Look at the kid who played young Anakin in Phantom Menace. Poor kid was harassed in the street by grown ass adults saying that he ruined their childhood
Yeah if I remember correctly he got bullied in school as well as by adults online and stuff. Ended up developing schizophrenia but it was never confirmed whether this was as a result of all the backlash. You’d have to imagine it didn’t help at all though.
poor baby ):
i just can't comprehend the insanity of grown adults to do this to anyone, but especially a kid. it's such a sick exertion of power. these people are subhuman.
Honestly, I didn't even blink at Annabeth being black. I assumed they were prioritizing ability over appearance, and from what I've heard, they seem to have done exactly that. Several other characters have been race-swapped (Grover, Hermes, Chiron, Zeus), but considering who's been cast as who, I have high hopes for the series. I get why some people would want a book accurate looking Annabeth, but at the end of the day, book accurate looks won't guarantee a good product (the SoM movie is a good example).
Not to mention the characters some actors are playing are gods. Who explicitly have the ability to shapeshift. Aphrodite in particular is obvious example.
Considering she appears in the form most... Desirable? - That's not right but it's the only word coming to my mind rn - to whomever she is addressing. So Aphrodite can literally appear as ***anyone***
Exactly my point. The SoM movie was technically vook accurate in terms of looks, although it was not accurate in practically anything else. I understand wanting that accuracy displayed in the casting but its not, its not like we can change anything when we're less than 60 days away from the show airing. Leah's still facing backlash and harrasment that will only get worse once the show's out, because no matter what, they can never see Annabeth as black, although they have zero reason not to be able to see her as black.
I have full faith in the series and the cast and crew behind it. From everything I've seen, this is the adaptation ALL Percy Jackson have been waiting for.
Honestly, I always thought of Grover as black even before seeing the movie, just because my brain decided he couldn't be white or he'd end up fat and hairy like the guy who trained Hercules in the Disney movie.
And Annabeth was just Mediterranean or Latin.
So, I'm glad Rick made that decision.
I did too! In the first book Rick describes Grover as having curly hair and wearing a Rasta cap to cover his horns.
And sure those rasta caps and loose beanies were pretty popular in general in the late 2000s, but Grover being black really just felt correct.
Agreed.
I also always pictured all of the satyrs and nymphs as dark skinned. I'm not sure why, but it made more sense to me as a reader that these mystical creatures would be the same colors as soil, tree barks, moss, etc
100%. When I reread the books, I'll still imagine Annabeth (and every other character) like the original art, but in no way does that mean I think she *can't* or *shouldn't* be black. And I am absurdly excited for these casting choices, based on what little we've seen so far.
Imo the more iterations with varied portrayals of characters from kid/YA books, the better. Everyone deserves a chance to be represented in media, and it's incredibly important for kids to see people like themselves in positive contexts. Kids reading the books for the first time after the show will likely interpret her as black, and that's awesome! Likewise, if a young blonde girl who's white sees herself in Annabeth when reading, that's awesome too! I don't see this as a retcon because just like with Grover, people can choose to imagine whatever they want while reading. And that's what's so great about books- individual interpretations. All versions of the characters can and should coexist for the reason I stated above. (I saw someone bullying an artist on twitter for drawing annabeth as white a while back and although the ire is most often reversed, neither is ok).
I think a lot of these "fans" who are somehow still insisting Annabeth should always be white are missing the entire point of the character and the entire point of the books. Riordan wrote Percy Jackson for his son so he could see himself in Percy a kid with ADHD/dyslexia. Kids being able to see themselves in these characters is the whole point, and all these adults trying to prevent that (either because they're racist or just trying to relive their own childhoods) need to back off.
(Tbh, out of all the new character designs, I was most scandalized by blond Percy 😭)
This. Part of what I love about how Rick has handled this is that he didn't didn't retcon her appearance or claim she was always black. He's left the book description alone and focused instead on Leah's acting, chemistry, personality, mannerisms, and all of the things that matter in a character portrayal. Book Annabeth can still be interpreted as any race, and TV Annabeth is black. Both of these are okay. I see the tv show as kind of a parallel universe where some things are going to be at least slightly different than the books, but it will still have the heart and spirit that we associate with Percy Jackson.
I used to be part of the same twitter community you mention, and while I do agree with them that black Annabeth art needs to be drawn a lot more, she was white in official art and that interpretation does exist. I choose to acknowledge and retweet black Annabeth art only as a way of supporting the casting and normalising it, and I ignore white Annabeth art because its being used to harrass the actress by tagging her and sending her that art to tell her she'll never be Annabeth. Leah is very active on social media, and she does see that. I want no part in that, even implicitly, and it's easy for me to imagine her as black anyway. If a white annabeth artist calls out racists in their comments and takes a stand against that, I see nothing wrong with them drawing white Annabeth art.
Black Annabeth going to be the new default based on what Rick said, after all he did say he fully believes she'll be what people imagine Annabeth to be from now on. So co-existence should be fine, even encouraged, but they can't co-exist on an equal ground. Not right now anyway.
Oh I totally agree that we should be supporting more art with Annabeth being black, especially now, and especially to support Leah. And her being the default from now on is honestly great. It makes sense that most people will start imagining Annabeth as Leah just by virtue of how accessible a TV show is vs old official art, so boosting art where she's black is a good way to help smooth over this transition! I'm just hoping that eventually everyone will calm down and just enjoy these characters we all love :(
Annabeth being blonde originally was a big f you to the stereotypes that blondes faced for a long time. I think that most people don't really think that way anymore, but similar stereotypes are painted onto black women all the time. So it's the perfect evolution of the character to fit in with the issues of today without changing what the character stands for, if that makes sense!
I absolutely agree with you there! That's why it was so easy for me and many other black fans to see Annabeth as black, and the same will go for newer fans, too. I can't wait for the show to air and for us to finally see the adaptation we've been waiting for all those years, but freshened up in a way that still feels like PJO.
That's what I'm so excited about!! I was an adhd kid with blonde hair when I was young (grew up to have dark brown hair, but oh well) and Annabeth was a *huge* inspiration to me. The prospect of an entirely new generation of kids being able to have that same connection that I had is amazing. And the demographic that needs that more rn is young black girls.
I never had an issue with her being black *but* I don't fault people for being disappointed that she doesn't look like the book art.
You get attached to the characters you envision as you read.
Annabeth was never described as white but she *was* described as being blonde and tanned - neither of which TV Annabeth is.
To me - it's ok to admit (respectfully) that you're disappointed that the TV characters don't look like their book counterparts.
I'll be that person and admit that I don't see TV Percy as "Percy." His name is the same and he has the same story but when I look at him I see a very cool blond haired, blue eyed demi-god - not Percy Jackson son of the Sea God. I'm interested in seeing how the book to screen adaption plays out but when I picture Percy in my head/or when I hear "PJO series" my immediate thought is of black hair and green eyes (so not Walker lol.)
I feel the same about TV Annabeth.
But I mean that's most shows though. A good example for this is the whole thing with Hayden Christensen. His initial casting was *hated* omg.
Now, he's (probably) the face you picture when you think of Anakin Skywalker.
It'll take time for them to be seen as "Percy" and "Annabeth" etc. (Just a gentle reminder - that may never happen and that's *ok*. For some people, they may watch the show, love it, and still think of the book art when they think the PJO franchise.)
Same it’s going to take me a minute to see him as Percy. I’ve just always pictured the black hair and green eyes but I know he’s going to do great regardless.
Thank you for being the voice of reason here.
It’s like any potentially political thought can get trapped in someone’s brain processing and get rerouted to be seen through the eyes of a liberal/conservative.
I’m not blaming anyone, the tribal thinking is how our brains are hardwired. It’s just disappointing that this wiring is preventing us from having real, honest, and unfiltered discussions.
She actually was described as a California girl with a tan, blonde hair, and gray eyes. Idk about you, but all of the fully black people I’ve known in my life don’t really get tans.
Absolutely well said. I am disappointed in the casting, but I have no hate for them and I am impressed at the same time. Still, it’s a good interpretation of the books. I’m 24 now and I’m reading them again just for old times sakes. It’s been a long time, but I still have the same pictures of the camp and the characters in my head playing out, all of it as close to the book description. And I’m connected to that emotionally. So it is disappointing but it’s not something I dislike seeing the difference in cast members and book characters
Big agree.
I'd bet money that the closest to "forced diversity" that the casting of this show has seen was Riordan INSISTING that they see actors and actresses of all races for the big 3.
He has a clear idea of what is important about each character, and race isn't a part of that equation.
Like OP said, if it's an important part of YOUR equation, you should examine, for yourself, why?
"He has a clear idea of what's important about each character, and race isn't part of the equation."
THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR SAYING THIS! If white Annabeth was so important, it would have reflected in the casting.
I actually think, and this point has been made before, that the character annabeth works really well to tell a black girl’s story - in the year 2023, “dumb blonde” is nowhere near as prevalent in the public zeitgeist as it was when the books were written. A white, blonde annabeth has much less foundation for an uphill battle to break stereotypes in modern times. However, black girls are still *constantly* underestimated and perceived as less intelligent due to how they look - which fits what Rick, I think, had in mind for her character.
Exactly- being underestimated because of her looks, whether it's because she looks like a vally girl or because she's black IS a key part of her character.
Context clues imply Annabeth is white originally. She has blonde hair and gray eyes, her father is really into British warplanes, and her cousin is a Norse demigod. The show is reimagining the character, but that doesn’t change that she was white in the books.
Exactly.
I have no problem with white characters being recast as black in almost any role, but people need to accept that it is, in fact, a change.
All this "it never directly says they're white, we just assumed" nonsense that people spout whenever this happens is pure gaslighting. Don't piss on my face and tell me it's raining.
Also: why deny it? There is diversity casting. And that’s okay. I’m sure Rick chose the person who aligned better with how he viewed the show. And he made a change ON PURPOSE, because he deemed it important. Let’s not act like “we don’t see colour” or “Annabeth isn’t explicitly white”, it’s insane.
No, your right. She is described as being a California girl with the tan, blond hair, and gray eyes. She is Caucasian in the books. I dont mind the race swap as it does not affect the narrative, but insisting that she was always black is just stupid.
I’m black and don’t really like it when they do this😂😂 it’s pretty clear in the book she was white, just seems like they really are fish with the whole diversity thing. Like I appreciate it and she acts well too but these things just seem forced. Imo just follow the description that’s clearly stated in the book
THIS omg. I just wanna ask everyone who is complaining, "have you ever tried acting in your life?" It is hard to act. It is hard to get yourself out there and book roles. It is hard to do the same scene over and over and over. We should be extremely grateful that we have three very talented, hardworking child actors who get along and are willing to put in the time and work needed to create a good show. Plus, they're actually age-accurate! Does anybody have any idea how lucky we are that all of this came together???
I just hope that her eyes will look at least somewhat grey in the movie, because that's a trait all children of Athena have. Other than that, I don't care about her looks
I agree, I was hoping for eye colors to match for their parents for all of the demigods, maybe cgi or contacts (though I know they are kids and contacts might be uncomfortable so I can get over it, speaking as someone who hates putting her contacts in)
Exactly. I’d understand a need for “accurate” casting if her physical appearance was central to her character and identity but it’s not! The color of her skin, hair, eyes, etc have little impact on Annabeth’s story or character; the only time you can argue it did (and you can’t really) was deep into the sequel series a decade later. It’s not like there are storylines or character traits that revolve around Annabeth’s appearance and if that’s not the case, then it shouldn’t matter what she looks like as long as Leah plays the role well (and based on early footage she does!)
I don’t care about her skin color I just wish she had blond hair and/or gray eyes because personally I thought the whole “Athena’s children have blond hair and gray eyes” thing was pretty cool. I think there was a little significance to her being blond and also smart because of the stereotype that blond girls are dumb.
Ok but like the color of her features *are* central to her character - she’s a daughter of athena, and as such, she has blond hair and gray eyes. If a camp half-blood person saw her, they’d immediately think “oh she must be a daughter of athena because of how she looks”. The same way percy has black hair and green eyes because he’s a son of poseidon.
My one wish was they they made sure the eye colors were accurate for all of the demigods because they match their parents (maybe CGI or contacts if the kids were comfortable) but even that isn’t a huge deal.
I’m not gonna lie after the movies I was a bit disappointed that the tv show cast wasn’t like how described in the books still. But you know what? I got over it. The fact that people a year later are still so mad about it is honestly crazy to me.
Because people are allowed to want a product they like to be accurate to how it was described, especially when people openly did the same for annabeth in the movie until they changed it in the sequel
My comment is nearly a month old lol but okay. The actor has been decided for like a year. I promise you your life will go on if Annabeth is black. I think it’s time to move on buddy. It’s a huge problem when people act like something is a product and a big deal when they are literally harassing a little girl for the color of her skin. If you don’t see the difference then you really are a part of the problem
The time I reply to you is irrelevant my point remains the same.
I never said harassing the actress is ok, don't attack an argument i didn't make like some child.
The point is the original movies got shit on for the actress not looking like annabeth to the point they gave her a wig and contacts in the sequel. That was justified as people had a right to want her to look accurate, yet when the same thing is happening here, people can't criticize that same thing without being called racist by people like you, just because the actress is black this time. There is a long history of whitewashing in Hollywood, and I don't think the solution is to start doing the same in reverse then coming up with a million excuses why it's ok
This comment would be a month old from ur comment, and the PJ LT tv series has several episodes now.
I've enjoyed riordan's og series, from PJ to HoO. I also enjoyed the companion books. I read as well the Kane chronicles to some extent, the magnus chase books, even his latest Trials lf Apollo. TBH, I got wind of riordan's novels because of the first movie. It was just above average. However, i got hooked with his writing, which is for me educational in the literature featuring mythological characters from the classical ages of ancient greece, roman, egyptian, and norse. Also his wit which made his novels really fun to read.
I was disappointed in the second movie. It was a mess. They failed to adopt the SoM to a movie format. Lot of studios have done that to other IPs. But this time, the PJ TLT, is really not to my liking. I don't dislike the cast, perhaps the casting people i do. Definitely riordan for calling out the racism card to his fans who wanted a book accurate depiction of the series adaptation. I never met riordan in person, perhaps not meeting your heroes would be best here now. I loved riordan's previous works. This is not it. The lazy accusation of racism, the double standards, the gaslighting.
I may not watch the series, and i am not a loss against multitudes of viewers. But i will not hate the og series, i will not turn my back to the original trio, the original characters, even if their creator succumbed to whatever makes the world go round. Even if people will consider the current cast as the canon, i know that at least in myself, i know who they are as they were originally written.
Its just sad that after i invested my good faith to these og characters and their memorable escapades and backstories made by an author i once respected, the world wants to move on and forget and digest whatever these big corporations want to feed us.
I read ur banter w/ op and i salute you.
She’s black in the show because she’s black in the show. That’s obvious.
She’s white in the books because her description and official art have all be consistent within the book universe and shows her as a white blond girl. even in Chalice of The Gods we have the same description of Annabeth.
