#pjotv analysis

its pretty obvious at this point that a lot of neurodivergent (obviously), poc and queer kids saw themselves in percy when the books first came out, sharing a lot in common with all those groups, and theres a somewhat decent amount of tweets rick made regarding headcanons like those, where he passive aggressively says something along the lines of ‘cool headcanon and you can see him however you want but please keep in mind that thats a headcanon and not canon’, in a way that feels like he just fully hates headcanons or interpretations like that

and rick himself did say that a big point of the show is that hes making changes to the story hed make if he were to rewrite it, and i know this could just be walker being the best suited for this, but we’re gonna go a little deeper than that. it feels like one of the changes rick is trying to make, is to completely erase those previous headcanons and interpreations people had on percy

so far in the show its undeniable that percy is white (obviously), but the biggest thing id argue is that hes getting rid of any possible queer coding within percy, as we dont see him hold any kind of attraction/fasciniation with anyone, let alone any guys, aside from annabeth, when in the books there would be paragraphs of him describing a guys physical apperance and make it very obvious, sometimes saying it outright, that percy found the guy attractive

another thing about percy that a lot of people see him as, is him holding punk values, whether or not people realize thats what theyre seeing in him. percy is very anti-authoritarian, hes very anti-war, anti-capitalist, mutual aid is a big point for him, all of which (and more) are punk ideologies, while show percy tells annabeth to not talk back to a cop. (as i work on my show rewatch im probably gonna reblog this and add on more points if/when i find them, but i feel like this point alone showcases what im saying pretty well) i think its also stated a few times in the books that he listens to punk and alternative rock, and other music genres similar

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in the books, thalia was being chased and hunted by the furies- and they almost killed her, which led to zeus turning her into a tree to 1. make a barrier to protect camp and 2. keep his daughter from death. the reason she was being chased by the furies, was because zeus broke the pact. and hades didnt like that, obviously, so he did what he felt best and took it upon himself to kill thalia. or to get her killed. she was about to die, and zeus prevented that by turning her into a tree. was it the best solution? no. did it cause a lot of issues for thalia? hell yea. did it save her life? …in a way. was it was of the only things zeus could do at the time to protect his daughter? yes. because thats what was important. zeus did not turn thalia into a tree because she talked back to him, he turned her into a tree to protect her and to keep her alive- partly because he also didnt want hades to have her. that last part is mostly speculation, but knowing what we do about the gods, it would make sense and be in character.

now in the show, the furies chased thalia so they could. talk. they wanted to talk. and zeus shot them down- fair, i guess. but. why. why would they want to talk to her. one of them tried to kill percy, why wouldnt they try to kill thalia too? not only is it i consistent but it also just straight up doesnt make sense. and zeus- this may come as a shock to some people (/sarcastic)- but hes not a completely shitty dad. now before anyone says anything- he is undeniably abusive, its basically screamed by apollo at the top of his lungs in toa, i barely remember what happened in the books but i do remember that zeus was abusive, and im not downplaying that. what im saying here, is that in the show, they made him only abusive. theyve done this with a lot of other characters and gods, but they got rid of the nuance. zeus turned thalia into a tree in the books because he cared about her, and when thalia woke up she introduced herself as his daughter because she wanted to make him proud.

making zeus turn her into a tree and making thalia despise him with nothing else gets rid of so much nuance, and thats such a big problem in the show.

basically my point is, the show is scared of having morally confusing characters. yes, zeus is abusive, yes he cares about his children. yes, thalia dislikes her father, yes shes proud to be his daughter. two things can be true, even if theyre contradictory, and the show seems to have forgotten that and its strange because the books did such a good job.

it also annoys me when people say they love the changes to this and that this makes it so much egger- NO IT DOESNT. NO IT DOES NOT. the changes hollow and flatten out the characters, getting rid of their depth and complexity that made them so interesting in the show. it also will most likely change a scene in ttc, where thalia prays to zeus for help and he listens! and he helps them! i can imagine book zeus doing that because i can imagine him helping his children, but i cant imagine show zeus doing that because it looks like he only cares about himself and the power he holds. saying ‘oh this change makes so much sense!’ because zeus is a bad father is stupid, because it also ignores what real life abusers can look like- and that pushes more representation, which is what the books were about in the first fucking place!

annabeth: i love her casting because of the reason annabeth was originally made blonde: to combat the dumb-blonde steroetype, something that was very prevalent at the time they book was written, i get people still wanting her blonde because she was important to them for that reason however to me that train of thought just seems selfish, because the people who say that fail to realize what annabeth now being black can do. for so many young blonde girls annabeth was the first time someone told them they could push down the stereotypes forced on them and be strong and smart, though that doesnt really exist anymore. what still does exist today though (and it is very clear with leahbeth haters) is that black girls are constantly underestimated and put down, which is why i said those people are selfish. because they fail to understand that annabeth being black can now do the same thing for black girls, as book annabeth did for them. blonde girls dont really need that smart blonde girl trope anymore, that steroetype hardly exists anymore and theres so many pieces of media pushing against that, while black girls are still dealing with that and more, and having one of the main characters in such a beloved series thats known for being smart is going to help so many black girls see that they can do that too, which is exactly what annabeth's character is about. showing girls that are put down for physical characteristics that those features dont define anything about who they are or what they can do

