Ok I saw a post about Samirah’s hair showing and I wanted to state my opinion because I’m hijabi. So like the whole argument that Samirah’s more agile without the hijab is literally just an excuse to show her hair because not ONCE have I ever taken off my hijab to be more “agile”. Do you not realize that there are hijabis who exercise and play sports? With our hijab on? Like the hijab doesn’t hold us back at all, sure sometimes for me it’s annoying when I’m running and the ends can like blow in my face or something but that’s just me picking style over convenience lol. Whenever I know I’m going to be playing basketball I always wear a sports hijab or a pull on and it doesn’t bother me at all. There are so many hijabs to choose from for exercising and I bet if Samirah knows she is going to be on Valkyrie duty she makes sure to pick a hijab that’s easy to move around in. Us hijabis know that hijab can be slightly inconvenient when playing sports but we easily work around that. HIJAB DOESN’T STOP US FROM BEING FIT. But Rick still decided to have her hijab come off because he doesn’t know how hijab works. I never understood him and other fan artists really feel the need to show her hair. It’s hair. It wouldn’t kill you to not draw it or write about it.
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 representation by @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 representation by @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 books by @kubo
↳ perpetuating a harmful stereotype when many have been harmed is incredibly problematic
on the dehumanisation of poc and the dismissal of their experiences by @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 families by @ellakay69
↳ op made some excellent points here on how the poc families and their experiences are treated
adultification of black girls by @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 acne by @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 hazel by @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 sadie by @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 woman by @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 storyline by @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 nazis by @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 riordan by @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 insensitive by @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 books by @canarhys
on the topic of poc names and nicknames by @rowansdamisch
the problems with riordan’s characters in heroes of olympus by @housemartius
what to consider when these criticisms are brought up by @knuffled
on the portrayal of mixed race sadie by @howelljenkins
a overall criticism of the mythology in the pjo books by the @theatomicboom
on buff girls in media by @macsi
sadie and uh the age difference by @spoopy-elliot
Okay. So I realize that some people don't like how Annabeth is the typical Smart Grades type girl, or that Nico was the Gay Angst™ guy. But you have to realize that some things in the books didn't really have a solid, academic, five- page list of reasons why it happened. Some things are there just for fun little tropes and humor. It's a kids series.