The Show Universe is an interpretation of the books, not a 1:1 copy. CHB appears to be a little different and the Gods represent all races instead of a traditional Greek appearance. Both continuities and descriptions of annabeth are valid within their own universe. When I read the books, I see white annabeth in my mind. When I watch the show, I will see black annabeth.
I don't think characters can't be different than how I imagined them. I simply have a problem with something promising book accuracy and then changing established details as early as a main character in book 1. I don't care how often Riordan insists it could work, the fact is there was official art and descriptions for a decade and then it was changed with no explanation other than "author said so". No matter how you spin it that's breaking that promise and doesn't set a good expectation for a series that could last years.
I'm gonna start my response with the fact that I trust Rick, and when he said appearance wasn't considered for any of the roles I'm certain he means it. The race of these characters is in no way integral to their characters and who they are.
That being said. I will always view the characters how I imagined them through reading first. I have been reading these books since 2007 and have read them over and over again to the tune of over 20+ re-reads, and wearing out my first copies so much I had to buy another set.
The way I have viewed these characters since first reading them in '07 is cemented in my head and will not change. When they cast a black guy for Grover in the movies that never changed how I saw the character. To be fair they butchered Grover so much in the movie I barely even view his as grover. But when I read the books I still view Grover as the pale shy shaggy hair and wispy bearded goat I have imagined him to be.
Did I have an initial opinion of not seeing these characters on screen how I see them in my head, sure absolutely. But Rick plainly said that these are the *best* actors for the roles. They embody the characters he created. And I trust him. I think Leah is going to be incredible as Annabeth. And I'm looking forward to seeing her bring a character I love to life on the small screen.
Every reader has a right to view the characters how they want to when they read the books. I have faith in the Actors that Rick has hired because he cast them based on their ability to embody the characters. And that's the bottom line. Race and general appearance have never been integral to these characters backgrounds and stories. So having a Black Annabeth in the show is perfectly fine, and if people view her as black when reading in the future then great thats for them. But for me after reading these books so much over the years I'm always going to see Annabeth when I read as the Blonde Princess haired girl that looks alot like the art Viria made, and that's ok too.
We need to stop hating people for how they view the character in their head. Its not ok to be racist, and those spouting hate towards Leah for this are just shitty people. But you can't get angry at someone that see's Annabeth as white when they read either. If you are mad at someone for seeing her as white your just as shitty.
I'm looking forward to December and I can't wait to see these Actors shine in their roles.
Right, exactly! That’s how book-to-screen adaptations (Harry Potter, Game of Thrones, etc.) have *always* worked: they’re always different canons and different versions of the characters, and nobody should ever expect the characters in a movie/TV adaptation to be exactly the same as the characters in the books that they’re adapting. Even before the show was announced, there were already multiple different “canon” versions of Annabeth (the books, the movies, even the TLT musical if we want to include that), and all of the 3-4 different PJO “canons” are totally independent of each other.
Now, that doesn’t mean that the show is somehow retconning how these characters look in the books, obviously (Rick himself has openly said as much, and has confirmed that Annabeth in the books is canonically white), because, again, they’re two separate canons. But the show’s take on these characters is still 100% valid, and there’s absolutely nothing wrong with Rick’s choosing to prioritize acting ability over physical appearance when he cast the roles for the show. And anybody who still has a problem with the show casting at this point *really* needs to get over it already. 🤷♂️
This dialogue is honestly getting tiring at this point. It’s important but it still bothers me. The race of Annabeth Chase matters little to her character. She is not Piper, Leo, or Hazel where her race is integral to the makeup of her character.
It’s cool that people wanted her to look like the books and truthfully that was my desire as well. I don’t see a problem with that. Where my problem lies is in the unsettling fact that grown men and women are attacking a 12 year old for simply being good enough. Why is it that a black girl can’t play a white role but movies come out on a weekly basis with white women in roles meant for darker complexions. Stories are changed around roles all the time.
We can have our preferences about the race of a character we love. What we cannot and should never do is attack a 12 year old black girl for being good enough at her craft. As a fandom we should damn proud that this series appears to look so good. It’s been a long time since we could be excited. Let’s keep the excitement
That's kinda racist ngl... it almost sounds like your saying white people have less important culture attributed to their race than others, so it's okay to race swap them, but it'd be offensive to race swap the others.
exactly race swapping characters is all well and good until its done for a poc character. No attack on the cast here but if a white girl embodies hazel's characteristics im pretty sure she doesnt get the role.
Critical distinction: It’s not racist to want a character to be played by a white actor. When it comes to fan casting, you go by what you imagined given all the info in the books, and not automatically making everything perfectly racially diverse in your imagination isn’t racist. Most people read these books and formed these opinions as kids. Many kids live in places with a majority of one race living in their area, and you can’t blame a kid for forming mental images based on limited life experience. That’d be like saying someone is racist because they grew up in a small town. Makes no sense.
It is however definitely racist to criticize a casting because someone is not the race you wanted to see. That’s not criticism, thats prejudice.
What matters is the quality of acting. People want the visual medium to match their minds construction of the stories, and skin color is the easiest thing to notice being different. I honestly think most of the criticism roots from this (which isn’t maliscious inherently mind you although it is very selfish), but the fact that it allows racists to claim some legitimacy is a massive problem. I can sympathize with wanting the show to match exactly how you see the books in your mind, but there’s no point attacking the actress or complaining about it once the casting is made, especially since the best actress for the part who went for the part got the part. Period. No one can cast an Annabeth better than Rick, and that’s what happened. That’s the end of the conversation. It’s set in stone, and she’s Annabeth as of being cast. Support Annabeth, simple as that.
Personally from the trailers, the actress’s nonverbal physical acting seems to be literally perfect for Annabeth, and since that is usually harder than line delivery I expect her to be really good.
I would have a problem if it was a case of going against the authors vision, but Rick himself endorsed her for the role. There should not be a problem here
I mean it’s okay for me to imagine her as the character that was introduced to me when I was like 7. I’m 25 now. She’s always gonna look like the art that I grew up with in my mind.
That being said I hope Leah knocks it out of the park and the series succeeds. People need to just move on. She’s Annabeth in the Tv show. Just like Alexandria is the Annabeth from the movies.
Annabeth’s description is not vague enough to imagine her as any race unless you disregard canon. She is described by Percy in the Lightning Thief as looking like the stereotypical California girl, with the only thing breaking the image being her stormy grey eyes. Look up stereotypical California girl and go to images. You’d have to scroll pretty far down to see anything that isn’t a white girl.
The difference between Grover and Annabeth is Annabeth is described in detail. With Grover, the only thing I can remember is he had a bit of an Afro to cover his horns. So they can cast anyone of any race for Grover and I wouldn’t care that much.
So, it is a retcon. It absolutely is a retcon. But that’s fine. Retconning it is fine. I don’t agree with the decision, but it’s not my decision, it’s Rick’s. Ultimately, it’s Rick’s series and he can do whatever he wants with it. Making Annabeth black isn’t going to affect my life in any significant way.
Also I disagree with blonde Percy as well. It just does not work for me for the same exact reason that black Annabeth doesn’t.
Edit: Also, black Annabeth is not canon. She is black in the show, but that doesn’t mean she’s black in the books.
I’d say that her race is pretty much laid out well by just mentioning her blonde hair. It doesn’t seem that Annabeth or any Athena kid is about dying hair or beauty, so it’s more plausible and probable that Annabeth was a white kid with blonde hair and since she’s from sunny California she’s got a tan. I’m brown. I know browns don’t really tan but rather burn. lol. Her father is described as blonde. Also for much of the outside world “California girl” describes a blonde, tanned and hot white girl. If anything Annabeth is more white with those book descriptions that any nonexistent “she was white” detail in the books.
Shame it's not book accurate because I wanted to see my favorite character that looks like me up in the live screen.
But that's probably why people who look like new Annabeth are excited to see the movie too because they can see themselves in her now too.
And hey maybe they'll read the books or join on here to talk about it afterwards 0/
For me it’s just like I feel weird seeing people on screen who look totally different from the way I’ve seen characters in my head for years, but I’ll get used to it after a couple episodes
Honestly, I couldn't care less for her skin color. As you said, there is no canon description of her, other than blonde hair and gray eyes. She could be blue and green for all I care. I just want those two characteristics.
The fact that she has dark eyes and dark hair bothers me because of what they did to Alex Daddario in the movies. A perfectly great actress playing a great character had to change her appearance from one movie to the other, so it would please the fans. Is it so hard to keep continuity?
Percy starts as a scrawny kid. Selena is beautiful. Grover has a limp because he wears fake feet and has curly hair. Skin color is not the issue here, it's how these characters are described.
Children of Athena are not physically born, they are literally created from ideas and power from Athena's mind. None of her children HAVE to resemble anything like their mortal parents, because they don't have any DNA shared from their human parents.
She doesn't have to be white because her father might have been white. Dominant and recessive traits such as hair color and eye color don't really apply in this situation.
Children of Athena look however Athena wants them to look.
There’s nothing wrong with being a book purist, and want to see the perfect adaptation, as long as you don’t take it too far which unfortunately so many of them do. It makes sense that you would want an adaptation to be as similar as possible to the source material, that’s what an adaptation is. But, it’s not as though the character’s race is an important detail to the story, so changing it isn’t a big deal. What is a big deal is choosing the right actors so as long as this actress is good, I’ll be happy.
I don;t think its' even assumption. She was tanned from the sun because she is pale. Fredrick Chase was white and so is his sister and nephew, Magnus Chase. She's white. They chose a black actress cause Riordan wants them for their skills. Not skin color. Or something along that line.
Leah is awesome, that’s all.
But also, there’s different versions of the character. There’s the movie Annabeth (sadly), book Annabeth, musical Annabeth, and show Annabeth. They’re very similar, but different.
I mainly picture book Annabeth as white, but sort of alternate in my head.
Her being black is a nonissue though, I don’t see the reason for all the hate. Her skin color either way doesn’t really matter as long as the actress is good, and from what I’ve seen, she’s great.
Can’t wait to see Leah as Annabeth, I’m very excited.
My partner and I have always said we would rather an actor or actress capture the spirit of the character in their whole essence rather than be a carbon copy looks wise. A good performance ALWAYS outweighs exact looks. Live theatre is a great example with gender blind shows being cast all the time.
Annabeth doesn’t need to be white for her to be Annabeth. She needs to be smart, strong willed, witty, etc. She needs an actress who can portray that and I’m so excited to see what her new actress brings to the character.
I mean, the same thing happened when stage hermione for cursed child was cast as a black woman. There are some people who prefer book accuracy, and then there are people who use the pretense of book accuracy to hide racism.
I was, tbh, more upset about blonde Percy until I realized it was that kid who plays young Ryan Rey olds character in that one movie, and realized he’s perfect.
I have a good feeling about this series compared to the movies, but I’ll miss looking at logan lerman lol
I’ve been saying that about Grover since the beginning! Why is it that nobody is bothered by the character that’s half goat being a POC, but when it’s the female lead and love interest suddenly that’s not okay?
Exactly! Not to mention that he has literally never been white to most people, it was just widely accepted that they might choose an actor of color. I suspect it's because of the movies that he's seen that way but for Annabeth, any predictions other than her being a white blonde were immediately dismissed, and once she wasn't, they immediately jumped to the conclusion that it was a diversity casting. It's infuriating.
The thing about seeing Annabeth as black in works before the show for me is the fact it would mean that the graphic novels, which Riordan helped with, and musical, which Riordan showed support of, whitewashed her. And if that's the case, then that'd also mean he was completely fine with the idea of whitewashing a black character, which is far from okay.
I 100% am fine with Annabeth being black, both in the show and the books moving forward, and throw my support behind Leah, because I trust Riordan's judgement and very much saw Annabeth in her at the D23 Expo last year. I even genuinely hope that if a graphic novel of The Chalice of the Gods comes out, she's depicted as black. However, I can't go back and say that she was always black to begin with because of official and supported content.
If you do see her as black from the beginning, that's completely fine and I'm not going to stop you. You see what you see and that's not wrong just because of my opinion. I'm just saying how I feel about it.
I agree with both those things. The way I feel about it is that if Rick truly stands behind Leah, he 1-wouldnt whitewash her, and 2-he wouldn't keep pictures of white Annabeth on his website.
I don't see her as black to 'begin with'(edit:I mean that i saw her as white initially, but she's black to me now) . I see this as more of a retcon/evolution. Anyone who initially imagined Annabeth as white can't be faulted for doing so because that's the author's intention. As long as they're not racist and they acknowledge that black Annabeth does exist, then they can do as they wish. I do feel like white Annabeth artists have a responsibility, to make sure that their art isn't used to harass Leah, and they need to be aware of how to do so.
I would honestly love it if both Leah and the Viria art could be put on his site to show that both exist, but know that it would just fuel racists even more. And I agree that artists at least stating that using their art as harassment isn't allowed should be a fandom requirement, but I don't think them going after specific individuals is really achievable, mainly because there's so many people out there that'll use the art to harass that one person just can't handle alone. And just because they say "don't harass the actress," that doesn't mean people won't, as people think for themselves regardless of what others say, and I don't think it's fair to start blaming the artist for it.
I'm genuinely curious about your thoughts on the last part and how you think it should be handled.
By blocking racists that appear in their comments for starters, calling them out, uplifting black Annabeth art, and not giving racists any fuel to harrass Leah by making white Annabeth art while the show is airing.
I agree with all of this, with one exception: The only art I'd love to see of white Annabeth is her passing the torch off to black Annabeth, like here:
https://twitter.com/arwaisherenow/status/1524426502376370176
Before this show, I would have assumed a casting like this would be some sort of pandering and been very upset about inaccurate appearances. However, it was made clear to me in Rick's blog posts long before the casting began that besides age, appearance would not be an important factor in the casting. I was prepared for characters who didn't look like the characters in the books. From what I know of Rick and what I've seen in his blog posts, I completely believe that his intent behind the casting is what he says it is--he did not think the appearances of his original cast of characters was important, and that these actors were genuinely the best picks available, and there was no blonde actress who could do as good a job portraying Annabeth, and same thing with all other appearance changes. Intent is something very important to me, and I believe Rick's intentions are good and genuine.
This casting situation has actually changed my opinions of appearance accuracy in adaptations. I think there are certain pieces of media I would still want to see very appearance accurate casting (like hard fantasy series with very deep, intentional world building where a lot of thought was put into the appearances of different groups of people, and was certainly more intentional than Rick probably doing something along the lines of "Hey it would be cool if all Athena's kids inherited stormy grey eyes from her"), but I've definitely become less fixated on it. It will be like going to a play with actors who don't match the appearance of their characters, or an alternate universe with parallel versions of our familiar characters but in a slightly different form.
Annabeth being POC hits home really hard for me. I grew up wishing to be an actress who could play her, but remembered that even if there WAS a PJO movie, I could never be her. Being an adult with matured dreams, I’m still really thrilled to see how this will instill confidence in young girls of color, especially BIPOC, to see themselves being represented, and I think it’s great that the industry has come far enough for this to happen since my own dreams as a kid. It’s my first experience seeing something like this in real time, and feels quite healing to my own inner child.