percy: they fucking whitewashed him. sure he was never canonically poc or bipoc in the books, but hes described as having a mediterranean skin tone with dark hair and was implied to not be white, as he lived in a place in new york commonly known as spanish harlem. even if they didnt whitewash him they still removed a lot of things about him, and while this isnt about personality thats still a big fucking thing. honestly my issue isnt just the appearance, but how hes written in general (annabeth too honestly), though im going to try and stay away from talking about that. i also strongly dislike how so many fucking people think percy being blond and having blue eyes fits with the ocean theme more, when it doesnt! im someone with a special interest in the ocean, specifically the deep sea, and will always look something up to fact check something i know for sure. both of those help me in knowing: THATS FUCKING BULLSHIT. 1. deep sea, percy is described as embodying the ocean, including the deep sea, and even though specifically the deep sea isnt said it is shown. very well. hes angry, hes impulsive, hes a bit of a bitch, he can be violent and aggressive, and we see him torturing a goddess. reading the books you can see that he absolutely embodies the deep sea, and id say even moreso than other parts of the ocean! 2. theres a goddess of sandy beaches. 'percys blond hair fits because of beaches!-' theres a greek goddess of sandy beaches and if you actually gave a shit about greek mythology you'd probably considering looking up the specific domains of greek gods because they do get specific. poseidon is never once said to be the god of beaches. psamathe is the goddess of sandy beaches specifically. shut up and do 30 seconds of research. also the more people say it the more racist it feels. please tell me in detail why percy having lighter and more eurocentric features fits him as a child of the ocean when theres a goddess of sandy beaches and he never embodied the romanticized aspects of the ocean? quickly. and to go a step further, i can (and have) use fucking color theory as to why percys book appearance works better. 1. hair, its dark like the depths of the sea, ive already gone over why that works, it also makes him seem more intimidating to people which has assisted in teachers and classmates targeting him and the entire country calling him a terrorist at 12- its less likely for blond boys to get that treatment. 2. green has been used to show both good and evil in media, and very rarely is permanently attached to one or the other, unlike blue which most people associate with goodness, the reason why this is important? percys not perfect, like i said earlier hes a bit of an asshole at times and has decently bad anger issues. having one of his main colors be a color thats never solely only 'good' or 'bad' works in the favor of the narrative because it shows that he could honestly end up on either side of the war- will he stay on the 'good' side with the gods, or leave and join kronos? sure, we as the audience know what hes gonna do, but the characters dont know that. luke spends almost more than half the series trying to get percy on his side, because he believes its still possible. the gods are scared because they agree. they dont know which side he'll actually end up on, its why the debate killing him so many times.

i do like both versions of percy, the black hair with green eyes vs the blond hair with blue eyes, and i wanna talk about what each of those could actualy mean on a narrative level

blond hair/blue eyes: the usual pretty boy look. a lot of main characters, i think most often in ya fantasy, have blond/e hair and blue eyes (cough jason cough), and while i dont hate this, it isnt my favorite, mostly because i feel like the narrative reason for percys book look is just more interesting (to me). percy has light hair now, a stark contrast to his original black hair. light hair i feel like is most commonly associated with the 'good guys', even though it has also started being used for the 'bad guys', and this 'it could go either way' thing could also fit with what i have to say about book!percys green eyes. speaking of eyes, blue eyes are most often given to good characters, as opposed to evil characters

and i feel like at this point i have to adress the elaphant in the room. book luke. blond hair, blue eyes. and i think that design choice fits his characters really well. luke is supposed to look like the perfect person, and while i really dont like the 'light hair and blue eyes' being shown of that, it was pretty popular at the time the books were written, so it makes sense.

this isnt saying i dont like show!lukes desgin, i think they can both work in different ways but this isnt about luke. its about percy so bye bye bitch

black hair/green eyes: the dark hair and striking and bright sea green eyes gives a more darker feel imo. dark colors are usually associated with evil, and green is often seen on either the good or bad side of things. green is a neutrual color in a narritive sense, it has been used to show good and evil before. it could be good with its meaning of 'go' like with traffic lights or it being the color of something you need to press with smth. idk. while it could also be seen as evil with green being associated with poison. and honestly. percy having black hair and green eyes is my favorite design choice, not just because i like the aesthetic of it, but because of what it could narratively symbolize. the black hair can show his dark side and how quickly he can get angry, while his green eyes can show how he could either be really good or really bad, or sometimes even neutral, as its usually seen as the balance between warm and cold colors (which i dont agree with, three warm colors: red orange yellow, three cool colors: green blue purple argue with the wall) but the point is. green has been associated with evil as much as its been associated with good, and in my mind this shows how he probably couldve and wouldve turned on the gods, if luke had gone about destroying them in a better way.

there is one thing in common with both designs, and i breifely mentioned it when i talked about show!percys hair, how the light hair and green eyes could be seen as either a 'good guy' or 'bad guy' as theyre both often used to show both of those (though usually not together) and i find that really interesting because it works! it fits! percy is not the 'perfect hero', we know that since the start. hes angry, hes mad, he s ready to fight. several times throughout the books he has been described as a villain or something akin to that, something that was evil. that could work with both the green eyes, a color used to show both the good and evil side, and the blond hair thats also been used to show both sides. its also worth mentioning that people with blond/e or light hair usually dont keep it, their hair usually darkens later in life, usually to a dark brown