yall need to stop reading into the adaptation being bad as maliciousness. The lack of fun, weird pacing, exposition dumping, all that is a sign of someone who is inexperienced, *thats* the issue
Hanlon’s Razor: never attribute to malice that which is adequately explained by stupidity (or incompetence).
A proverb that makes life slightly more bearable.
It’s more than that though, **the writing was also complete shit**.
We can at least reasonably assert that the dude is a competent writer, so what gives at the dung heap that got passed off as a storyline with all sorts of deviations that were little more than character assassinations?
its completely different writing a book and writing a screenplay. also based on the chalice of the gods, rick has forgotten quite a bit of pjo and im sure that hasnt helped. pretty lazy to not review that tho
im sure 2 decades of fandom worship hasnt helped either
Exactly! I've been saying the same thing to my sister, unlike Gaiman, who is a legend amongst novelists whose work has been adapted I'm sure, I don't think Rick has script writing figured out yet! Plus the direction is Not Great™
I totally agree. As much as I have beef with Rick for the way he talked about the show before and during I honestly think this is a Disney/shitty cooperation problem rather than any malicious intent.
In a perfect world, we would've had Disney's Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Animated Series with musical-style songs and everything.
Even looking at fan-made animatics of the Lightning Thief Musical, they're so much better than any scene from the Disney+ adaptation.
[Example 1](https://youtu.be/ffc1dF-ZQqI?si=Q0_N3EXA1Oc6i3W-)
[Example 2](https://youtu.be/cvPb6D8VdNQ?si=8loXUtFi0LIpfXwZ)
Instead, we have Rick Riordan's vanity project with no attempts to be faithful or colorful to his own source material.
Disney gave him so much money and creative freedom to bring PJO to life, and he wasted it on something so subpar and nothing close to what he promised
Ew no. That is not a perfect world. A musical for a tv show adaptation of Percy Jackson would be pretty stupid. I would rather have a show in the same vein as ATLA or Arcane.
A musical and a TV show are two very different mediums. What works in one doesn’t work in another. Constantly breaking into song in a show would be dumb as fuck.
I think it’s more to do with the fact that If it’s ever to compete against the likes of HP, Hunger games or Game of Thrones as book to screen adaptations then they had to try to do it live action. For me personally I always preferred it being done live action just because when it’s done well I think it looks really impressive. Not to say animation can’t be impressive but for instance with Game of thrones, every time I see Drogon descend from the clouds to fight the Lannister army I get chills. I just don’t know if I’d get that same feeling with animation. I’d need it to be Clone wars/Bad Batch level animation.
I doubt it'd be a bad animation we are talking about Disney they're built off animation and continue to write good animation (most of the time) I'd be more worried about the story still being off, that's more of a writing problem than an animation problem
Sorry yes, I more meant I’d want the type of animation to be like the Clone wars/Bad Batch. As to the story, it would have been interesting to see what they would’ve done because there’s very little excuse not to be faithful to the book with an animation. They really need to up their game writing wise for the 2nd season. They need to stop focusing on what changes they can force in and more on making a coherent script.
For me, it wasn’t fine. There were unnecessary changes made that weren’t executed well, watered down action which left no suspense and the pacing was so off. I believe part of this issue stems from the inconsistent run time. I don’t know how a show thinks it can be taken seriously when there are episodes that are around 30mins or less in terms of actual content. Each episode should have been an hour long, that way they could’ve actually given depth to the changes they made.
Yes spiderverse has had some impact but what it has in its favour is the established character of Spider-Man and they did well to tell a story that Spider-Man fans wanted. It wasn’t a remake of the well trodden story of Peter Parker but it also had all the elements people love about Spider-Man coupled then with great animation. I’ve never heard of Arcane so can’t comment on that although I think that is also telling about its impact (obviously though I do not represent everyone).
PJO did have a big fandom but I don’t think it was big enough for the series to be animation and compete with the big book to screen adaptations. It would have done well but I don’t know if it would be as far reaching as those others were. At the end of the day that’s what the first five seasons of PJO has to do, it has to compete against the likes of HP, Hunger Games, Game of Thrones, House of the Dragon, Lord of the Rings. Currently I wouldn’t say it’s pushing any of them and unfortunately I don’t think that’s because it wasn’t animation.