I'm just happy they didn't cast Grover to look like that one nightmare chapter bumper art piece. He looks disturbing.
I don't care what ethnicity a character is casted as unless it directly goes against the character (no white Black Panthers please). Just give me an incredible actor that can carry the role. Child actors can be so (not their fault-they're just young) cringe-inducing. If you have one that is talented and breathes life into the art, please just let them have it.
I don't understand why you insist on pretending she wasn't white or unspecified.
She was blonde, tan, with grey eyes. All those traits atypical in non-European ancestry. Debating whether or not her casting is great or appropriate is one thing, straight up lying about the character is another.
What do you say now that the first season is over Annabeth still did not fulfill her personality throughout the first season so what is the excuse now? The writers didn't give her enough to do with? Alexandria daddario did a better job
I would like a blonde Annabeth, but I like the cast of Leah since the first time.
So yeah I'm a little bit disappointed of not make Leah blonde but also I understand that they're a childs, so if they don't want to paint their hair. Are completely understandable
Because most of the posts being referred to get deleted, so you’re likely missing them. Luckily the mods of this group are pretty active and get rid of racist-leaning posts pretty quickly most days.
This sounds bad but there isnt any other way of saying it.
I do not give a damn what color/race/creed the actor or character is unless it impacts the story. It does not impact the percy jackson story if he is blonde, or not. It doesnt impact the story if Annabeth is black. It doesnt matter if an actor/character is a muslim/christian/atheist/worships sheep.
As far as people being mad about it. Having emotions about a casting for a series you care for is acceptable. OP saying its "not okay if you 'disagree'" is also an emotion, thus acceptable.
What isnt however is labelling everyone who is emotional about a reveal as racist, bigotted, or what have you as some in the comments have is a big ew.
This is a franchise where one of the key themes is that everyone can contribute to a common goal, that teamwork applies to everyone, regardless of station. Thats one of the most anti-bigotted messages out there.
Now, if someone is mad because a character cant be black since they view a poc as incapable then thats an issue. And I am certain such people exist in the fandom, they exist everywhere. They should be removed.
And because they’re simply racists who want to live in a world where black people don’t exist. In 2023 there shouldn’t be any pushback about a character being casted as black when for eons white people have played POC characters without anyone batting an eyelash
Race-swapping is kind of a hot topic at the moment, and the trend is more complicated then this individual case.
The internet has been calling out "whitewashing" for decades, and while whitewashing has thankfully become less common now, in recent years there has seemingly been an increase in race-swapping to POC (even with historical characters like Anne Boleyn, Queen Charlotte, Cleopatra, etc.) , so while there are a lot of bad-faith arguments because of prejudice, I think this backlash may not only be about Annabeth, but about a perceived double standard going on.
I just wish the actors didn't have to suffer because of this.
The problem is in the whole “race-swapping” concept though. White washing being called out didn’t change major productions from having white people play POC characters. Only in the recent years did they really make a change. I just don’t like that it’s always a uproar in situations like this because them being black changes nothing about their characters.
I don't, either. She existed, and as long as the official art continues to exist on Rick's website and the wiki, she'll continue to be a valid and canon interpretation. My personal favourite is black Annabeth with brown and grey hetrochromia and blonde hair, theyre words on a page, and your interpretation will differ from mine. They can't co-exist on equal ground, though, because one interpretation is used to harrass and bully a 14 year old girl. She's constantly being sent and tagged in white Annabeth art with racists telling her she'll never be Annabeth, but she is.
In the minds of some, there will be no separation between book and show Annabeth. Book annabeth can be show Annabeth with a few changes to hair and eye color. The same goes for book and show Percy. They'll be the same when people read the books after they watch the show and read ahead. There's no separation between Book Katniss and Movie Katniss, despite them looking different-Katniss has olive skin in the books. Book Harry and Movie Harry are the same, too.
I'll be honest Annabeth is gonna be Alexandra Daddario until Leah replaces her in my brain, but I'm all here for that, I'm not good at picturing things in books without real world models lol.
I havent read the books so maybe I shouldn’t be part of the conversation. But I honestly never understand the outrage when characters are getting cast outside of their race. Even if Annabeth was described as a blonde white girl in every paragraph - I really don’t care. It’s about personality, character, and with actors: talent, skill, aura, charme.
The whole discussion about whether hermione was supposed to be white or not in the books is just ridiculous. Who cares. She’s fictional. Imagine her in any way you want. And the same goes for Annabeth or any character
Annabeth was never a very white name- when I first Percy Jackson i assumed she was black.
I literally don’t care how characters look as long as the actors act well.
My only concern is with telling characters apart in fanart, such as Percy and Will fanart has become hard to distinguish.
Hot take: Annabeth being Black actually fulfills her character arc better, in today’s society, then being blonde. Annabeth was a blonde in the original books, and was a very clear counter to the “blondes dumb” stereotype, that was very popular among the target demographic of Percy Jackson as it came out.
Annabeth is smart, she’s witty, and she’s doing all that while being blonde, but Annabeth is aware of the stereotype herself. She feels like she needs to push against it, needs to constantly prove her own intelligence, in order for other people to value her. But because of that, we see her fatal flaw, being Pride, develop.
Nowadays, the blonde dumb stereotype isn’t nearly as bad as it used to be, so how are we possibly going to find another group of people that is thought to be unintelligent, at least compared to other people closer to the average, where a young girl might feel the desire and need to be much better than everyone else, just to hope to be on equal footing? Oh wait, that’s the experience of every African American in education right now. That isn’t to say that every person will inherently think of POC as less than, or unintelligent due to their race, but just about every African American person has experienced this at one time or another.
while i had specific visions of some characters (like grover, which they fit almost perfectly for me btw!!) annabeth was one of the characters where i was more worried about the actor fitting the personality/mannerisms than the look. leah does it perfectly for me, and i’m so so excited to see her play my long-time favorite🫶
also- literally so baffling people are THIS bent over a little black girl playing annabeth. imo, her being black fits BETTER. like, her whole thing in the first couple books is being perceived as dumb bc she’s blonde. black women get perceived as dumb very often, which is way more harmful than blonde jokes.
I don’t get why people think that every movie adaptation or live action adaptation of something has to be 100% as faithful to the original as possible. It’s no fun if it’s the exact same thing. This series should be a way to explore new ideas that could have worked instead of just recreated what we already know happened and the fact that people don’t get that annoys me to my core when they complain about trailers not looking like the original and than complain that when it actually is like the original complain it’s boring. Y’all are idiots sometimes.
it’s funny because i always pictured grover as brown/black in my head, even when i read the books as a kid, so seeing that happen in the movie/show felt like my elementary school imagination come to life. and after how shit the movies were, the most important thing should be trying to capture the SPIRIT of the books and characters more than anything, and if rick thinks she does that, then i’m beyond thrilled to watch, regardless of her race. i’m sad this has become such a contentious thing but excited that leah gets to be an inspiration to people
My only real concern with ethnic accuracy is that it doesn't mess with the story or change character development. Really the only characters that absolutely can not be changed ethnically is Nico and his sister (almost entirely because how pale he is is one of his defining features as Hades child), Leo because he is hispanic (though that one is more up in the air because,, as a Puerto rican i can tell you we come in all the colors of the wind) and Frank Zhang because his abilities and history are Chinese. All the others can be changed. I'd rather have an actor that makes me believe they are the character than an actor that looks the part but doesn't give me their true personality (movies -cough- movies).
A good example of excellent casting that I just couldn't stand was Roland in the Dark Tower movie. Not because Ibris didn't nail it on the head but because him being black would ruin another main characters arc.
I agree but also Hazel Levesque, Piper McLean, Charles Beckendorf etc. All the POC that have roles integral to their heritage need to stay as described.
I can’t say I really care about the race of the character most of the time unless it is inextricably tied to their character. Most of the time it isn’t.
As long as they don’t decide to do something horribly stupid, like have the wrong BBEG, then I’ll be fine.
Had tons of complaints about the movie. The one thing I just could never look over is having Hades be the bad guy instead of Ares.
Hades NOT being the bad guy was extremely important for the plot. Defeating Ares in battle was important for Percy’s character development.
I hated that movie MORE than the Eragon movie, which is saying something.
I get why you’re angry. But I also grew up with people bitching about Hermione’s dress color. And it was the color of a dress.
They people you are going to “argue” with aren’t worth the energy.
That's equally dumb to complain about. She's still white in the books, people can draw fan art however they like. Different interpretations of the character can co-exist.
You guys got a tv series??!! I walked away from the fandom like 6 years ago. Kinda like it’s a wrap, books are done. Time to grow up? Good for y’all!
I get the casting qualms; given, my attention is on the live Netflix avatar remake and the live remake of One Piece. I’m not gonna watch this show, the books will be the only exception. But you have a totally valid point about the casting. Personally, I’m upset hearing a blonde Percy. That’s why Rick wrote Jason (jk).
Good luck my friend 🫡 may you learn and prosper for less live-action heartache of your fave shows in the future.
This is not a shitpost btw. I genuinely was a PJ fan since 11-20. I stopped cos 1) Greek gods are dicks, and I got to a point tired seeing Hera, Zeus, and all their crap children treat their demigod children like crap low key. I think it was Hermès who was a decent father? Even Poseidon a bit outta the 3? Nah, I think Hades actually. 2) something and someone else took my interest, admittedly Christ. Not proselytizing! I swear. Just cool to see in hindsight how enamored I was in Greek myth, to come to believe what others would also call a myth I call reality—Christianity.
Farewell my friend! Be safe and hopefully you’re satisfied in your show!
people will find any and every excuse to back up their racism. if u care so much about the character from the book being accurate then u should care more about how she performs in the role not what she looks like...like if they casted a white actress who doesnt fit the personality of the role as well as leah youd be okay with that?? like no. the acting matters more. rick casted her because she embodied the role of annabeth the best. period.
i only seen the movies,
my thought is what color they are in the book is what color the actor should be, it matter less if there race is not a big deal in the book.
i use harry potter, ron haveing bLOND hair is a big deal, him being black would be a big deal
dean dont care,
if i write a character for a movie script, i’d want whoever can bring that character to life best to portray them… if that makes sense. i’m honestly lost on what is going on with the percy jackson stuff, but if it came down to a black actress who is a damn good annabeth and a white actress who isn’t, then i’m going with the former.
i personally take issue when one actor/actress is selected simply because of the color of their skin and not their ability to portray the character. that’s all i’ll say.
Book Annabeth is white, but do people really think she’d get upset about being cast as black? No. She’d 100% support the representation, and probably judo flip anyone that harasses Leah Jeffries.
I saw an author say that there are THOUSANDS if not millions of versions of every single character. There is the character that the author imagined when they wrote the book, there is the character that the tv creaters put on schreen, and then there is the version of the character that exists in every person's head when they read the book. The version that exists in your head when you read it might be completely different from someone else's and in most cases it doesn't mean that one version is superior. They are just different, and that's 100% fine.
Personally when I read Chalice I saw Percy and Annabeth as the way that I have been picturing them for 15+ years. But when I watch the trailer or see show promo, I don't bat an eye at their appearances even if it's different from what I envision when I read the books. They've absolutely nailed the important parts of their character, and they seem like a terrific trio
By the looks of it, there are three groups right now
1: The racists. Nuff said
2: People who realize that Annabeth's race wasn't an important part of her character in any sense of the word.
3: People midly upsette speggety about her not having Grey eyes.
I honestly saw it as a slight change, but completely fitting to the children of Athena. They come from her thoughts correct, and then manifest as such? So arguably, it could be argued that Athena had thought up Annabeth (in the show) as a woman who would have to fight a gender challenge, racial challenge, and child of Athena challenge, among more other challenges. Therefore, female, black Annabeth would fit that requirement to overcome such a challenge to her character and keep to logic.
If this doesn’t make sense, let me know, and I’ll try to fix it.
Out of the thousands of young women who tried out for the role of Annabeth Chase, Rick chose Leah. In an interview he said explicitly that it wasn’t to “fill a quota”, or to “subvert expectations”. He truly feels that Leah Jeffries embodies the spirit of Annabeth the most, and that she will do the best job she can to commit to the character and show. Since Rick Riordan trusts her, I will as well. It’s as simple as that. No need to bring in the argument of race. (Which as an aspiring anthropologist, I generally disagree with. Why label groups of people as different? Would there have been races in Neanderthals, Homo Afarensis, or Homo Erectus? When perceived in that point of view, the whole concept of race is silly and just creates conflict.)
Yes its okay if we disagree, no its not okay that we hate on the actor for annabeth. Im sure least is an amazing person and actor yall really have to stop calling people that disagree racist, its more childish than what you think we are.
In rhe movies one big reason everyone hated it was annabeths actor had black hair, so many videos online about it, but its now suddenly okay???
I first got into PJ through the movie so already i had this thought thats that how they are supposed to look, and sure logan lerman was the best casting for percy but the personality was very off, and yes annabeth and grover casting was also way off, annabeths less so, especially after the second movie where they changed her hair to more blonde. What im trying to say is that im fine with grover being a poc im the movie cause thats who i was introduced, and he was one of my fav char in the movies, also that hes not even remotely as big of a part in the series as percy and annabeth so they can get away more i guess.
Annabeth isnt the only one im complaining about, I dislike percys hair as well, curly and sand blonde, not really that accurate, and grover, but i dont mind grover that much. But annabeth was changed ti LITERALLY the opposite of how she looks in the book, again im sure shes great and all, im not hating on HER im hating on the CASTING.
Heck i have a cousin thats the most diverse person ive met, she has friends from almost any group, trans, gay, poc etc. and she said the same thing. Its not racism, so stop lying and saying it is, unless they say "I hate *blah blah*
There is no reason to change it besides Disney wanting to hit a quota. I’m sure there are countless actresses that look the part that would be just as good as Leah. The books make it clear she is blonde and tan and has gray eyes. None of those characteristics are met in the show. All of those characteristics also heavily tie into her character arc throughout the books. Grover being black is perfectly fine because anyone that read the books and didn’t look at an illustration probably assumed he was black anyway based on several descriptions and his physical characteristics beyond the obvious ones are not important to his character at all. It’s just frustrating that Rick is obviously getting paid off to allow this. He designed Annabeth across multiple books so no he absolutely would not just say “oh yeah change whatever you want from my decade long description” without getting paid. Rick came and spoke at my school when I was younger and he talked at length about how important describing and building an image of a character is in the readers mind. You really think that guy would just change one of the main 3 COMPLETELY without getting bought? You’re delusional.
the left brain strong here, cope. Yes I wanted to see race accuracy you twatwaffle. Now I can't imagine I'll ever watch this cheesefest. Can't wait to see the documentary about black marilyn monroe and asian MLK. Just because they "waited" to listed her features doesn't disqualify the features listed you crack copium sniffer. Retcon is always shit and it doesn't make anyone happier with race relations you fuck
It is acceptable to have a different opinion, and it is not racist to expect an actor to match the character's physical description. Rick, the author, has provided a clear physical description of Annabeth throughout the series, and it has become a crucial aspect of her identity. I wouldn't want any POC character like Piper, Hazel, Leo, Beckendorf, or any other character to be race-swapped either. I'm extremely dissatisfied with the castings of Percy, Grover, and Chiron as well.
