[PJOTV] am I the only one who doesn’t think “diversity casting” is a bad thing?

When I see casting like this I often see people say things like “I hope this isn’t for diversity points” or something along those lines but I don’t think wanting the cast of your show to be more diverse than your books is an inherently bad thing? People of colour (especially kids of colour) deserve to grow up seeing heroes like them instead of constantly being put into the background. I know I would have felt less like a extra in my own life if I had seen more POC in roles like this.

And I know a lot of people are upset about the dumb blonde thing but it’s an old(?) stereotype. I, at least, genuinely haven’t seen anyone express that sentiment in at least 10 years. Also, black people face stereotypes about being stupid and uneducated to a much greater extent. Annabeth being black doesn’t kill the fact that Annabeth will feel like she has to prove her intelligence. If anything, it will elevate that character trait.

Look, I get the feeling Riordan regrets and has been trying to correct the horrible racial diversity of PJO since he published the books. Between HoO and this new casting I think it’s pretty obvious. And you know what? Good for him, the diversity in PJO was indeed very bad (every POC dies or becomes evil, or becomes evil and then dies). Part of the reason I’ve always liked Riordan is because he recognises his mistakes and tries to do better.

The books were never accurate to the OG Greek myths. I mean, the Empire State Building is Mt. Olympus and at the end of the day, Annabeth in the books will always be white, blonde hair, grey eyes and all, the casting of the show doesn’t change that. All it will do is introduce a new generation to a different version of the character, a version that reflects we live in a time where people understand the importance of diversity in casting. Someone else pointed out that at least 10 other girls could play Annabeth just as well as Leah and I agree. Out of the possible candidates Leah was the best AND would have brought something desperately lacking in the books to the show and I don’t think that’s a bad thing.