The Percy Jackson Fan Meltdown

This post will remind Nancy Drew fans of the Nancy Drew fan meltdown in late 2019, which was caused by the premiere of Nancy Drew on The CW.

If you're not familiar with Percy Jackson, here's what you need to know.  Percy Jackson is a middle-grade fantasy series.  Percy learns that he is a demigod, the son of Poseidon.  He is sent on a quest to recover Zeus' missing master bolt in order to avoid a war between the gods.

The first two books were adapted into films in 2010 and 2013.  The characters were aged up to older teenagers, which changed the dynamic.  The author, Rick Riordan, was displeased with how the movies were done and refused for years to have anything to do with Hollywood. 

Riordan learned that Percy Jackson was being developed as a television series by Disney (which also publishes the book series) and would come to fruition regardless of his involvement.  He decided to be involved so that he would have some creative input.  Riordan is extremely pleased with how the television series has turned out.  You can see how thrilled he is in this YouTube clip.

The new adaption of the Percy Jackson series is now airing on Disney+.  The first four episodes are available, and episodes 5 through 8 will be released once per week during the rest of this month.

I read through the five Percy Jackson books around 14 years ago and then read them for a second time sometime in the few years after that.  It's been at least 10 years since I've read the books.

I am not sure where I heard about the Disney Percy Jackson adaptation, but it had to have been on Reddit.  It was during the first few days after the first two episodes dropped.  Even though I haven't been interested in Percy Jackson for years and could barely remember anything, I checked out the Percy Jackson subreddits.

I quickly realized that the Percy Jackson fans were in the middle of a full-fledged meltdown.  Meltdowns can be interesting, so long as one doesn't have a vested interest or have to moderate the meltdown.  I decided that I should watch the Disney+ series.  Even though I had forgotten most everything about the book series, I knew that I liked the books and that I usually enjoy adaptations of books that I have enjoyed reading.

In short, the Percy Jackson show is just fine.  I don't have problems with adaptations of books, because I understand that the adaptations cannot—under any circumstance—reproduce my experience as a reader.

As regular readers know, I was able to enjoy the Nancy Drew series that aired on The CW.  In that case, Nancy Drew fans did have legitimate complaints about that show.  Nancy Drew having sex and dealing with spirits running amok is significantly outside of what appears in the original book series.  Even so, I was able to enjoy the show for what it was.  

But this new Percy Jackson series and the massive meltdown that surrounds it?  There is no justification for the meltdown.  There is nothing wrong with this new series.  Is the series perfect?  No, but no adaptation is perfect.  It is just fine.

Here's what is happening.  

There is name-calling.  

For instance, fans who are complaining are said to be "deranged."  While I wouldn't use that word, I do agree that some of the complaints are rather petty.  

Some fans are angry with Rick Riordan because he was involved.

This makes no sense.  This was one fan's response:  "Absolutely insane.  The definition of delusional.  Do not disrespect Rick our book father."

Some fans say that the children cannot act.

I guess I'm some kind of idiot, because I don't see anything wrong with their acting.  The complainers are expecting the kids to be like seasoned actors.  If I were Percy Jackson, I'd react exactly as he does to learning that he is a demigod.  I wouldn't be flamboyant about it.  

Some fans say that Annabeth shouldn't be played by a Black girl.

In the books, Annabeth is a white girl with blonde hair.  The complainers are then accused of being racist and so on.  It appears that a lot of the people complaining about Annabeth's race have finally shut up.  It may also be that the moderators are now deleting those complaints.  Saying that a character should or shouldn't be a certain race never ends well.  

Some fans think that Percy's stepdad, Gabe, is not being depicted as abusive enough.  

I feel like these fans want to see Gabe beating Percy up.  Gabe is being portrayed as a huge jerk, and that's good enough for me.  I don't know if the Disney series will resolve Gabe's character how the book does, but fans should reserve judgment until they see all eight episodes.  

Some fans say that the show isn't violent enough.  

I guess these fans want to see blood and gore during the fight scenes.  It's a children's show.  Why would it need to be more violent?  Bizarre.  Speaking of which...

Some fans say that the show shouldn't be aimed at children.  It should be aimed at adults.

Their reasoning is that they think the show should have been made for the original Percy Jackson fans of 15 to 19 years ago.  They therefore think that the show is supposed to be for people who are now around 30 years old.  They think that the show is too childish for their age group.  

Wow.

Adaptations of children's book series are typically aimed at the target age of the book series.  Percy Jackson is a middle-grade fantasy series, so the adaptation is aimed at current middle-grade children.  This view that the show ought to be aimed at adults is a bit... weird.

Many fans are now complaining about the complainers.

It's now to the point that most of the complaining consists of people complaining about the complainers.  This is rather funny.

Here's a good comment that I saved.  It could be addressed to fans from any fandom.

Please don't be like this

Please don't be that fan that needs everything that's on the show to be exactly as it is on the book. Please understand that this is a different type of media and some adaptation will exist, while prior moments of the story will be kept and are being told almost just like we imagined in the books. Please don't act like a spoiled **censored by the mist** and flop this show just because you can't live in a world where uncle Rick decided to take some creative decisions regarding his own characters for his own show, such as their appearances.  Please don't be like this.  We, demigods, this fandom, are way better than doing this and being this type of fan.  We've waited so long, don't ruin this for absolutely nothing...

Someone else wrote this.

Why do you want [the production to be] a copy of the book?  Just read the damn book then!  This isn't the same Percy Jackson you fell in love with, because it isn't a book.

After I watched the first three episodes, I decided that I really needed to read the first book again to refresh my memory.  I have now done so and can see where the show has deviated from the book.  It's just not a problem for me.  I expect to enjoy the rest of the shows.

Here are some of the current post titles in one of the Percy Jackson subreddits:

MODS: Please we need a rule excluding posts complaining about other "X type" of posts.

PSA: People are allowed to post their criticisms of the show here, it's not toxicity it's opinions.

Why is everyone being so negative?

Time to create a post complaining about the complaints that are complaining about complaints complaining!

Should we make a sub specifically for criticism?

Guys, you’re turning away fans

I’m tired of all the posts telling people to stop being negative.

Holy negativity

That’s it, the toxic fans have forced me out of this subreddit.

The problem with all the complaining is that it has ruined other fans' experiences.  Fans who are enjoying an adaptation want to get online and enjoy the experience with other fans.  We all agree that people have the right to complain, but the complainers are so prominent that they drown out everyone else.

That's what happened in late 2019 during the Nancy Drew fan meltdown.  In 2019, the worst part was when fans that I respected chose to insult and blame those of us who were able to enjoy CW's version of Nancy Drew.  I will never forget how scornful they were.  Some Percy Jackson fans are behaving in the same fashion.  Worst of all, they are being scornful of Rick Riordan since he likes the adaptation.  That's not cool.