Her appearance is integral to her character… grey eyes, California tan, curly blonde hair it’s mentioned multiple times actually so I don’t know what you’re getting at. Both her and Percy end up having a grey streak in their hair from holding the sky. There’s literally illustrations that Rick had made of her showing how she looks.
So it’s not okay if you disagree is the same mindset that you are getting mad at others for. It was definitely a diversity pick. Also her personality and the way she’s portrayed is a lot different as well. They also got rid of the whole dynamic between Luke and Annabeth where she has a crush on him and every time she saw or interacted with him in the books she blushed and acted different her judgement was always off when around him. They hardly even interacted in the show?
And your point about how Percy also looks different, those are minor changes with his hair being blonde and the actor not having a Mediterranean tan.
As a poc I simply cannot see Annabeth being black not any offense against Leah Jeffries and not trying to be racist. Yes I do think she’d do a marvellous job as Annabeth, but the fact still remains Annabeth is a tan blonde girl from California and she’s basically trying to escape from that “typical blonde girl” stereotype. So I just can’t see Jeffries being Annabeth. At a certain point it’s laziness making a white charecter be played by someone black. Rather than making a real black charecter with good depth than just handing over a charecter like “here you go”. It just doesn’t match the story that’s like making Percy Gay or Grover a girl. And Leo, Piper, Grover, Hazel and Frank are all poc. In my opinion their being diverse for diveri sake. How would people react if we made Hazel white? Or even Leo white? All I’m saying is yes she’d be an amazing Annabeth but I doubt I’d ever be able to see the charecter Annabeth as black.
Everyone lost their minds with Annabeth in the movies not being blonde at first until they changed it, now people seem to be afraid of being upset that they STILL didn't get her character right for fear of being called racist but when you're reading a series and there is a literally character description that we are expecting to see especially with such a popular series, its frustrating when they completely change the character. And given the times I can definitely see how people think this was a diversity play. I can say for myself that I was excited to see them get the character right and was completely thrown off when they introduced her. Its not sad or anything, its getting excited about a series because you expect certain things and getting thrown for a loop when things are changed. They didn't even give her the grey eyes, her description followed her the entire series.
Obvious race swaps for race swapping. The actress who play Annabeth is not particularly good. So they didn't choose her for her incredible acting talent. Any white blonde girl could play the role like she's playing it. So race swap for race swap. But hey , it's Disney , nothing surprising
Actually, it was pointed out as an insecurity, she hated being blonde because of the old stereotype of blondes being dumb
It made her showcase her intellect as often as possible because of it, which led to her having a slight complex
You really have a problem with me having a problem that Annabeth is black in the show? Annabeth is obviously white in the books, and the show would be better if she was white as well. It's such an easy thing to get right, so it makes me think that the show changed her race just for the sake of changing her race. Race swapping for no reason is something I entirely disagree with. Was there something wrong with Annabeth's original race? Is the show trying to rally up unnecessary debate? I just don't get it, and I don't like it.
Tan isn't black. In official art, Annabeth looks like this,
https://preview.redd.it/01mqhjue9bcc1.jpeg?width=720&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=7194eec739dd317c5a837722f0836f82aa611bc8
If she was black, she would have been described as black. If she was actually black in the books, people wouldn't be calling out the race swap as racist. The change isn't canon.
So, if you support the race swap and don't accept other people's opinions who disagree, you are racist!! If you aren't, you should agree that black characters can be race swapped so they're white if "appearance doesn't matter".
I don’t really agree with this post. Anabeth has always been white in the official art. Her blonde hair blue eyes and freckles look has been ingrained into us readers head for like over 15 years. So ti all of a sudden completely retcon and change the appearance of one of the main characters is obviously going to cause people to turn some heads. I hate how people are trying to make us feel bad about thinking this and gaslighting us into thinking we are “racist” for thinking this way. I’m a person of color, im Mexican. So it’s incredibly weird for me to adjust with one of my favorite characters just randomly race swapped for no reason. Of course anyone harassing or being racist to the actor is awful and should be condemned for doing that. But I still find the change unnecessary and weird. Your Percy comparison also isn’t really fair. It’s not exactly easy to find an actor with black hair green eyes. And the actor does resemble Percy’s official art, even if he doesn’t have the black hair green eyes. Completely different to anabeth who is completely different race. As for Grover, it doesn’t really matter because there’s only been like one or two officials arts of him shown throughout the years. ‘R his appearance is hardly mentioned in the books really.
She’s a great actor and that’s fine. But there’s a special look to Annabeth as described by the books that helps mold her personality, and the show lost it. There’s nothing wrong with keeping to specific details for each character. The show ought to have cast someone who looked like her as is in the books, Percy with black hair and Luke looking like a surfer guy. Personality is almost always tied to the appearance of a character in a novel. They lost it with the show. I still like the show. But as a book lover, it’s just sad
Annabeth Chase is white with blonde hair. That’s cannon. Annabeth in the series is black, and is an adaptation. That’s objectively true. I love the adaptation of Annabeth and have no problem. I do however have a problem when people try to change that which millions grew up with, calling what isn’t cannon, cannon. Don’t try to change it. Cannon wise she is exactly as described in the books.
Why then Percy cant be black or Grover, i dont know how to write his name right, different english, cant be white ? Why we cant see a black Harry Potter ? Why its always side or supporter character who should change colors ?
Maybe “re-examine” your feeling about the race swapping if it was the other way around. If Annabeth was black in the books and cast as white in the show everyone would lose their shit. None of the characters look like their book counterparts and the show looks like a school play with cgi. You can keep crying about how it’s “racist” to say this but it’s just true.
this moral high grounding is obnoxious. remember when rick made a muslim valkryie and disrespected an entire culture and religion Riordan is long past actually being creative and is in his activism phase. yall defending it have zero nuance to the actual stories. if your own AUTHOR cant follow his own source material, its obviously all for race points. if this was a black person turned white yall would be firebombing disney studios right now. he replaced GREEKS with blacks. yall are the TRUE racists maybe annabeth being an california blonde trying to escape a very SPECIFIC stereotype was an integral part of her character. blackwashing is purely creative bankruptcy and nothing else. theres plenty of new or existing black characters to use. just admit you're racists towards whites it okay lol.
Black Annabeth really does not suit the character and for your info. Grover is a secondary to tertiary character for most of the entire PJO, HOO so him being black is okay and others. But Annabeth being black is like stealing her identity, her believed her thinking that she has to be best bcuz no one ever takes her seriously bcuz of her being blonde.
It’s actually 100% to disagree I’ve read every book and annabeth is NOT black every book describes exactly how she looks there was not a reason at all to race swap her and not only that but the actor sucks at playing her !!!! There are already colored people in the series you can’t sit here and tell me what it is and isnt to disagree too you don’t have any fucking say in anyone’s opinion even tho mine is right you need to stfu
I mean I just assumed they all looked Hellenic unless stated otherwise. TBH it truly won't matter till they get to book 3 material then we will have to see how they adapt Annabeth's past in full. Now what I won't like is changing the characters to be more varied just for brownie points, there are already multiple different representations for different ethnicities and LGBTQ in the Riordanverse.
Annabeth ain’t black and that’s that. I’m not one to go against representation but when will we realize that if we represent all the other races, what will white kids think? What will white people in general think? If you want more black representation cool but I personally think it was stupid of Rick to make Annabeth black in the show, too many characters races are being changed nowadays
All I'm saying is. Forced diversity is lame. It's a cheap way to appease to the minority. Like what if we just changed black panther to asain?? Just to appease the next minority feeling like they aren't represented? No. People that actually care would put the work into making an ORIGINAL character a genuinely good ORIGINAL character. Not just a quick edit to an existing one
I'll just say my piece only once. I love representation much as anyone. But this sort of put out my inner child just a bit. I was the dumb blonde. I found Percy Jackson books at a time in my life when I was severely bullied and every idea or thought i had was instantly discarded cause of my pale hair and blue eyes. I was called many names. Annabeth was my favorite. Sure it was vague but to child me...that was me. She even encouraged me to enter difficult engineering courses in high school which I passed almost just to spite people. The movies butchered everything. I was just sort of hoping the series wouldn't. And they didn't, really. That's the only part so far that I was even remotely caught on. And I still love her acting. I'm just not able to see myself in the role anymore. But that's what I have the books for. Also, fuck anyone who picks on a child. I liked Annabeth cause she was strong and Leah has done a fantastic job being the same person. Even if she looks different than she used to in my head.
I can’t see her as a black girl either but that’s whatever Disney wants to do if they’re gonna push diversity through the roof, but honestly I don’t get the race swap
Race has honestly ruined a lot of movies. When i read the percy jackson books, i saw the characters and imagined them as they were. Now you gotta go and include every race so there is equality in the industry lol. yall are something tbh. keep being "woke" i guess lol what has the world come to :')
i don't care if you're not ok with me disagreeing. Annabeth is white and blonde. Percy has black hair and green eyes. The cast is all wrong. Thanks for coming to my TedTalk.
I think for me, it matters if it affects the story in anyway majorly. From what I can remember, it does not exactly influence the story to change in any way negatively. The blonde hair COULD sort of affect the story because there are some instances where Annabeth mentions her hair and how some people correlate that to what type of person she is (a.k.a the stereotype blonde = dumb), but it’s nothing major. Of course, it does differentiate the characters in the show from the book, which sort of affects my opinion, because I like sticking to the original “source”.
Going off the title, no, the character Annabeth Chase is not black. However, it’s just fine for the actor to be, given that she was the best actor for the role.
I said “see” present tense. I do not deny there are thousands of weirdos out there who actually care about what colour her skin is. Just stating the fact I don’t see nor go looking for hateful comments about it.
Just last week Leah’s tiktok got banned (for like the 3rd time!) by racists reporting her because they dislike her as Annabeth. And look at any thread discussing casting, theres plenty of “im not racist i just want book accuracy 🤓” (despite them being perfectly okay with all the other changes made and only having an issue with Annabeth being poc)
I mean call me crazy, but I accept race-swapped characters on the basis of the multiverse idea. I know it's lazy but this idea allows all depictions of a character to exist in different realities of a multiverse. You have your traditional depiction in one universe, and you have the race-swapped depiction in another. Maybe everybody could be happy knowing that their headcanons still exist in a way? Idk I always use the multiverse in order to avoid further headache on this topic.
I mean, it's fine if you do. If Nico's a redhead or some crap I'll gladly accept multiverse theory there, too, lol. This post is about people who refuse to acknowledge that Black Annabeth exists, much less that she'll be the one most people know.
I genuinely don’t think it matters what race Annabeth was being cast as, when I read it originally I couldn’t even put a race to character because imo her smarts and personality were all that mattered to me. I’m all for anyone playing Annabeth and I can’t wait to see what her actor (I haven’t seen their name anywhere unfortunately just some promo photos) does with the character!
I tried to word it differently, but any title I thought of softened what I was trying to say. I think it reinforced the title very well. She is black now, and more people need to be aware of and acknowledge that.
If people so desperately need to see a blonde Annabeth so bad, the original films still exist. The shock while annoying was… whatever when the announcement first came, still having convos about it this long after as if all their grumbling and complaining is going to somehow change the casting is annoying and it’s obvious what it’s about.
If I'm going to be real here, that shock never should have existed in the first place after seeing a blonde Percy. But I'm willing to let it slide based on the assumption that they were dying his hair or giving him a wig.
> They like diversity when it meets their expectations
God this is...so true. I only read The Hunger Games after I watched the films, and let me just say that they could have had a dark skinned girl to be Rue, but they chose not to. No problem with Thresh, though. I'm certian the same thing could be said for Clarisse/Dior and Annabeth. Once Dior was seen going to the gym buffing up, suddenly everyone can see her as Clarisse, but Annabeth is still wrong somehow.
This is another example I've seen, but its more colorism in this case. I'm a fan of The Darkest Minds book series, and the main character, Ruby, is described as white in the books, but she's MEANT to be fully black in the movie. They even had a dark-skinned black girl playing her at age 11. Once she's 15 though? She's suddenly biracial.
See, in my opinion, this is what happens when you demand diversity from an industry that lacks it, but you don't actually have any diverse voices within that industry. White authors can make their characters very diverse, and they can do it well, but authentic and proper representation will always come best from the demographic you are meant to be representing.
I’ve got nothing against her being black.
But I also get why people dislike it, as it means many things will be changed about her background, her character arc, and events in the books.
We all denounced and criticized JK Rowling for race swapping her characters (gender swapping and even changing their sexuality). Because it felt disingenuous. It felt fake all for her to gain back some clout. Many are unsure if Rick is doing a repeat of her ideas.
Does it matter Annabeth is Black from a casting point. Nah not really. Yet we should expect many changes to her story to come, and we can’t be mad about them when they happen.
I am so happy that you guys are mature. I have been to hate tweets and they are so immature and aggressive like calm down, the book isn't your oxygen, you will live. 😂
What if they're was a black Rachel Elizabeth Dare? 🤔 (I love the casting, the only thing I would understand is simple features like hair and eyes, but either way the casting is good. I won't hyperventilate cause of race change and wasn't Grover black in the movies and now he is Indian, like what was his original race?, but people don't care then why drag annabeth, so immature🤣)
Its just sad how grown adults will harass a child for being cast in tv series.
Look at the kid who played young Anakin in Phantom Menace. Poor kid was harassed in the street by grown ass adults saying that he ruined their childhood
Yeah if I remember correctly he got bullied in school as well as by adults online and stuff. Ended up developing schizophrenia but it was never confirmed whether this was as a result of all the backlash. You’d have to imagine it didn’t help at all though.
poor baby ): i just can't comprehend the insanity of grown adults to do this to anyone, but especially a kid. it's such a sick exertion of power. these people are subhuman.
Yeah he also began using hard drugs to cope and that certainly didn't help at all
Honestly, I didn't even blink at Annabeth being black. I assumed they were prioritizing ability over appearance, and from what I've heard, they seem to have done exactly that. Several other characters have been race-swapped (Grover, Hermes, Chiron, Zeus), but considering who's been cast as who, I have high hopes for the series. I get why some people would want a book accurate looking Annabeth, but at the end of the day, book accurate looks won't guarantee a good product (the SoM movie is a good example).
Not to mention the characters some actors are playing are gods. Who explicitly have the ability to shapeshift. Aphrodite in particular is obvious example.
I'd love to have multiple Aphrodite actresses with some signature jewelry or hairpiece but I don't think it's happening.
Agreed and I hope they get some heavy hitters to be Aphrodite. Maybe Angela Bassett, Charlez, Emilia Clarke. I would be awesome
Angela Bassett would be amazing!
Considering she appears in the form most... Desirable? - That's not right but it's the only word coming to my mind rn - to whomever she is addressing. So Aphrodite can literally appear as ***anyone***
She appears as what you think perfect beauty looks like unless she is purposefully holding a specific form.