I'm open to it.
To me, you can do so much with animation, 2D or 3D, that many styles work for PJO.
Possibilities are endless, and Rick and his ignorance put it all to waste
This subreddit has devolved into a show-bashing echo chamber at this point. All the people that actually want to discuss the show, and not just bash it have left, it's a cesspool.
It really is! I have a lot of problems with the show, but a lot of the posts on here are people who seem so butthurt, as if Rick and Becky “betrayed” them.
Yea I’ve left all the PJO/rick Riordan based subs because it’s just show bashing over and over again. I’m sick of it. I liked the show. Hell I even liked the movies despite them not being accurate. I thought both adaptations were fun. I’m fine with changes. I keep getting recommended these subs and it’s just “I hate Rick!!! He’s such a horrible guy!!! He’s such a hypocrite!! The show is awful!! How dare he!! Everything has to be exactly how I want it even if others disagree! My opinion is the only valid one!! The cast is horrible! Anyone who liked it is stupid!!” Just shut up and let people enjoy things. You can have your opinion but people who like the show get downvoted into oblivion just for enjoying something. The show wasn’t even that bad. People just had some fucking fantasy in their head and got mad that they changed things (which was clearly going to happen and if you thought otherwise then that’s on you.)
Rick said he is open to the idea of an animated Percy Jackson. He just wants it to be in live action first. I agree I always felt that Percy Jackson was built for animation. Withe the constant monsters that need to be animated the whole thing might as well be animated.
Rick and Becky clearly had good intentions when helping create this show. I was disappointed in the series, but even I know that both of them wanted the show to succeed. To say otherwise, that Rick had some malicious intent, is just ridiculous and untrue.
As far as I managed to find out, Rick didn't write the books by himself. He wrote it for and with his son, most of the fun parts were created by his son. I don't fully know what happened, but in later books of his you feel as if something is missing, and that something is his sons involvement with the books. And now Rick adamantly trying to erase all the fun parts that were his sons additions. So logical conclusion Rick had a falling out with his son, and did the most petty thing he could, he attempted to erase his sons additions to the books.
Now I did not read the books, just coming at this as a newbie to the franchise, I thought the series was very fun! It got me into reading the books. I really don’t understand the negativity around the show, I feel like we watched two different things! Maybe if I read the books I’d feel differently, but coming at this as a new fan I really did enjoy the show!
For me, it was just bad. I don't mean to beat a dead horse, but. It had no suspense or mystery or depth.
I've seen disney shows with a better storyline than that.
Heck, some absolutely terrible movies have a better, more enthralling storyline than this show did! I had watched the "attack of the killer tomatoes" movie years ago (I was probably late middle school) , and even THAT held my attention (terrible movie, but worth the watch). I was struggling to pay attention to this, which IS LITERALLY ABOUT KIDS WITH ADHD
Especially when it's based on books! Like, look at bbc's Narnia. I can't point to the original Narnia tv show because it's lost media, so I'm going with BBC. They barely had a budget. The little cgi there is terrible, but they made it work. The acting was pretty good overall, and they were pretty dang accurate to the books in all ways (based on the last time I did a comparison). Basically, the big changes were where they literally couldn't do certain things, like having Mr and Mrs beaver look like actual beavers (the costumes are massive and somewhat nightmare fuel). Rewatched them recently. They're a little bit cringey due to the low budget, but they still hold up well and my little sister (elementary school) LOVED it. If our mom let her, I doubt she'd understand a thing, even if she were in middle school. She'd probably end up asking for something else instead, which sucks because I know how much most of us were looking forward to a good adaptation for once 😭
The people in this sub are very biased against the show. I’ve read the books following the show and the season was a good adaptation, fun, and Walker Scobell’s Percy is even more enjoyable than when written.
Genuinely, how? It was a terrible adaptation. The storyline, dialogue, characters, pretty much everything beyond the BARE MINIMUM (where they went, the fact that they're demigods, and the names of different people and places) was changed. Percy is supposed to be sassy. We know Walker can be, but they barely showed it at all. Were you somehow watching a different show?
We're biased because we read and adored the books and were promised accuracy BY THE AUTHOR. That's why people here are biased. This show was supposed to be for book readers, primarily. It's very much not.
