake up from my sleep
Wont be watching :(
Of course there will be backlash when you change white blonde Annabeth to black. Backlash was bad enough that Rick have to become shield for them.
Hope they don't change the plot like appearance of main cast, also why is percy blonde hope they his hair too.
White people must be pissed with white character turning black and brown, funny thing those who are doing this are white too. Now what a brown Harry potter or something in new harry potter series.
L casting. Skipping this show. And before y'all jump on me calling me "rACisT" lemme explain
Annabeth being cast as black person. It has nothing to do with race. When you read a book you kinda have to imagine the places & the characters AS THE BOOK DESCRIBES THEM IN GREAT DETAIL. So you form this mental image of them in your head. Most of the Percy Jackson fans have been carrying that image in our head for a decade. So when an adaptation changes that completely it's not acceptable. It's not about race, it's about accuracy & being faithful to the source material. You can't just change that. I'm not even white but I find this an insult to the source material. Why does hollywood ruin everything with identity politics & "diversity & inclusion". Disney & Netflix are notorious for race swapping on purpose just for sake of diversity. If you want diversity why not play characters that are actually black in the source material? Like Miles Morales.
And I hate the Percy Jackson's cast too his hair isn't black. I was so hyped for this adaptation but they killed it before it even had a chance. Sad. I'm sorry but I can't get into a movie/tv show that can't even get it's main characters right
Since it’s a book you are forced to create a picture in your head out of words. So people are going to envision those characters differently regardless. Creating diversity was never on the minds of those casting the characters. They considered personality to be more important. Which is actually an opinion, and is debatable both ways. I’m sure many people value looks over personality in an adaptation, so you’re not wrong. These are also younger actors, and it was their choice wether or not they wanted to, say, dye their hair. They can’t get everything perfect, and what they decide is more valuable won’t line up with what everybody else thinks. If you decide not to watch the show, nobody will notice. I’m not saying you should, but not watching it isn’t a statement. No it’s not racist, I agree.
I really don't care about the skin color I just want the personality to be right . I hope they give her a blonde hair and gray eyes I could live without it but I hope
Rick and Disney ruining what could have been a great show but nah they had to this race swapping. We need to start a petition to recast her
What a joke, he is ignoring his own writing. I don't care if she is an amazing actor, she looks nothing like Annabeth. If Annabeth was written as Asian, and she was made White. A bunch of people would cry and get upset. But it's ok to erase a White character, because White character don't matter anymore. People get called racist because they want the character to look like they do in the books? If Annabeth was written as Black, I would have no problem at all, but she is written as a tanned skinned, blonde haired typically looking California girl. Except she has grey eyes. And I bet she would have had blue eyes if she wasn't Athena's daughter. Part of her character is overcoming people not thinking she is smart because she blonde. People don't just want good actors, they want to see and recognize the characters. I watched the movies and disliked them, partly because Annabeth had freaking brown hair. I guess looking like the character doesn't matter anymore. Like a blonde haired blue eyed viking, now being Black. The kid who plays Percy doesn't completely look wrote either. And I am pretty sure Grover's skin is never really said, so he is up for interpretation. I will say it one more time, acting is more then just portraying the character well. You also have to look like the character. Raceswapping of all kinds is wrong, stop being lazy and create new amazing characters who are people of color. I would love some more Asian characters in fantasy and adventure books.
Just wanted to say thank you for all your amazing videos. You have kept me updated in the coming and goings of the Percy Jackson universe; you deserve all those 9.86k followers. 🙂