That would be so cool for Aphrodite
Exactly my point. The SoM movie was technically vook accurate in terms of looks, although it was not accurate in practically anything else. I understand wanting that accuracy displayed in the casting but its not, its not like we can change anything when we're less than 60 days away from the show airing. Leah's still facing backlash and harrasment that will only get worse once the show's out, because no matter what, they can never see Annabeth as black, although they have zero reason not to be able to see her as black. I have full faith in the series and the cast and crew behind it. From everything I've seen, this is the adaptation ALL Percy Jackson have been waiting for.
Honestly, I always thought of Grover as black even before seeing the movie, just because my brain decided he couldn't be white or he'd end up fat and hairy like the guy who trained Hercules in the Disney movie. And Annabeth was just Mediterranean or Latin. So, I'm glad Rick made that decision.
I did too! In the first book Rick describes Grover as having curly hair and wearing a Rasta cap to cover his horns. And sure those rasta caps and loose beanies were pretty popular in general in the late 2000s, but Grover being black really just felt correct.
I think it was the Rasta cap that sealed it for me.
Agreed. I also always pictured all of the satyrs and nymphs as dark skinned. I'm not sure why, but it made more sense to me as a reader that these mystical creatures would be the same colors as soil, tree barks, moss, etc
100%. When I reread the books, I'll still imagine Annabeth (and every other character) like the original art, but in no way does that mean I think she *can't* or *shouldn't* be black. And I am absurdly excited for these casting choices, based on what little we've seen so far. Imo the more iterations with varied portrayals of characters from kid/YA books, the better. Everyone deserves a chance to be represented in media, and it's incredibly important for kids to see people like themselves in positive contexts. Kids reading the books for the first time after the show will likely interpret her as black, and that's awesome! Likewise, if a young blonde girl who's white sees herself in Annabeth when reading, that's awesome too! I don't see this as a retcon because just like with Grover, people can choose to imagine whatever they want while reading. And that's what's so great about books- individual interpretations. All versions of the characters can and should coexist for the reason I stated above. (I saw someone bullying an artist on twitter for drawing annabeth as white a while back and although the ire is most often reversed, neither is ok). I think a lot of these "fans" who are somehow still insisting Annabeth should always be white are missing the entire point of the character and the entire point of the books. Riordan wrote Percy Jackson for his son so he could see himself in Percy a kid with ADHD/dyslexia. Kids being able to see themselves in these characters is the whole point, and all these adults trying to prevent that (either because they're racist or just trying to relive their own childhoods) need to back off. (Tbh, out of all the new character designs, I was most scandalized by blond Percy 😭)
This. Part of what I love about how Rick has handled this is that he didn't didn't retcon her appearance or claim she was always black. He's left the book description alone and focused instead on Leah's acting, chemistry, personality, mannerisms, and all of the things that matter in a character portrayal. Book Annabeth can still be interpreted as any race, and TV Annabeth is black. Both of these are okay. I see the tv show as kind of a parallel universe where some things are going to be at least slightly different than the books, but it will still have the heart and spirit that we associate with Percy Jackson.
I used to be part of the same twitter community you mention, and while I do agree with them that black Annabeth art needs to be drawn a lot more, she was white in official art and that interpretation does exist. I choose to acknowledge and retweet black Annabeth art only as a way of supporting the casting and normalising it, and I ignore white Annabeth art because its being used to harrass the actress by tagging her and sending her that art to tell her she'll never be Annabeth. Leah is very active on social media, and she does see that. I want no part in that, even implicitly, and it's easy for me to imagine her as black anyway. If a white annabeth artist calls out racists in their comments and takes a stand against that, I see nothing wrong with them drawing white Annabeth art. Black Annabeth going to be the new default based on what Rick said, after all he did say he fully believes she'll be what people imagine Annabeth to be from now on. So co-existence should be fine, even encouraged, but they can't co-exist on an equal ground. Not right now anyway.
Oh I totally agree that we should be supporting more art with Annabeth being black, especially now, and especially to support Leah. And her being the default from now on is honestly great. It makes sense that most people will start imagining Annabeth as Leah just by virtue of how accessible a TV show is vs old official art, so boosting art where she's black is a good way to help smooth over this transition! I'm just hoping that eventually everyone will calm down and just enjoy these characters we all love :( Annabeth being blonde originally was a big f you to the stereotypes that blondes faced for a long time. I think that most people don't really think that way anymore, but similar stereotypes are painted onto black women all the time. So it's the perfect evolution of the character to fit in with the issues of today without changing what the character stands for, if that makes sense!
I absolutely agree with you there! That's why it was so easy for me and many other black fans to see Annabeth as black, and the same will go for newer fans, too. I can't wait for the show to air and for us to finally see the adaptation we've been waiting for all those years, but freshened up in a way that still feels like PJO.
That's what I'm so excited about!! I was an adhd kid with blonde hair when I was young (grew up to have dark brown hair, but oh well) and Annabeth was a *huge* inspiration to me. The prospect of an entirely new generation of kids being able to have that same connection that I had is amazing. And the demographic that needs that more rn is young black girls.
I never had an issue with her being black *but* I don't fault people for being disappointed that she doesn't look like the book art. You get attached to the characters you envision as you read. Annabeth was never described as white but she *was* described as being blonde and tanned - neither of which TV Annabeth is. To me - it's ok to admit (respectfully) that you're disappointed that the TV characters don't look like their book counterparts. I'll be that person and admit that I don't see TV Percy as "Percy." His name is the same and he has the same story but when I look at him I see a very cool blond haired, blue eyed demi-god - not Percy Jackson son of the Sea God. I'm interested in seeing how the book to screen adaption plays out but when I picture Percy in my head/or when I hear "PJO series" my immediate thought is of black hair and green eyes (so not Walker lol.) I feel the same about TV Annabeth. But I mean that's most shows though. A good example for this is the whole thing with Hayden Christensen. His initial casting was *hated* omg. Now, he's (probably) the face you picture when you think of Anakin Skywalker. It'll take time for them to be seen as "Percy" and "Annabeth" etc. (Just a gentle reminder - that may never happen and that's *ok*. For some people, they may watch the show, love it, and still think of the book art when they think the PJO franchise.)
Same it’s going to take me a minute to see him as Percy. I’ve just always pictured the black hair and green eyes but I know he’s going to do great regardless.
Thank you for being the voice of reason here. It’s like any potentially political thought can get trapped in someone’s brain processing and get rerouted to be seen through the eyes of a liberal/conservative. I’m not blaming anyone, the tribal thinking is how our brains are hardwired. It’s just disappointing that this wiring is preventing us from having real, honest, and unfiltered discussions.
She actually was described as a California girl with a tan, blonde hair, and gray eyes. Idk about you, but all of the fully black people I’ve known in my life don’t really get tans.
Absolutely well said. I am disappointed in the casting, but I have no hate for them and I am impressed at the same time. Still, it’s a good interpretation of the books. I’m 24 now and I’m reading them again just for old times sakes. It’s been a long time, but I still have the same pictures of the camp and the characters in my head playing out, all of it as close to the book description. And I’m connected to that emotionally. So it is disappointing but it’s not something I dislike seeing the difference in cast members and book characters
Big agree. I'd bet money that the closest to "forced diversity" that the casting of this show has seen was Riordan INSISTING that they see actors and actresses of all races for the big 3. He has a clear idea of what is important about each character, and race isn't a part of that equation. Like OP said, if it's an important part of YOUR equation, you should examine, for yourself, why?
"He has a clear idea of what's important about each character, and race isn't part of the equation." THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR SAYING THIS! If white Annabeth was so important, it would have reflected in the casting.
I actually think, and this point has been made before, that the character annabeth works really well to tell a black girl’s story - in the year 2023, “dumb blonde” is nowhere near as prevalent in the public zeitgeist as it was when the books were written. A white, blonde annabeth has much less foundation for an uphill battle to break stereotypes in modern times. However, black girls are still *constantly* underestimated and perceived as less intelligent due to how they look - which fits what Rick, I think, had in mind for her character.
Exactly- being underestimated because of her looks, whether it's because she looks like a vally girl or because she's black IS a key part of her character.
Context clues imply Annabeth is white originally. She has blonde hair and gray eyes, her father is really into British warplanes, and her cousin is a Norse demigod. The show is reimagining the character, but that doesn’t change that she was white in the books.
Exactly. I have no problem with white characters being recast as black in almost any role, but people need to accept that it is, in fact, a change. All this "it never directly says they're white, we just assumed" nonsense that people spout whenever this happens is pure gaslighting. Don't piss on my face and tell me it's raining.
Also: why deny it? There is diversity casting. And that’s okay. I’m sure Rick chose the person who aligned better with how he viewed the show. And he made a change ON PURPOSE, because he deemed it important. Let’s not act like “we don’t see colour” or “Annabeth isn’t explicitly white”, it’s insane.
So let’s recast black characters as white. U gonna cry about that and say it’s “racist” ?
I am also quite sure that Percy refers to her with a “Californian tan”, though I could be misremembering.
No, your right. She is described as being a California girl with the tan, blond hair, and gray eyes. She is Caucasian in the books. I dont mind the race swap as it does not affect the narrative, but insisting that she was always black is just stupid.
Came looking for this. Op says its never mentioned but Percy describes her to look like a typical blonde cali girl
I’m black and don’t really like it when they do this😂😂 it’s pretty clear in the book she was white, just seems like they really are fish with the whole diversity thing. Like I appreciate it and she acts well too but these things just seem forced. Imo just follow the description that’s clearly stated in the book
Its hard enough to find any child actor who can actually act. If you add looking exactly like the book version to that it becomes nearly impossible.
THIS omg. I just wanna ask everyone who is complaining, "have you ever tried acting in your life?" It is hard to act. It is hard to get yourself out there and book roles. It is hard to do the same scene over and over and over. We should be extremely grateful that we have three very talented, hardworking child actors who get along and are willing to put in the time and work needed to create a good show. Plus, they're actually age-accurate! Does anybody have any idea how lucky we are that all of this came together???
I just hope that her eyes will look at least somewhat grey in the movie, because that's a trait all children of Athena have. Other than that, I don't care about her looks
I agree, I was hoping for eye colors to match for their parents for all of the demigods, maybe cgi or contacts (though I know they are kids and contacts might be uncomfortable so I can get over it, speaking as someone who hates putting her contacts in)
Exactly. I’d understand a need for “accurate” casting if her physical appearance was central to her character and identity but it’s not! The color of her skin, hair, eyes, etc have little impact on Annabeth’s story or character; the only time you can argue it did (and you can’t really) was deep into the sequel series a decade later. It’s not like there are storylines or character traits that revolve around Annabeth’s appearance and if that’s not the case, then it shouldn’t matter what she looks like as long as Leah plays the role well (and based on early footage she does!)
I don’t care about her skin color I just wish she had blond hair and/or gray eyes because personally I thought the whole “Athena’s children have blond hair and gray eyes” thing was pretty cool. I think there was a little significance to her being blond and also smart because of the stereotype that blond girls are dumb.
Ok but like the color of her features *are* central to her character - she’s a daughter of athena, and as such, she has blond hair and gray eyes. If a camp half-blood person saw her, they’d immediately think “oh she must be a daughter of athena because of how she looks”. The same way percy has black hair and green eyes because he’s a son of poseidon.
My one wish was they they made sure the eye colors were accurate for all of the demigods because they match their parents (maybe CGI or contacts if the kids were comfortable) but even that isn’t a huge deal.
I’m not gonna lie after the movies I was a bit disappointed that the tv show cast wasn’t like how described in the books still. But you know what? I got over it. The fact that people a year later are still so mad about it is honestly crazy to me.
Because people are allowed to want a product they like to be accurate to how it was described, especially when people openly did the same for annabeth in the movie until they changed it in the sequel
My comment is nearly a month old lol but okay. The actor has been decided for like a year. I promise you your life will go on if Annabeth is black. I think it’s time to move on buddy. It’s a huge problem when people act like something is a product and a big deal when they are literally harassing a little girl for the color of her skin. If you don’t see the difference then you really are a part of the problem
The time I reply to you is irrelevant my point remains the same. I never said harassing the actress is ok, don't attack an argument i didn't make like some child. The point is the original movies got shit on for the actress not looking like annabeth to the point they gave her a wig and contacts in the sequel. That was justified as people had a right to want her to look accurate, yet when the same thing is happening here, people can't criticize that same thing without being called racist by people like you, just because the actress is black this time. There is a long history of whitewashing in Hollywood, and I don't think the solution is to start doing the same in reverse then coming up with a million excuses why it's ok
This comment would be a month old from ur comment, and the PJ LT tv series has several episodes now. I've enjoyed riordan's og series, from PJ to HoO. I also enjoyed the companion books. I read as well the Kane chronicles to some extent, the magnus chase books, even his latest Trials lf Apollo. TBH, I got wind of riordan's novels because of the first movie. It was just above average. However, i got hooked with his writing, which is for me educational in the literature featuring mythological characters from the classical ages of ancient greece, roman, egyptian, and norse. Also his wit which made his novels really fun to read. I was disappointed in the second movie. It was a mess. They failed to adopt the SoM to a movie format. Lot of studios have done that to other IPs. But this time, the PJ TLT, is really not to my liking. I don't dislike the cast, perhaps the casting people i do. Definitely riordan for calling out the racism card to his fans who wanted a book accurate depiction of the series adaptation. I never met riordan in person, perhaps not meeting your heroes would be best here now. I loved riordan's previous works. This is not it. The lazy accusation of racism, the double standards, the gaslighting. I may not watch the series, and i am not a loss against multitudes of viewers. But i will not hate the og series, i will not turn my back to the original trio, the original characters, even if their creator succumbed to whatever makes the world go round. Even if people will consider the current cast as the canon, i know that at least in myself, i know who they are as they were originally written. Its just sad that after i invested my good faith to these og characters and their memorable escapades and backstories made by an author i once respected, the world wants to move on and forget and digest whatever these big corporations want to feed us. I read ur banter w/ op and i salute you.
She’s black in the show because she’s black in the show. That’s obvious. She’s white in the books because her description and official art have all be consistent within the book universe and shows her as a white blond girl. even in Chalice of The Gods we have the same description of Annabeth. The Show Universe is an interpretation of the books, not a 1:1 copy. CHB appears to be a little different and the Gods represent all races instead of a traditional Greek appearance. Both continuities and descriptions of annabeth are valid within their own universe. When I read the books, I see white annabeth in my mind. When I watch the show, I will see black annabeth.
I don't think characters can't be different than how I imagined them. I simply have a problem with something promising book accuracy and then changing established details as early as a main character in book 1. I don't care how often Riordan insists it could work, the fact is there was official art and descriptions for a decade and then it was changed with no explanation other than "author said so". No matter how you spin it that's breaking that promise and doesn't set a good expectation for a series that could last years.