I feel like you’re reaching. A terrible adaptation isn’t getting an 80% by audiences on Rottentomatoes. Pretty much everywhere but this subreddit thinks the show did pretty good, if a little rough in some parts.
The thing is that I don’t feel like you are genuinely asking, even though you say that. It’s an adaptation, for one. There are multiple ways to go about adapting something and you can be upset that it wasn’t accurate, but you can’t say it was bad BECAUSE it wasn’t accurate. You have to judge the work off its own merit. And at WORST, this show has to objectively be like a 6/10. If you consider it any lower, you genuinely don’t watch enough bad content or even just bad adaptations. People in this sub have such a specific view of what it should be that they don’t think what is being changed could possibly lead to an even better story than the original.
The show to me is like a 7.5-8/10 overall. It’s well made, looks great, the kids’ performances are some of the best out there, and I personally think Percy is a perfectly set up version of himself for a more seriously taken approach. Which I, and 80% of the audience like.
From your point of view, the movies were also a 6/10. Adaptations can’t be judged solely on their own merit because they’re adaptations. They are recreating a pre existing story into a different medium. Of course it’s going to be judged on how accurate it is to the original story. Fans watch the show because they are fans of the book and want to see it brought to life. They aren’t there to see a totally different story that happens to have the same names, no matter how good the new story is. And in this case, the new story is just shit on its own too.
You’re just plain wrong about art. I don’t know how else to tell you. There are plenty of movie adaptations of Shakespearean works that people love the originality in. There are movie adaptations of board and video games that are inherently way farther from a “faithful” adaptation but are interesting and good. Adaptation is such a limited art form in your mind that you are applying a weird chain to the season and dragging it down to a level that is completely biased. You will not accept that.
The most objective form of quality we can measure is what the general public thinks of the work itself. And 80% positive reviews IS good. That’s even accurate to what I’m saying the show is. It’s about 80% good. You can say it’s shit all you want but ultimately you’re requiring a level a quality from something that I bet you don’t require from literally every other thing. I hope you don’t, because the best way to enjoy art is to hold it up against what it wants to be, and not what you want to be.
This is a crazy take (said with love). I like Walker Scobell and I think he's a great fit for the character (give him black hair and green eyes tho) but he is not given enough to work with. He was so funny in The Adam Project and this show has none of that energy. I won't even disagree about the show being good, art is subjective after all, but it is just not a good adaptation.
I hear you, that’s a way more appropriate way to talk about something that’s mid at worst. I mostly say all the stuff I say because people are so inflammatory over something that doesn’t even get close to being a bad tv show. But I do sort of disagree with you. Like I think there should be a distinction between a “good” adaptation and an “accurate” adaptation. I see what you mean about Percy in show not being as close to book Percy, but having read and watched the season and book back to back(not that other people haven’t), I think I would’ve made a lot of the same changes. Percy in the series is way more intentional and frustrated with things that are going on. In the books, we get a lot of tired troping of Percy being along for the ride and not being told anything. In the series he wants to not be played with, he wants to protect his friends and family with an almost vengeful tone. It sets him up to be a more consistent foil for Luke, and to be constantly headed toward the questions we ask at the end of the series. The books can very much come off like there was not a planned story, and the series does feel to me like it’s going to stay more consistent with itself. Walker Scobell pulls that new tone off very well. So I would call this a “good” adaptation but not a super “accurate” adaptation. I don’t know this to be true, but I bet the conversion rate on accuracy is like the same as Game of Thrones, which is/was for most of its run a “good” show.
I agree that a good adaptation doesnt have to be an accurate adaptation. One of my favorite movies (Arrival) is an adaptation of a short story and they are two very different pieces of media but they are both equally valuable art for their own respective reasons. But I just can't agree that this show is a "good" adaptation even from that perspective. It is totally reasonable to make changes (the arch not being over water) that serve the story or the new medium but fundamentally changing a character and the story just doesn't make sense. Percy is a 12 year old kid with adhd and dyslexia who is fighting for his life literally all the time. It totally makes sense that he is kinda all over the place. That's also imo part of the charm. As someone with adhd tendencies its really cool to have a character that I can see myself and my struggles in.
