@people who say stuff like “rick riordan’s representation is amazing!” let’s talk about how the sole asian representation in the pjo universe consists of
raj mandeli the calculus whiz who yells something in urdu which percy thinks means “i have to go potty,” and then runs away from the laestrygonians
why is this problematic? raj mandeli is a very stereotypical portrayal of south asians. the way urdu is treated as a joke is immature and feels borderline offensive. It rubs me the wrong way.
pranjal the healer who is the ✨only named medic at camp jupiter✨
why is this problematic? perhaps i’m being too nitpicky with this one, but a doctor of all professions? seriously? a lot of us receive immense pressure from family members to become doctors. It would have been nice if we could be represented in a way that breaks stereotypes. I’m not saying it’s bad to have pranjal be a doctor, but why is the sole south asian representation in the pjo universe a doctor and a calculus whiz?
drew tanaka the bully,,,do I seriously need to elaborate on this one?
why is this problematic? she’s a bully. I repeat, she’s a BULLY.
mrs. chase the “evil asian stepmom”
why is this problematic? not really gonna elaborate on this one much because i don’t feel it’s my place to talk about how she treated annabeth. but having both of your two female asian characters be portrayed as a bully/antagonist is just,,,not okay.
i’m open to debate about any of this, but non-asians don’t clown please
,,,i can’t believe i forgot ethan nakamura and frank zhang i’m an idiot
ethan nakamura the antagonist who also died
why is this problematic? he’s an antagonist. who also died.
frank zhang(oh boy get ready)
why is this problematic? okay, so frank zhang is the only asian kid in the seven, and he’s also the only kid in the seven who doesn’t have ADHD and isn’t dyslexic. honestly, I don’t know if this was intentional on rick’s part or not, but it is kind of fishy to see that the only asian kid in the seven was the one who didn’t have learning disabilities. honestly, why rick? why frank out of all of them? asian kids can have learning disabilities too, you know! did you also know that there’s a huge stigma that comes with learning disabilities in the asian community? consider this article, written by a chinese high school student with ADHD and ADD:
read this snippet:
As a Chinese student diagnosed with ADHD and ADD, it is extremely hard to cope with the fact you have a learning disorder. Some people in my Asian community did not acknowledge my learning disabilities, as traditional Chinese people look down upon learning disabilities.
ADHD, ADD, and other learning disabilities are considered shameful in the Chinese community. People who dismissed my ADHD and ADD just assumed I was “not smart,” and that was a “fault” of my parents. For many, there is no such thing as ADHD and ADD — they believe this is just a cover-up for laziness.
yeah. lots of people in the asian community do not take learning disabilities seriously. frank zhang is just reinforcing the stereotype that asian kids can’t have learning disabilities. whether rick did it inadvertently or not, it’s still reinforcing that stereotype and it angers me.
also the way he was described? phrases like “baby sumo wrestler?” it’s so infantilizing and so unnecessary!
honestly there’s probably more so if anyone has something to add on go right ahead, but again, non-asians don’t clown please