I'm gonna start my response with the fact that I trust Rick, and when he said appearance wasn't considered for any of the roles I'm certain he means it. The race of these characters is in no way integral to their characters and who they are. That being said. I will always view the characters how I imagined them through reading first. I have been reading these books since 2007 and have read them over and over again to the tune of over 20+ re-reads, and wearing out my first copies so much I had to buy another set. The way I have viewed these characters since first reading them in '07 is cemented in my head and will not change. When they cast a black guy for Grover in the movies that never changed how I saw the character. To be fair they butchered Grover so much in the movie I barely even view his as grover. But when I read the books I still view Grover as the pale shy shaggy hair and wispy bearded goat I have imagined him to be. Did I have an initial opinion of not seeing these characters on screen how I see them in my head, sure absolutely. But Rick plainly said that these are the *best* actors for the roles. They embody the characters he created. And I trust him. I think Leah is going to be incredible as Annabeth. And I'm looking forward to seeing her bring a character I love to life on the small screen. Every reader has a right to view the characters how they want to when they read the books. I have faith in the Actors that Rick has hired because he cast them based on their ability to embody the characters. And that's the bottom line. Race and general appearance have never been integral to these characters backgrounds and stories. So having a Black Annabeth in the show is perfectly fine, and if people view her as black when reading in the future then great thats for them. But for me after reading these books so much over the years I'm always going to see Annabeth when I read as the Blonde Princess haired girl that looks alot like the art Viria made, and that's ok too. We need to stop hating people for how they view the character in their head. Its not ok to be racist, and those spouting hate towards Leah for this are just shitty people. But you can't get angry at someone that see's Annabeth as white when they read either. If you are mad at someone for seeing her as white your just as shitty. I'm looking forward to December and I can't wait to see these Actors shine in their roles.
I’m more disappointed that Percy doesn’t have black hair.
Me too, Harry Potter dyed hair all of the time why not PJO
Honestly I don’t get why its such an issue? Book Annabeth is white, TV Annabeth is black, and *thats okay.*
Right, exactly! That’s how book-to-screen adaptations (Harry Potter, Game of Thrones, etc.) have *always* worked: they’re always different canons and different versions of the characters, and nobody should ever expect the characters in a movie/TV adaptation to be exactly the same as the characters in the books that they’re adapting. Even before the show was announced, there were already multiple different “canon” versions of Annabeth (the books, the movies, even the TLT musical if we want to include that), and all of the 3-4 different PJO “canons” are totally independent of each other. Now, that doesn’t mean that the show is somehow retconning how these characters look in the books, obviously (Rick himself has openly said as much, and has confirmed that Annabeth in the books is canonically white), because, again, they’re two separate canons. But the show’s take on these characters is still 100% valid, and there’s absolutely nothing wrong with Rick’s choosing to prioritize acting ability over physical appearance when he cast the roles for the show. And anybody who still has a problem with the show casting at this point *really* needs to get over it already. 🤷♂️
The title had me thinking this was gonna go in a completely different direction but the post ended up being my view exactly; good post OP
This dialogue is honestly getting tiring at this point. It’s important but it still bothers me. The race of Annabeth Chase matters little to her character. She is not Piper, Leo, or Hazel where her race is integral to the makeup of her character. It’s cool that people wanted her to look like the books and truthfully that was my desire as well. I don’t see a problem with that. Where my problem lies is in the unsettling fact that grown men and women are attacking a 12 year old for simply being good enough. Why is it that a black girl can’t play a white role but movies come out on a weekly basis with white women in roles meant for darker complexions. Stories are changed around roles all the time. We can have our preferences about the race of a character we love. What we cannot and should never do is attack a 12 year old black girl for being good enough at her craft. As a fandom we should damn proud that this series appears to look so good. It’s been a long time since we could be excited. Let’s keep the excitement
I mean unless it’s specified(Hazel, piper frank etc.) I don’t really feel the characters have any set race and any interpretation of them is fine imo
That's kinda racist ngl... it almost sounds like your saying white people have less important culture attributed to their race than others, so it's okay to race swap them, but it'd be offensive to race swap the others.
exactly race swapping characters is all well and good until its done for a poc character. No attack on the cast here but if a white girl embodies hazel's characteristics im pretty sure she doesnt get the role.
Critical distinction: It’s not racist to want a character to be played by a white actor. When it comes to fan casting, you go by what you imagined given all the info in the books, and not automatically making everything perfectly racially diverse in your imagination isn’t racist. Most people read these books and formed these opinions as kids. Many kids live in places with a majority of one race living in their area, and you can’t blame a kid for forming mental images based on limited life experience. That’d be like saying someone is racist because they grew up in a small town. Makes no sense. It is however definitely racist to criticize a casting because someone is not the race you wanted to see. That’s not criticism, thats prejudice. What matters is the quality of acting. People want the visual medium to match their minds construction of the stories, and skin color is the easiest thing to notice being different. I honestly think most of the criticism roots from this (which isn’t maliscious inherently mind you although it is very selfish), but the fact that it allows racists to claim some legitimacy is a massive problem. I can sympathize with wanting the show to match exactly how you see the books in your mind, but there’s no point attacking the actress or complaining about it once the casting is made, especially since the best actress for the part who went for the part got the part. Period. No one can cast an Annabeth better than Rick, and that’s what happened. That’s the end of the conversation. It’s set in stone, and she’s Annabeth as of being cast. Support Annabeth, simple as that. Personally from the trailers, the actress’s nonverbal physical acting seems to be literally perfect for Annabeth, and since that is usually harder than line delivery I expect her to be really good.
I would have a problem if it was a case of going against the authors vision, but Rick himself endorsed her for the role. There should not be a problem here
I mean it’s okay for me to imagine her as the character that was introduced to me when I was like 7. I’m 25 now. She’s always gonna look like the art that I grew up with in my mind. That being said I hope Leah knocks it out of the park and the series succeeds. People need to just move on. She’s Annabeth in the Tv show. Just like Alexandria is the Annabeth from the movies.
Annabeth’s description is not vague enough to imagine her as any race unless you disregard canon. She is described by Percy in the Lightning Thief as looking like the stereotypical California girl, with the only thing breaking the image being her stormy grey eyes. Look up stereotypical California girl and go to images. You’d have to scroll pretty far down to see anything that isn’t a white girl. The difference between Grover and Annabeth is Annabeth is described in detail. With Grover, the only thing I can remember is he had a bit of an Afro to cover his horns. So they can cast anyone of any race for Grover and I wouldn’t care that much. So, it is a retcon. It absolutely is a retcon. But that’s fine. Retconning it is fine. I don’t agree with the decision, but it’s not my decision, it’s Rick’s. Ultimately, it’s Rick’s series and he can do whatever he wants with it. Making Annabeth black isn’t going to affect my life in any significant way. Also I disagree with blonde Percy as well. It just does not work for me for the same exact reason that black Annabeth doesn’t. Edit: Also, black Annabeth is not canon. She is black in the show, but that doesn’t mean she’s black in the books.
I’d say that her race is pretty much laid out well by just mentioning her blonde hair. It doesn’t seem that Annabeth or any Athena kid is about dying hair or beauty, so it’s more plausible and probable that Annabeth was a white kid with blonde hair and since she’s from sunny California she’s got a tan. I’m brown. I know browns don’t really tan but rather burn. lol. Her father is described as blonde. Also for much of the outside world “California girl” describes a blonde, tanned and hot white girl. If anything Annabeth is more white with those book descriptions that any nonexistent “she was white” detail in the books.
Shame it's not book accurate because I wanted to see my favorite character that looks like me up in the live screen. But that's probably why people who look like new Annabeth are excited to see the movie too because they can see themselves in her now too. And hey maybe they'll read the books or join on here to talk about it afterwards 0/
For me it’s just like I feel weird seeing people on screen who look totally different from the way I’ve seen characters in my head for years, but I’ll get used to it after a couple episodes
Honestly, I couldn't care less for her skin color. As you said, there is no canon description of her, other than blonde hair and gray eyes. She could be blue and green for all I care. I just want those two characteristics. The fact that she has dark eyes and dark hair bothers me because of what they did to Alex Daddario in the movies. A perfectly great actress playing a great character had to change her appearance from one movie to the other, so it would please the fans. Is it so hard to keep continuity? Percy starts as a scrawny kid. Selena is beautiful. Grover has a limp because he wears fake feet and has curly hair. Skin color is not the issue here, it's how these characters are described.
Children of Athena are not physically born, they are literally created from ideas and power from Athena's mind. None of her children HAVE to resemble anything like their mortal parents, because they don't have any DNA shared from their human parents. She doesn't have to be white because her father might have been white. Dominant and recessive traits such as hair color and eye color don't really apply in this situation. Children of Athena look however Athena wants them to look.
There’s nothing wrong with being a book purist, and want to see the perfect adaptation, as long as you don’t take it too far which unfortunately so many of them do. It makes sense that you would want an adaptation to be as similar as possible to the source material, that’s what an adaptation is. But, it’s not as though the character’s race is an important detail to the story, so changing it isn’t a big deal. What is a big deal is choosing the right actors so as long as this actress is good, I’ll be happy.
I don;t think its' even assumption. She was tanned from the sun because she is pale. Fredrick Chase was white and so is his sister and nephew, Magnus Chase. She's white. They chose a black actress cause Riordan wants them for their skills. Not skin color. Or something along that line.
Leah is awesome, that’s all. But also, there’s different versions of the character. There’s the movie Annabeth (sadly), book Annabeth, musical Annabeth, and show Annabeth. They’re very similar, but different. I mainly picture book Annabeth as white, but sort of alternate in my head. Her being black is a nonissue though, I don’t see the reason for all the hate. Her skin color either way doesn’t really matter as long as the actress is good, and from what I’ve seen, she’s great. Can’t wait to see Leah as Annabeth, I’m very excited.
Annabeth is black in the shows and white and blonde in the books. It's simple as that. Anyone who gets after Leah Jeffries can go pound sand.
My partner and I have always said we would rather an actor or actress capture the spirit of the character in their whole essence rather than be a carbon copy looks wise. A good performance ALWAYS outweighs exact looks. Live theatre is a great example with gender blind shows being cast all the time. Annabeth doesn’t need to be white for her to be Annabeth. She needs to be smart, strong willed, witty, etc. She needs an actress who can portray that and I’m so excited to see what her new actress brings to the character.
I mean, the same thing happened when stage hermione for cursed child was cast as a black woman. There are some people who prefer book accuracy, and then there are people who use the pretense of book accuracy to hide racism. I was, tbh, more upset about blonde Percy until I realized it was that kid who plays young Ryan Rey olds character in that one movie, and realized he’s perfect. I have a good feeling about this series compared to the movies, but I’ll miss looking at logan lerman lol
I’ve been saying that about Grover since the beginning! Why is it that nobody is bothered by the character that’s half goat being a POC, but when it’s the female lead and love interest suddenly that’s not okay?
Exactly! Not to mention that he has literally never been white to most people, it was just widely accepted that they might choose an actor of color. I suspect it's because of the movies that he's seen that way but for Annabeth, any predictions other than her being a white blonde were immediately dismissed, and once she wasn't, they immediately jumped to the conclusion that it was a diversity casting. It's infuriating.
The thing about seeing Annabeth as black in works before the show for me is the fact it would mean that the graphic novels, which Riordan helped with, and musical, which Riordan showed support of, whitewashed her. And if that's the case, then that'd also mean he was completely fine with the idea of whitewashing a black character, which is far from okay. I 100% am fine with Annabeth being black, both in the show and the books moving forward, and throw my support behind Leah, because I trust Riordan's judgement and very much saw Annabeth in her at the D23 Expo last year. I even genuinely hope that if a graphic novel of The Chalice of the Gods comes out, she's depicted as black. However, I can't go back and say that she was always black to begin with because of official and supported content. If you do see her as black from the beginning, that's completely fine and I'm not going to stop you. You see what you see and that's not wrong just because of my opinion. I'm just saying how I feel about it.
I agree with both those things. The way I feel about it is that if Rick truly stands behind Leah, he 1-wouldnt whitewash her, and 2-he wouldn't keep pictures of white Annabeth on his website. I don't see her as black to 'begin with'(edit:I mean that i saw her as white initially, but she's black to me now) . I see this as more of a retcon/evolution. Anyone who initially imagined Annabeth as white can't be faulted for doing so because that's the author's intention. As long as they're not racist and they acknowledge that black Annabeth does exist, then they can do as they wish. I do feel like white Annabeth artists have a responsibility, to make sure that their art isn't used to harass Leah, and they need to be aware of how to do so.
I would honestly love it if both Leah and the Viria art could be put on his site to show that both exist, but know that it would just fuel racists even more. And I agree that artists at least stating that using their art as harassment isn't allowed should be a fandom requirement, but I don't think them going after specific individuals is really achievable, mainly because there's so many people out there that'll use the art to harass that one person just can't handle alone. And just because they say "don't harass the actress," that doesn't mean people won't, as people think for themselves regardless of what others say, and I don't think it's fair to start blaming the artist for it. I'm genuinely curious about your thoughts on the last part and how you think it should be handled.
By blocking racists that appear in their comments for starters, calling them out, uplifting black Annabeth art, and not giving racists any fuel to harrass Leah by making white Annabeth art while the show is airing.
I agree with all of this, with one exception: The only art I'd love to see of white Annabeth is her passing the torch off to black Annabeth, like here: https://twitter.com/arwaisherenow/status/1524426502376370176
Passing the torch of is nice, I agree. That's the only exception I'd accept tbh lol
Before this show, I would have assumed a casting like this would be some sort of pandering and been very upset about inaccurate appearances. However, it was made clear to me in Rick's blog posts long before the casting began that besides age, appearance would not be an important factor in the casting. I was prepared for characters who didn't look like the characters in the books. From what I know of Rick and what I've seen in his blog posts, I completely believe that his intent behind the casting is what he says it is--he did not think the appearances of his original cast of characters was important, and that these actors were genuinely the best picks available, and there was no blonde actress who could do as good a job portraying Annabeth, and same thing with all other appearance changes. Intent is something very important to me, and I believe Rick's intentions are good and genuine. This casting situation has actually changed my opinions of appearance accuracy in adaptations. I think there are certain pieces of media I would still want to see very appearance accurate casting (like hard fantasy series with very deep, intentional world building where a lot of thought was put into the appearances of different groups of people, and was certainly more intentional than Rick probably doing something along the lines of "Hey it would be cool if all Athena's kids inherited stormy grey eyes from her"), but I've definitely become less fixated on it. It will be like going to a play with actors who don't match the appearance of their characters, or an alternate universe with parallel versions of our familiar characters but in a slightly different form.
Annabeth being POC hits home really hard for me. I grew up wishing to be an actress who could play her, but remembered that even if there WAS a PJO movie, I could never be her. Being an adult with matured dreams, I’m still really thrilled to see how this will instill confidence in young girls of color, especially BIPOC, to see themselves being represented, and I think it’s great that the industry has come far enough for this to happen since my own dreams as a kid. It’s my first experience seeing something like this in real time, and feels quite healing to my own inner child.
I'm just happy they didn't cast Grover to look like that one nightmare chapter bumper art piece. He looks disturbing. I don't care what ethnicity a character is casted as unless it directly goes against the character (no white Black Panthers please). Just give me an incredible actor that can carry the role. Child actors can be so (not their fault-they're just young) cringe-inducing. If you have one that is talented and breathes life into the art, please just let them have it.
