Featured graphic by Larry Rincon
Story by Larry Rincon
The “Percy Jackon and the Olympians” book series has held a choke hold on its fans for years, and after the live action movies in 2010 and 2013, fans had one thing on their mind: a faithful adaptation.
Whether the work is a novel, comic or video game, fans of all things pop culture are picky and critical of anything related to the thing they love. From the smallest detail in the story to issues with racial inaccuracies, there is not a single thing fans won’t criticize or nitpick.
Luckily, I was not one of the many individuals who read the “Percy Jackson” books growing up. I made it as far as page five of book three, so I was ready to finally understand why people like this book series through my favorite medium: television.
The brand new Disney series follows a young teen boy named Percy Jackson who gets thrown into the world of Greek mythology after he finds out he is actually a demi-god. As a demi-god, monsters are naturally attracted to him, and after his encounter with his teacher turned Harpy, Percy is sent to a camp made for others like him.
The show is essentially a seven episode road trip following the slowly developing friendship between Annabeth and Percy, but don’t forget Grover was there too.
I don’t remember any of the events from the books, so I was going into the series comparing the series to the movies. The movies were bad by all standards, but overall they both feel as average as the other.
The fight scenes in the film were a lot more exciting, while those in the show felt quick and boring. Considering most of the internet agrees that Percy Jackson can beat Harry Potter in a fight, I wanted to see that kind of Percy on the screen.
The television series also had a lot of editing choices that I feel took you out of the magic of the story. The scenes in every episode had a few seconds of black to split them up without fail. Whether this is due to the implementation of ads on Disney Plus or just a stylistic choice, this small detail made watching the show annoying.
Since I wasn’t a fan, I was watching this as just another average person. I knew the basics of the storyline, so I wanted to learn a lot more about the characters and the world. After eight episodes, I feel like I haven’t learned anything.
Looking through social media, all I’ve come to understand is that the series doesn’t follow the book completely. New scenes have been added, new plot points and character changes were made in order to fit the modernization of it.
Some fans are enjoying the slightly more faithful adaptation even with the new added twists. On the other hand, there are some fans who can’t stand a black actress playing a fictional character. I don’t think the changes affect the delivery of the story in any way.
I’ve seen many novel adaptations that don’t do the original work justice. It’s okay to take creative liberties and change certain aspects of the story as long as the overall message or themes don’t suffer.
For what the new “Percy Jackson and the Olympians” television series is worth, I think that it is a good start for the future of the franchise. The casting was great, and their acting feels natural. Many points in the story set up the events of the next book, so I hope they continue and fix the small post-production based issues I think are taking from the series.
You don’t need to be a fan of the books in order to fall into the Greek mythology rabbit hole.
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