Percy Jackson: is it too woke or are audiences just racist?

 Percy Jackson and the Olympians: Imperfect adolescence


Rick Riordan’s Percy Jackson stories are all about learning and coming of age. Mistakes are made, lessons are learned, but it’s all part of a larger process. Yes, if you’re familiar with the story it might feel a bit predictable but (apologies for the cliché) it’s the journey that really matters. Percy Jackson is the main protagonist because he challenges the status quo and encourages his peers to do the same, without great aspirations for fame or glory. He simply sees the twisted and toxic nature of the world he’s entering for what it is and is unwilling to accept those standards. 



The “woke” element of this show is something that has roused a fair amount of criticism and derision from some. Quite honestly, my opinion is that people with such opinions are often themselves unwilling to change their minds or be open to discussions, and therefore this show is really not for them in the sense that they wouldn’t be able to appreciate it purely as entertainment. If you actually take the time to watch the show, you’ll realise that the “wokeness” of it all is mostly in the fact that Annabeth Chase is not played by a blonde, white actress. What a catastrophe. If you’re upset by this fact, you really ought to question where those feelings and judgements are coming from. Rick Riordan, creator of the world of Percy Jackson, has expressed his unwavering support for the casting decision because guess what, the character is more important than the way she looks. 



Challenging the established order has always been associated with young people advocating for change, so why should Percy Jackson and the Olympians be any different? Percy and his friends are working out who they are whilst embarking on a quest to prevent a war of colossal scale that they want no part in (though no doubt they’d find themselves roped in against their will as pigs to slaughter). Percy sees the neglectful nature of the gods as parents to their extraordinary children and wants no part of the toxic family he discovers he’s tied to, and he wants to encourage others to do the same. That’s precisely what Percy Jackson and other stories like it are all about, and if that makes them “woke” (indeed too woke for some audiences) then let’s hope wokeness can help us to learn from a history of mistakes and misbehaviour. 

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