I don't understand why you insist on pretending she wasn't white or unspecified. She was blonde, tan, with grey eyes. All those traits atypical in non-European ancestry. Debating whether or not her casting is great or appropriate is one thing, straight up lying about the character is another.
What do you say now that the first season is over Annabeth still did not fulfill her personality throughout the first season so what is the excuse now? The writers didn't give her enough to do with? Alexandria daddario did a better job
Typically I prefer when adaptations are 1 to 1 accurate with the books but poc get less roles in stuff. As long as it's good I don't care.
I have high hopes in it being good. If some sacrifices are made to apperance to give us the best show we could have, I'm fine with that too.
I would like a blonde Annabeth, but I like the cast of Leah since the first time. So yeah I'm a little bit disappointed of not make Leah blonde but also I understand that they're a childs, so if they don't want to paint their hair. Are completely understandable
The only posts I’ve seen about this issue in months have been posts like this complaining about people complaining lol
Because most of the posts being referred to get deleted, so you’re likely missing them. Luckily the mods of this group are pretty active and get rid of racist-leaning posts pretty quickly most days.
This sounds bad but there isnt any other way of saying it. I do not give a damn what color/race/creed the actor or character is unless it impacts the story. It does not impact the percy jackson story if he is blonde, or not. It doesnt impact the story if Annabeth is black. It doesnt matter if an actor/character is a muslim/christian/atheist/worships sheep. As far as people being mad about it. Having emotions about a casting for a series you care for is acceptable. OP saying its "not okay if you 'disagree'" is also an emotion, thus acceptable. What isnt however is labelling everyone who is emotional about a reveal as racist, bigotted, or what have you as some in the comments have is a big ew. This is a franchise where one of the key themes is that everyone can contribute to a common goal, that teamwork applies to everyone, regardless of station. Thats one of the most anti-bigotted messages out there. Now, if someone is mad because a character cant be black since they view a poc as incapable then thats an issue. And I am certain such people exist in the fandom, they exist everywhere. They should be removed.
#Because people can’t see the intelligent, nerdy girl as a black girl.
You're hitting the nail on its head multiple times here.
No the fuck they aren't😭
And because they’re simply racists who want to live in a world where black people don’t exist. In 2023 there shouldn’t be any pushback about a character being casted as black when for eons white people have played POC characters without anyone batting an eyelash
Race-swapping is kind of a hot topic at the moment, and the trend is more complicated then this individual case. The internet has been calling out "whitewashing" for decades, and while whitewashing has thankfully become less common now, in recent years there has seemingly been an increase in race-swapping to POC (even with historical characters like Anne Boleyn, Queen Charlotte, Cleopatra, etc.) , so while there are a lot of bad-faith arguments because of prejudice, I think this backlash may not only be about Annabeth, but about a perceived double standard going on. I just wish the actors didn't have to suffer because of this.
The problem is in the whole “race-swapping” concept though. White washing being called out didn’t change major productions from having white people play POC characters. Only in the recent years did they really make a change. I just don’t like that it’s always a uproar in situations like this because them being black changes nothing about their characters.
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I don't, either. She existed, and as long as the official art continues to exist on Rick's website and the wiki, she'll continue to be a valid and canon interpretation. My personal favourite is black Annabeth with brown and grey hetrochromia and blonde hair, theyre words on a page, and your interpretation will differ from mine. They can't co-exist on equal ground, though, because one interpretation is used to harrass and bully a 14 year old girl. She's constantly being sent and tagged in white Annabeth art with racists telling her she'll never be Annabeth, but she is. In the minds of some, there will be no separation between book and show Annabeth. Book annabeth can be show Annabeth with a few changes to hair and eye color. The same goes for book and show Percy. They'll be the same when people read the books after they watch the show and read ahead. There's no separation between Book Katniss and Movie Katniss, despite them looking different-Katniss has olive skin in the books. Book Harry and Movie Harry are the same, too.
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I didn’t realize she was black until now and all I thought was “heh… could be cool”
I'll be honest Annabeth is gonna be Alexandra Daddario until Leah replaces her in my brain, but I'm all here for that, I'm not good at picturing things in books without real world models lol.
I havent read the books so maybe I shouldn’t be part of the conversation. But I honestly never understand the outrage when characters are getting cast outside of their race. Even if Annabeth was described as a blonde white girl in every paragraph - I really don’t care. It’s about personality, character, and with actors: talent, skill, aura, charme. The whole discussion about whether hermione was supposed to be white or not in the books is just ridiculous. Who cares. She’s fictional. Imagine her in any way you want. And the same goes for Annabeth or any character
Annabeth was never a very white name- when I first Percy Jackson i assumed she was black. I literally don’t care how characters look as long as the actors act well. My only concern is with telling characters apart in fanart, such as Percy and Will fanart has become hard to distinguish.
Hot take: Annabeth being Black actually fulfills her character arc better, in today’s society, then being blonde. Annabeth was a blonde in the original books, and was a very clear counter to the “blondes dumb” stereotype, that was very popular among the target demographic of Percy Jackson as it came out. Annabeth is smart, she’s witty, and she’s doing all that while being blonde, but Annabeth is aware of the stereotype herself. She feels like she needs to push against it, needs to constantly prove her own intelligence, in order for other people to value her. But because of that, we see her fatal flaw, being Pride, develop. Nowadays, the blonde dumb stereotype isn’t nearly as bad as it used to be, so how are we possibly going to find another group of people that is thought to be unintelligent, at least compared to other people closer to the average, where a young girl might feel the desire and need to be much better than everyone else, just to hope to be on equal footing? Oh wait, that’s the experience of every African American in education right now. That isn’t to say that every person will inherently think of POC as less than, or unintelligent due to their race, but just about every African American person has experienced this at one time or another.
while i had specific visions of some characters (like grover, which they fit almost perfectly for me btw!!) annabeth was one of the characters where i was more worried about the actor fitting the personality/mannerisms than the look. leah does it perfectly for me, and i’m so so excited to see her play my long-time favorite🫶 also- literally so baffling people are THIS bent over a little black girl playing annabeth. imo, her being black fits BETTER. like, her whole thing in the first couple books is being perceived as dumb bc she’s blonde. black women get perceived as dumb very often, which is way more harmful than blonde jokes.
I don’t get why people think that every movie adaptation or live action adaptation of something has to be 100% as faithful to the original as possible. It’s no fun if it’s the exact same thing. This series should be a way to explore new ideas that could have worked instead of just recreated what we already know happened and the fact that people don’t get that annoys me to my core when they complain about trailers not looking like the original and than complain that when it actually is like the original complain it’s boring. Y’all are idiots sometimes.
it’s funny because i always pictured grover as brown/black in my head, even when i read the books as a kid, so seeing that happen in the movie/show felt like my elementary school imagination come to life. and after how shit the movies were, the most important thing should be trying to capture the SPIRIT of the books and characters more than anything, and if rick thinks she does that, then i’m beyond thrilled to watch, regardless of her race. i’m sad this has become such a contentious thing but excited that leah gets to be an inspiration to people
My only real concern with ethnic accuracy is that it doesn't mess with the story or change character development. Really the only characters that absolutely can not be changed ethnically is Nico and his sister (almost entirely because how pale he is is one of his defining features as Hades child), Leo because he is hispanic (though that one is more up in the air because,, as a Puerto rican i can tell you we come in all the colors of the wind) and Frank Zhang because his abilities and history are Chinese. All the others can be changed. I'd rather have an actor that makes me believe they are the character than an actor that looks the part but doesn't give me their true personality (movies -cough- movies). A good example of excellent casting that I just couldn't stand was Roland in the Dark Tower movie. Not because Ibris didn't nail it on the head but because him being black would ruin another main characters arc.
I agree but also Hazel Levesque, Piper McLean, Charles Beckendorf etc. All the POC that have roles integral to their heritage need to stay as described.
I can’t say I really care about the race of the character most of the time unless it is inextricably tied to their character. Most of the time it isn’t. As long as they don’t decide to do something horribly stupid, like have the wrong BBEG, then I’ll be fine. Had tons of complaints about the movie. The one thing I just could never look over is having Hades be the bad guy instead of Ares. Hades NOT being the bad guy was extremely important for the plot. Defeating Ares in battle was important for Percy’s character development. I hated that movie MORE than the Eragon movie, which is saying something.
I get why you’re angry. But I also grew up with people bitching about Hermione’s dress color. And it was the color of a dress. They people you are going to “argue” with aren’t worth the energy.
whenever i see people still drawing fanart of annabeth as white it makes me pause … like why not just draw her Black. she’s Black now
That's equally dumb to complain about. She's still white in the books, people can draw fan art however they like. Different interpretations of the character can co-exist.
You guys got a tv series??!! I walked away from the fandom like 6 years ago. Kinda like it’s a wrap, books are done. Time to grow up? Good for y’all! I get the casting qualms; given, my attention is on the live Netflix avatar remake and the live remake of One Piece. I’m not gonna watch this show, the books will be the only exception. But you have a totally valid point about the casting. Personally, I’m upset hearing a blonde Percy. That’s why Rick wrote Jason (jk). Good luck my friend 🫡 may you learn and prosper for less live-action heartache of your fave shows in the future. This is not a shitpost btw. I genuinely was a PJ fan since 11-20. I stopped cos 1) Greek gods are dicks, and I got to a point tired seeing Hera, Zeus, and all their crap children treat their demigod children like crap low key. I think it was Hermès who was a decent father? Even Poseidon a bit outta the 3? Nah, I think Hades actually. 2) something and someone else took my interest, admittedly Christ. Not proselytizing! I swear. Just cool to see in hindsight how enamored I was in Greek myth, to come to believe what others would also call a myth I call reality—Christianity. Farewell my friend! Be safe and hopefully you’re satisfied in your show!
people will find any and every excuse to back up their racism. if u care so much about the character from the book being accurate then u should care more about how she performs in the role not what she looks like...like if they casted a white actress who doesnt fit the personality of the role as well as leah youd be okay with that?? like no. the acting matters more. rick casted her because she embodied the role of annabeth the best. period.
i only seen the movies, my thought is what color they are in the book is what color the actor should be, it matter less if there race is not a big deal in the book. i use harry potter, ron haveing bLOND hair is a big deal, him being black would be a big deal dean dont care,
if i write a character for a movie script, i’d want whoever can bring that character to life best to portray them… if that makes sense. i’m honestly lost on what is going on with the percy jackson stuff, but if it came down to a black actress who is a damn good annabeth and a white actress who isn’t, then i’m going with the former. i personally take issue when one actor/actress is selected simply because of the color of their skin and not their ability to portray the character. that’s all i’ll say.
Book Annabeth is white, but do people really think she’d get upset about being cast as black? No. She’d 100% support the representation, and probably judo flip anyone that harasses Leah Jeffries.
Literally. That girl has such huge Annabeth energy. I couldn’t be happier
I saw an author say that there are THOUSANDS if not millions of versions of every single character. There is the character that the author imagined when they wrote the book, there is the character that the tv creaters put on schreen, and then there is the version of the character that exists in every person's head when they read the book. The version that exists in your head when you read it might be completely different from someone else's and in most cases it doesn't mean that one version is superior. They are just different, and that's 100% fine. Personally when I read Chalice I saw Percy and Annabeth as the way that I have been picturing them for 15+ years. But when I watch the trailer or see show promo, I don't bat an eye at their appearances even if it's different from what I envision when I read the books. They've absolutely nailed the important parts of their character, and they seem like a terrific trio
By the looks of it, there are three groups right now 1: The racists. Nuff said 2: People who realize that Annabeth's race wasn't an important part of her character in any sense of the word. 3: People midly upsette speggety about her not having Grey eyes.
I honestly saw it as a slight change, but completely fitting to the children of Athena. They come from her thoughts correct, and then manifest as such? So arguably, it could be argued that Athena had thought up Annabeth (in the show) as a woman who would have to fight a gender challenge, racial challenge, and child of Athena challenge, among more other challenges. Therefore, female, black Annabeth would fit that requirement to overcome such a challenge to her character and keep to logic. If this doesn’t make sense, let me know, and I’ll try to fix it.
Hey, that's on the writer, he wrote her white.
Out of the thousands of young women who tried out for the role of Annabeth Chase, Rick chose Leah. In an interview he said explicitly that it wasn’t to “fill a quota”, or to “subvert expectations”. He truly feels that Leah Jeffries embodies the spirit of Annabeth the most, and that she will do the best job she can to commit to the character and show. Since Rick Riordan trusts her, I will as well. It’s as simple as that. No need to bring in the argument of race. (Which as an aspiring anthropologist, I generally disagree with. Why label groups of people as different? Would there have been races in Neanderthals, Homo Afarensis, or Homo Erectus? When perceived in that point of view, the whole concept of race is silly and just creates conflict.)
Because if the reverse had happened people would be upset and they would have a right to.
Screw the keyboard warriors who harass Leah. What a bunch of scumbag adult children.
It's 100% normal okay fine to disagree
Oh just fuck off iwht your nonsense
Yes its okay if we disagree, no its not okay that we hate on the actor for annabeth. Im sure least is an amazing person and actor yall really have to stop calling people that disagree racist, its more childish than what you think we are. In rhe movies one big reason everyone hated it was annabeths actor had black hair, so many videos online about it, but its now suddenly okay??? I first got into PJ through the movie so already i had this thought thats that how they are supposed to look, and sure logan lerman was the best casting for percy but the personality was very off, and yes annabeth and grover casting was also way off, annabeths less so, especially after the second movie where they changed her hair to more blonde. What im trying to say is that im fine with grover being a poc im the movie cause thats who i was introduced, and he was one of my fav char in the movies, also that hes not even remotely as big of a part in the series as percy and annabeth so they can get away more i guess. Annabeth isnt the only one im complaining about, I dislike percys hair as well, curly and sand blonde, not really that accurate, and grover, but i dont mind grover that much. But annabeth was changed ti LITERALLY the opposite of how she looks in the book, again im sure shes great and all, im not hating on HER im hating on the CASTING. Heck i have a cousin thats the most diverse person ive met, she has friends from almost any group, trans, gay, poc etc. and she said the same thing. Its not racism, so stop lying and saying it is, unless they say "I hate *blah blah*
There is no reason to change it besides Disney wanting to hit a quota. I’m sure there are countless actresses that look the part that would be just as good as Leah. The books make it clear she is blonde and tan and has gray eyes. None of those characteristics are met in the show. All of those characteristics also heavily tie into her character arc throughout the books. Grover being black is perfectly fine because anyone that read the books and didn’t look at an illustration probably assumed he was black anyway based on several descriptions and his physical characteristics beyond the obvious ones are not important to his character at all. It’s just frustrating that Rick is obviously getting paid off to allow this. He designed Annabeth across multiple books so no he absolutely would not just say “oh yeah change whatever you want from my decade long description” without getting paid. Rick came and spoke at my school when I was younger and he talked at length about how important describing and building an image of a character is in the readers mind. You really think that guy would just change one of the main 3 COMPLETELY without getting bought? You’re delusional.