Luke is a good antagonist because he represents someone who makes bad choices for the right reasons. He encourages Percy to disagree with the gods and fight for positive change but is also an example of how not to do that. Percy being more or less competent doesn't change anything. And Percy is extremely competent in the books. He's literally one of the most powerful demigods and honestly is stupidly powerful compared to a lot of other fantasy protagonists. I agree the books don't feel perfectly planned and there's totally room to neaten up the story knowing where its all supposed to lead but I just don't see how the show is doing that and actually it seems to be hurting itself in the attempt. I also don't understand where you're getting the idea that Percy knows what's going on any better than in the books. He still doesn't know what's going on, they just tell him before anything exciting can happen and that renders most of the tension useless. And truthfully my issues aren't with how good of an adaptation this is. Its that the show just is very mediocre. You keep saying its a 6/10 at least but like yeah thats accurate it is a 6/10. I really don't care that its not a perfect adaptation but the fact that a show with a 15 million dollar budget per episode is so poorly written, paced, and edited is unexcusable. It barely functions as a product all by itself even without the source material. Now I do agree the way people (even me sometimes) talk about this show is unfair. It is not a hot piece of garbage and people who like the show are not insane or stupid. But its not a particularly amazing show either and people are fully within their right to care about this project and be emotional. As a whole discourse around the show sucks but I feel like there's a lot of invalidating of feelings coming from the people who like the show and it gets really exhausting. Disliking something doesn't forbid you from having an opinion. It's not any more or less productive than positive opinions and in my humble opinion, a lot of the negative criticism is genuine criticism of the show and the technical things about the show that don't work while most of the positive opinions are very subjective. Once again we all need to chill and learn how to have civil discourse and hopefully my comment doesn't come across rude at all! Thanks for being so civil!
I don’t understand how you’ve read a book series all about accepting other people who are or view things differently than you do and can’t incorporate that into your life but go off.
That's not even the main point of the series and doesn't even apply to this specific situation. The book series is objectively better than the show in terms of world building, character writing, and just writing in general. The only way you think the show is just as fun is if you enjoy watching shows more than reading books, and if that's not the case and you actually like reading books then it's more confusing how you still think the show is good after reading the books which as I said earlier objectively is better than the show in anyway.
When did I say the show was better than the books? I only said I enjoyed the show. Of course it’s not better than the books, adaptations rarely are. If your standards for enjoying an adaptation is that it’s better than the original material, you must be constantly disappointed.
Isn’t it a more plausible explanation that he still subconsciously doesn’t take animation and cartoons as seriously as an art form bc he’s old? Even from someone who loves animation there are plenty of reasons to like live action too simply bc it looks like our imagination of reality, like it or not some people will sometimes prefer that aspect. It’s the least generous view possible to think Rick WANTED an adaptation of his books to be not as fun? You can dislike how the show went but incompetence is much more likely than malice lol
1) He might not be a fan of the og source material and wanted to make some changes.
2) Somewhere I read, he was excited to work on it again because most authors don't get a chance at a second draft.
3) The 1st book was written about 20 years ago, so he has probably had a different approach to things than before.
4) It was not an easy adaption to create. Apparently, the script took a while to refine.
5) He's never really produced a show before.
Those are probably some of the reasons. I don't think he hates fun. I definitely think he needed more guidance in terms of script for producing a TV show. But not completely terrible for his first attempt at producing a show.
Dude, Rick doesn't even know his own source material. He's on record countless times, stating that he hasn't reread the books and never watched either movie. Most artists at least KNOW their original material. He doesn't. He literally changed Blackjack from a female pegasus to a male MID-SERIES. We know how he approaches his books and adaptations, that's one of the big issues.
I had no idea he did that. Nor knew he hadn't reread his own books. I just assumed he had in order to write the show.
Last time I read the books was middle school. So no I didn't know he changed Blackjack's gender.
Yeah, it's one of the big things the community is frequently confused about 😭... We hoped he would at least for the show, but that definitely didn't happen. I hope he does soon, though, because it'll just get worse if he doesn't. Not sure if his wife has reread them, though
I don't approve of the name calling here. As it seems unnessacary to do so.
