#anti rr
seen rick riordan criticism and ever wondered what the big deal was? maybe you saw some people talking about how much they disliked a certain aspect of his books and just thought that at least he gave us this diversity in the first place.
either way, this post is for you! i’ve compiled a list of meta and explanations from across tumblr that actually come from people who are able to speak on his representation in novels and this will help shed some light on why specific parts of rick riordan’s books are criticised!
preface: i’ll clarify that i am not trying to hate on rick riordan and i’m not making this as a post to start drama or to complain! i’ve always loved his books since i was young and read pretty much all his series! but there is really no excuse for a privileged white man to mess up this badly :/
but as humans in an everchanging society, we’re witnesses to change and to growth!! and our perception of media can affect how we empathise and treat the plight of others who are less fortunate in mainstream society. even if you don’t seen the problem in these criticisms or aren’t affected, please do not speak over those who are!! i’ll put the list under the tag <3
poc representation
medusa + middle eastern representationby@moontheapollocamper
↳ you might remember medusa from the first book in the percy jackson series, this piece covers what was problematic about how she was written and what stereotypes she enforced.
brazilian representationby@ellakay69
↳ this is a very detailed and easy to understand post on why paolo’s character in trials of apollo is a terrible example of brazilian representation
on samirah’s arranged engagement in the booksby@kubo
↳ perpetuating a harmful stereotype when many have been harmed is incredibly problematic
on the dehumanisation of poc and the dismissal of their experiencesby@mustwealwaysbepredictable
↳ an important post to read as it breaks down the issues with riordan’s casual and problematic depiction of certain poc
paolo’s character in trials of apollo by@fan-dot
↳ another good post to help understand why paolo was thoughtlessly characterised just to fill a representation slot
poc characters and their familiesby@ellakay69
↳ op made some excellent points here on how the poc families and their experiences are treated
adultification of black girlsby@literateleah
there have been many professional studies done on how black girls are always portrayed as more mature, and ‘adult’ and hazel fell into this category
physical appearance
riordan’s portrayal of acneby@skatersuki
↳ a quick summary on why rick’s descriptions of acne were hurtful especially since his books are meant to cater to young teenagers who might be going through the same experiences
the depictions of piper and hazelby@howelljenkins
↳ would definitely recommend if you want to understand how piper and hazel’s coloured eyes (something glorified in fanarts) is problematic
on mixed race sadieby@goth-hazel
↳ this is an incredibly broad issue but it should be understood and this post is a good start!
lgtbq+ representation
riordan’s portrayal of reyna as an ace womanby@michaelyew
↳ breaks down the stereotypes that riordan made reyna’s character enforce and why this representation of asexuality is problematic
nico’s coming out by@earthlyruins
a brief but important take on why nico’s coming out was probably one of the worst ways to portray the coming out of a character onto impressionable young people
there’s a lot more to unpack here and i’ll continue to edit this post and add links!
problematic plotlines
why rick riordan’s ‘world war two was caused by the big three’ is a terrible storylineby@jewishpercy
↳ this was a well written and an eye opening text post for me because it was something i had never considered before and it definitely helped me understand why this particular point was actually quite gross :/
on the topic of rr saying that children of hades were nazisby@luke-x-percy
↳ good points are made here and this post points out the disgusting insensitivity that riordan portrayed when he brought the holocaust into mythology
serious events brushed by riordanby@hazellpjo
↳ you can see how serious issues were used for plot points by riordan when they really shouldn’t have been
how mallory’s death was incredibly insensitiveby@sapphic-ace-reyna
↳ again, another piece that helped me understand something that i had never thought about and well written!
other opinions to give you something to think about
stereotypes pushed by riordan’s booksby@canarhys
on the topic of poc names and nicknamesby@rowansdamisch
the problems with riordan’s characters in heroes of olympusby@housemartius
what to consider when these criticisms are brought upby@knuffled
on the portrayal of mixed race sadieby@howelljenkins
a overall criticism of the mythology in the pjo books by the @theatomicboom
on buff girls in mediaby@macsi
sadie and uh the age differenceby@spoopy-elliot
rick riordan said reyna can’t be a lesbian because that supports the stereotype that lesbians are only lesbians because they couldn’t get a man and then made her aroace as if that same stereotype does not exist for aroace people and then made piper wear feathers in her hair and then put samirah in an arranged marriage and then made hazel act way older than her age and then made sadie act way older than her age and then
and then made nico get violently outed and then immediately put him in a relationship with an at that point barely relevant character and then completely ignored leo’s potential and character arc and made him comedic relief and then gave piper a cornucopia to fight with and then made frank get buff and strong instead of fat and then made emmie and jo the only lesbians who appear in exactly one book and then made both leo and reyna have abusive childhoods and then killed beckendorf and then made ethan a bad guy and then killed him too and then made drew extremely vain and made her a rival to another woc and then made all the aphrodite kids narcissistic and unambitious and then gave reyna a romantic plot with a thousands of year old god and then made hazel date a boy too old for her and then made sadie date a thousands of year old god who presents as a boy too old for her and then
anyway in case anybody was wondering almost all of rick’s books can be found online for free if you google “[title] pdf”
racism
samirah:arranged marriage,hijab,general issues
hazel:fr*zel,white/lightwashing,“golden” eyes,eurocentric features,hair type,general issues +this, bonus: fancasts/faceclaims/art references
piper:general issues (a masterpost),cornucopia,art references,art tips
sadie:white/lightwashing+this+this+this+this
leo:abuse+this ,stereotyping
eastern asian/southeastern asian rep+this+this
general racism+this+this+this+this +this
anti-lgbtq+
nico’s romanticized forced outing
big age gaps
annabeth and luke ,black characters ,female characters
riordan had two fat characters n he treated them both abhorrently. having clarisse be a jackass bully (who admittedly got some character development but was still incredibly violent n described as v unattractive) n then having frank be a total sweetheart who is rewarded by making him super buff n hot is textbook fatphobia n anyone who disagrees needs to take a step back n reevaluate themselves