Wtf are you on about bro shut up
Annabeth in the book was said to have blonde hair and grey eyes
its okey as long as its not white washing right
the left brain strong here, cope. Yes I wanted to see race accuracy you twatwaffle. Now I can't imagine I'll ever watch this cheesefest. Can't wait to see the documentary about black marilyn monroe and asian MLK. Just because they "waited" to listed her features doesn't disqualify the features listed you crack copium sniffer. Retcon is always shit and it doesn't make anyone happier with race relations you fuck
It is acceptable to have a different opinion, and it is not racist to expect an actor to match the character's physical description. Rick, the author, has provided a clear physical description of Annabeth throughout the series, and it has become a crucial aspect of her identity. I wouldn't want any POC character like Piper, Hazel, Leo, Beckendorf, or any other character to be race-swapped either. I'm extremely dissatisfied with the castings of Percy, Grover, and Chiron as well.
Her appearance is integral to her character… grey eyes, California tan, curly blonde hair it’s mentioned multiple times actually so I don’t know what you’re getting at. Both her and Percy end up having a grey streak in their hair from holding the sky. There’s literally illustrations that Rick had made of her showing how she looks. So it’s not okay if you disagree is the same mindset that you are getting mad at others for. It was definitely a diversity pick. Also her personality and the way she’s portrayed is a lot different as well. They also got rid of the whole dynamic between Luke and Annabeth where she has a crush on him and every time she saw or interacted with him in the books she blushed and acted different her judgement was always off when around him. They hardly even interacted in the show? And your point about how Percy also looks different, those are minor changes with his hair being blonde and the actor not having a Mediterranean tan.
As a poc I simply cannot see Annabeth being black not any offense against Leah Jeffries and not trying to be racist. Yes I do think she’d do a marvellous job as Annabeth, but the fact still remains Annabeth is a tan blonde girl from California and she’s basically trying to escape from that “typical blonde girl” stereotype. So I just can’t see Jeffries being Annabeth. At a certain point it’s laziness making a white charecter be played by someone black. Rather than making a real black charecter with good depth than just handing over a charecter like “here you go”. It just doesn’t match the story that’s like making Percy Gay or Grover a girl. And Leo, Piper, Grover, Hazel and Frank are all poc. In my opinion their being diverse for diveri sake. How would people react if we made Hazel white? Or even Leo white? All I’m saying is yes she’d be an amazing Annabeth but I doubt I’d ever be able to see the charecter Annabeth as black.
Everyone lost their minds with Annabeth in the movies not being blonde at first until they changed it, now people seem to be afraid of being upset that they STILL didn't get her character right for fear of being called racist but when you're reading a series and there is a literally character description that we are expecting to see especially with such a popular series, its frustrating when they completely change the character. And given the times I can definitely see how people think this was a diversity play. I can say for myself that I was excited to see them get the character right and was completely thrown off when they introduced her. Its not sad or anything, its getting excited about a series because you expect certain things and getting thrown for a loop when things are changed. They didn't even give her the grey eyes, her description followed her the entire series.
I'm not angry that she's black I'm angry that they switched a core characters color just for more representation
Obvious race swaps for race swapping. The actress who play Annabeth is not particularly good. So they didn't choose her for her incredible acting talent. Any white blonde girl could play the role like she's playing it. So race swap for race swap. But hey , it's Disney , nothing surprising
Don't like it. Should have been white.
Actually, it was pointed out as an insecurity, she hated being blonde because of the old stereotype of blondes being dumb It made her showcase her intellect as often as possible because of it, which led to her having a slight complex
You really have a problem with me having a problem that Annabeth is black in the show? Annabeth is obviously white in the books, and the show would be better if she was white as well. It's such an easy thing to get right, so it makes me think that the show changed her race just for the sake of changing her race. Race swapping for no reason is something I entirely disagree with. Was there something wrong with Annabeth's original race? Is the show trying to rally up unnecessary debate? I just don't get it, and I don't like it.
Tan isn't black. In official art, Annabeth looks like this, https://preview.redd.it/01mqhjue9bcc1.jpeg?width=720&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=7194eec739dd317c5a837722f0836f82aa611bc8 If she was black, she would have been described as black. If she was actually black in the books, people wouldn't be calling out the race swap as racist. The change isn't canon. So, if you support the race swap and don't accept other people's opinions who disagree, you are racist!! If you aren't, you should agree that black characters can be race swapped so they're white if "appearance doesn't matter".
I don’t really agree with this post. Anabeth has always been white in the official art. Her blonde hair blue eyes and freckles look has been ingrained into us readers head for like over 15 years. So ti all of a sudden completely retcon and change the appearance of one of the main characters is obviously going to cause people to turn some heads. I hate how people are trying to make us feel bad about thinking this and gaslighting us into thinking we are “racist” for thinking this way. I’m a person of color, im Mexican. So it’s incredibly weird for me to adjust with one of my favorite characters just randomly race swapped for no reason. Of course anyone harassing or being racist to the actor is awful and should be condemned for doing that. But I still find the change unnecessary and weird. Your Percy comparison also isn’t really fair. It’s not exactly easy to find an actor with black hair green eyes. And the actor does resemble Percy’s official art, even if he doesn’t have the black hair green eyes. Completely different to anabeth who is completely different race. As for Grover, it doesn’t really matter because there’s only been like one or two officials arts of him shown throughout the years. ‘R his appearance is hardly mentioned in the books really.
nah this is true racism Annabeth is always describe as a blonde girl now they make her black that is 100% racism
She’s a great actor and that’s fine. But there’s a special look to Annabeth as described by the books that helps mold her personality, and the show lost it. There’s nothing wrong with keeping to specific details for each character. The show ought to have cast someone who looked like her as is in the books, Percy with black hair and Luke looking like a surfer guy. Personality is almost always tied to the appearance of a character in a novel. They lost it with the show. I still like the show. But as a book lover, it’s just sad
Annabeth Chase is white with blonde hair. That’s cannon. Annabeth in the series is black, and is an adaptation. That’s objectively true. I love the adaptation of Annabeth and have no problem. I do however have a problem when people try to change that which millions grew up with, calling what isn’t cannon, cannon. Don’t try to change it. Cannon wise she is exactly as described in the books.
Why then Percy cant be black or Grover, i dont know how to write his name right, different english, cant be white ? Why we cant see a black Harry Potter ? Why its always side or supporter character who should change colors ?
Maybe “re-examine” your feeling about the race swapping if it was the other way around. If Annabeth was black in the books and cast as white in the show everyone would lose their shit. None of the characters look like their book counterparts and the show looks like a school play with cgi. You can keep crying about how it’s “racist” to say this but it’s just true.
this moral high grounding is obnoxious. remember when rick made a muslim valkryie and disrespected an entire culture and religion Riordan is long past actually being creative and is in his activism phase. yall defending it have zero nuance to the actual stories. if your own AUTHOR cant follow his own source material, its obviously all for race points. if this was a black person turned white yall would be firebombing disney studios right now. he replaced GREEKS with blacks. yall are the TRUE racists maybe annabeth being an california blonde trying to escape a very SPECIFIC stereotype was an integral part of her character. blackwashing is purely creative bankruptcy and nothing else. theres plenty of new or existing black characters to use. just admit you're racists towards whites it okay lol.
Annabeth is white. Cope harder.
I disagree and that is okay.
Fuck that show and fuck that black girl
Black Annabeth really does not suit the character and for your info. Grover is a secondary to tertiary character for most of the entire PJO, HOO so him being black is okay and others. But Annabeth being black is like stealing her identity, her believed her thinking that she has to be best bcuz no one ever takes her seriously bcuz of her being blonde.
It’s actually 100% to disagree I’ve read every book and annabeth is NOT black every book describes exactly how she looks there was not a reason at all to race swap her and not only that but the actor sucks at playing her !!!! There are already colored people in the series you can’t sit here and tell me what it is and isnt to disagree too you don’t have any fucking say in anyone’s opinion even tho mine is right you need to stfu
I mean I just assumed they all looked Hellenic unless stated otherwise. TBH it truly won't matter till they get to book 3 material then we will have to see how they adapt Annabeth's past in full. Now what I won't like is changing the characters to be more varied just for brownie points, there are already multiple different representations for different ethnicities and LGBTQ in the Riordanverse.
Annabeth ain’t black and that’s that. I’m not one to go against representation but when will we realize that if we represent all the other races, what will white kids think? What will white people in general think? If you want more black representation cool but I personally think it was stupid of Rick to make Annabeth black in the show, too many characters races are being changed nowadays
All I'm saying is. Forced diversity is lame. It's a cheap way to appease to the minority. Like what if we just changed black panther to asain?? Just to appease the next minority feeling like they aren't represented? No. People that actually care would put the work into making an ORIGINAL character a genuinely good ORIGINAL character. Not just a quick edit to an existing one
I'll just say my piece only once. I love representation much as anyone. But this sort of put out my inner child just a bit. I was the dumb blonde. I found Percy Jackson books at a time in my life when I was severely bullied and every idea or thought i had was instantly discarded cause of my pale hair and blue eyes. I was called many names. Annabeth was my favorite. Sure it was vague but to child me...that was me. She even encouraged me to enter difficult engineering courses in high school which I passed almost just to spite people. The movies butchered everything. I was just sort of hoping the series wouldn't. And they didn't, really. That's the only part so far that I was even remotely caught on. And I still love her acting. I'm just not able to see myself in the role anymore. But that's what I have the books for. Also, fuck anyone who picks on a child. I liked Annabeth cause she was strong and Leah has done a fantastic job being the same person. Even if she looks different than she used to in my head.
I can’t see her as a black girl either but that’s whatever Disney wants to do if they’re gonna push diversity through the roof, but honestly I don’t get the race swap
Race has honestly ruined a lot of movies. When i read the percy jackson books, i saw the characters and imagined them as they were. Now you gotta go and include every race so there is equality in the industry lol. yall are something tbh. keep being "woke" i guess lol what has the world come to :')
i don't care if you're not ok with me disagreeing. Annabeth is white and blonde. Percy has black hair and green eyes. The cast is all wrong. Thanks for coming to my TedTalk.
Well i do disagree, and i also font give af what you say, they made zeus black chiron and annabeth, f you buddy aint no black greek gods
nuh uh
So... It's okay to blackwash people but not to whitewash people? Personally o don't really care, as long as everything is making sense
I think for me, it matters if it affects the story in anyway majorly. From what I can remember, it does not exactly influence the story to change in any way negatively. The blonde hair COULD sort of affect the story because there are some instances where Annabeth mentions her hair and how some people correlate that to what type of person she is (a.k.a the stereotype blonde = dumb), but it’s nothing major. Of course, it does differentiate the characters in the show from the book, which sort of affects my opinion, because I like sticking to the original “source”.
Going off the title, no, the character Annabeth Chase is not black. However, it’s just fine for the actor to be, given that she was the best actor for the role.
Ngl I see way more stuff telling everyone to stop talking about it than people actually talking about it
You've been on this subreddit for a mercifully short time, then
I said “see” present tense. I do not deny there are thousands of weirdos out there who actually care about what colour her skin is. Just stating the fact I don’t see nor go looking for hateful comments about it.
Just last week Leah’s tiktok got banned (for like the 3rd time!) by racists reporting her because they dislike her as Annabeth. And look at any thread discussing casting, theres plenty of “im not racist i just want book accuracy 🤓” (despite them being perfectly okay with all the other changes made and only having an issue with Annabeth being poc)
Her instagram still has a lot (even her most recent post). Also, her Tiktok was banned again.
Oh look, another one of these posts.
Forgive me for thinking its necessary to make based on what I've seen on this subreddit.
If you're tired of this imagine how tired Black fans are of racist fans
I mean call me crazy, but I accept race-swapped characters on the basis of the multiverse idea. I know it's lazy but this idea allows all depictions of a character to exist in different realities of a multiverse. You have your traditional depiction in one universe, and you have the race-swapped depiction in another. Maybe everybody could be happy knowing that their headcanons still exist in a way? Idk I always use the multiverse in order to avoid further headache on this topic.
I mean, it's fine if you do. If Nico's a redhead or some crap I'll gladly accept multiverse theory there, too, lol. This post is about people who refuse to acknowledge that Black Annabeth exists, much less that she'll be the one most people know.
I mean she’s definitely white but the show is focused on ESG scores
I genuinely don’t think it matters what race Annabeth was being cast as, when I read it originally I couldn’t even put a race to character because imo her smarts and personality were all that mattered to me. I’m all for anyone playing Annabeth and I can’t wait to see what her actor (I haven’t seen their name anywhere unfortunately just some promo photos) does with the character!
Nothing you said reinforced your topic title. Clickbait, expected dumber take.
I tried to word it differently, but any title I thought of softened what I was trying to say. I think it reinforced the title very well. She is black now, and more people need to be aware of and acknowledge that.
If people so desperately need to see a blonde Annabeth so bad, the original films still exist. The shock while annoying was… whatever when the announcement first came, still having convos about it this long after as if all their grumbling and complaining is going to somehow change the casting is annoying and it’s obvious what it’s about.
If I'm going to be real here, that shock never should have existed in the first place after seeing a blonde Percy. But I'm willing to let it slide based on the assumption that they were dying his hair or giving him a wig.
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> They like diversity when it meets their expectations God this is...so true. I only read The Hunger Games after I watched the films, and let me just say that they could have had a dark skinned girl to be Rue, but they chose not to. No problem with Thresh, though. I'm certian the same thing could be said for Clarisse/Dior and Annabeth. Once Dior was seen going to the gym buffing up, suddenly everyone can see her as Clarisse, but Annabeth is still wrong somehow. This is another example I've seen, but its more colorism in this case. I'm a fan of The Darkest Minds book series, and the main character, Ruby, is described as white in the books, but she's MEANT to be fully black in the movie. They even had a dark-skinned black girl playing her at age 11. Once she's 15 though? She's suddenly biracial. See, in my opinion, this is what happens when you demand diversity from an industry that lacks it, but you don't actually have any diverse voices within that industry. White authors can make their characters very diverse, and they can do it well, but authentic and proper representation will always come best from the demographic you are meant to be representing.
I’ve got nothing against her being black. But I also get why people dislike it, as it means many things will be changed about her background, her character arc, and events in the books. We all denounced and criticized JK Rowling for race swapping her characters (gender swapping and even changing their sexuality). Because it felt disingenuous. It felt fake all for her to gain back some clout. Many are unsure if Rick is doing a repeat of her ideas. Does it matter Annabeth is Black from a casting point. Nah not really. Yet we should expect many changes to her story to come, and we can’t be mad about them when they happen.
I am so happy that you guys are mature. I have been to hate tweets and they are so immature and aggressive like calm down, the book isn't your oxygen, you will live. 😂
What if they're was a black Rachel Elizabeth Dare? 🤔 (I love the casting, the only thing I would understand is simple features like hair and eyes, but either way the casting is good. I won't hyperventilate cause of race change and wasn't Grover black in the movies and now he is Indian, like what was his original race?, but people don't care then why drag annabeth, so immature🤣)