Percy jackson author
Riordan makes it clear that he strives for diversity in the spaces that he occupies and that’s a beautiful thing. He uses this platform, and his relationship with Disney, to champion underrepresented voices. The author has a diversity program on his website called Rick Riordan Presents, with the goal of publishing four books a year by diverse writers who write in the same mythology genre. It seems as if Rick Riordan and his casting team have struck that balance.
Diversity is becoming such a buzzword that people forget that you can have diversity and the best for the job. The author helped to handpick the actors portraying his larger-than-life characters and we as an audience should not only trust his judgment, but look at the faces of the children these actors will represent. She will be a role model for new generations of girls who will see in her the kind of hero they want to be.” While Riordan did not mince words in defense of Annabeth being played by Leah Jeffries, he also praised her skill in her craft: “Leah brings so much energy and enthusiasm to this role, so much of Annabeth’s strength. Funny how that old argument on which came first, the chicken or the egg, can also be applied to Greek and Egyptian mythology and the 21st century portrayal of one of Athena’s faux relatives. If you’re looking to the gods and goddesses of times past to verify the role of Annabeth Chase, it's clear that she is now being more accurately portrayed. While the worshipping of the two goddesses didn’t overlap, they definitely bounced a bit between the two but it comes down to first mention, and Neith has Athena beat by a few thousand years. Neith’s worship was most prominent from 664-525 BC, but there are reports that Athena was most prominently worshiped between 900-700 BC.
Athena is the Greek goddess of war, handicraft (weaving) and reason (wisdom), she was worshipped from 449-420 BC, while Neith was worshiped as early as 3000 BC. Neith was the goddess of creation, wisdom, weaving and war. In fact, Neith, the Egyptian goddess, is said to be Athena’s prototype. There’s a subtle irony about the backlash surrounding Annabeth being represented by a Black girl, as the book’s version of Annabeth is related to Greek goddess Athena, who many believe to have been taken from African culture. “Without having seen her play the part, you have pre-judged her (pre + judge = prejudice) and decided she must have been hired simply to fill a quota or tick a diversity box.” Riordan was very clear when he called out the problematic behavior from fans of the series. You refuse to believe her selection could have been based on merit,” he wrote. Riordan didn’t shy away from calling out racism in the comments, writing, “You either are not aware, or have dismissed, Leah’s years of hard work honing her craft, her talent, her tenacity, her focus, her screen presence. Eventually, the growing discontent caught the attention of none other than Rick Riordan himself and he not only took to Twitter to defend the young star, but wrote a beautiful strong condemnation of these comments in a letter on his website.
Percy jackson author series#
But… it didn’t take long for naysayers to start piping up over fictional characters being represented by people of color, particularly Annabeth being played by a Black girl, when the character in the series has blond hair. The trio go on adventures and help each other out of sketchy predicaments that can only be experienced by demigods and satyrs. Leah Jeffries, a Black girl, and Aryan Simhadri, an Indian American boy, were cast to play Annabeth Chase and Grover Underwood, Percy’s best friends.
Then the cast was announced, which should have been a moment of celebration for the fantastic actors chosen and the effort to bring representation to Greek mythology, but some fans were less than thrilled. But when the books were made into a live action movie, true fans of the series were left confused and disappointed, so when it was discovered that "Percy Jackson" was getting a reboot, fans rejoiced. Searches were on for the super-secret hidden book that wraps up a few loose ends and a fandom was born. Enormously thick books were devoured in under a week and alarms were set for the next release in the series. When my son got into the " Percy Jackson" books in the sixth grade, I hadn’t really heard of the series but I learned it's much like the "Harry Potter" for Gen Zers.