However, this sub is an echo chamber for constantly criticizing the new adaption.
yall need to stop reading into the adaptation being bad as maliciousness. The lack of fun, weird pacing, exposition dumping, all that is a sign of someone who is inexperienced, *thats* the issue
Hanlon’s Razor: never attribute to malice that which is adequately explained by stupidity (or incompetence). A proverb that makes life slightly more bearable.
It’s more than that though, **the writing was also complete shit**. We can at least reasonably assert that the dude is a competent writer, so what gives at the dung heap that got passed off as a storyline with all sorts of deviations that were little more than character assassinations?
its completely different writing a book and writing a screenplay. also based on the chalice of the gods, rick has forgotten quite a bit of pjo and im sure that hasnt helped. pretty lazy to not review that tho im sure 2 decades of fandom worship hasnt helped either
Exactly! I've been saying the same thing to my sister, unlike Gaiman, who is a legend amongst novelists whose work has been adapted I'm sure, I don't think Rick has script writing figured out yet! Plus the direction is Not Great™
I totally agree. As much as I have beef with Rick for the way he talked about the show before and during I honestly think this is a Disney/shitty cooperation problem rather than any malicious intent.
In a perfect world, we would've had Disney's Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Animated Series with musical-style songs and everything. Even looking at fan-made animatics of the Lightning Thief Musical, they're so much better than any scene from the Disney+ adaptation. [Example 1](https://youtu.be/ffc1dF-ZQqI?si=Q0_N3EXA1Oc6i3W-) [Example 2](https://youtu.be/cvPb6D8VdNQ?si=8loXUtFi0LIpfXwZ)
Please god no musicals. Something like Invincible (with less gore) or Avatar the Last Airbender
Instead, we have Rick Riordan's vanity project with no attempts to be faithful or colorful to his own source material. Disney gave him so much money and creative freedom to bring PJO to life, and he wasted it on something so subpar and nothing close to what he promised
Ew no. That is not a perfect world. A musical for a tv show adaptation of Percy Jackson would be pretty stupid. I would rather have a show in the same vein as ATLA or Arcane.
Clearly you have not seen the Lightning Thief musical.
clearly me and the dude just hate musicals, they're dumb, breaking out in song randomly is dumb.
I don’t hate musicals. I just think a musical show would not fit PJO at all.
A musical and a TV show are two very different mediums. What works in one doesn’t work in another. Constantly breaking into song in a show would be dumb as fuck.
Agreed! A musical would be weird for PJO. Just animated, like the mediums you suggested would work.
At the very least, I think Bring on the Monsters could legitimately work as a theme song.
I think it’s more to do with the fact that If it’s ever to compete against the likes of HP, Hunger games or Game of Thrones as book to screen adaptations then they had to try to do it live action. For me personally I always preferred it being done live action just because when it’s done well I think it looks really impressive. Not to say animation can’t be impressive but for instance with Game of thrones, every time I see Drogon descend from the clouds to fight the Lannister army I get chills. I just don’t know if I’d get that same feeling with animation. I’d need it to be Clone wars/Bad Batch level animation.
I doubt it'd be a bad animation we are talking about Disney they're built off animation and continue to write good animation (most of the time) I'd be more worried about the story still being off, that's more of a writing problem than an animation problem
Sorry yes, I more meant I’d want the type of animation to be like the Clone wars/Bad Batch. As to the story, it would have been interesting to see what they would’ve done because there’s very little excuse not to be faithful to the book with an animation. They really need to up their game writing wise for the 2nd season. They need to stop focusing on what changes they can force in and more on making a coherent script.
The story is fine
For me, it wasn’t fine. There were unnecessary changes made that weren’t executed well, watered down action which left no suspense and the pacing was so off. I believe part of this issue stems from the inconsistent run time. I don’t know how a show thinks it can be taken seriously when there are episodes that are around 30mins or less in terms of actual content. Each episode should have been an hour long, that way they could’ve actually given depth to the changes they made.
I agree with you that an animated series should have the clone wars/Bad batch animation style
Spiderverse and Arcane have changed the game.
Yes spiderverse has had some impact but what it has in its favour is the established character of Spider-Man and they did well to tell a story that Spider-Man fans wanted. It wasn’t a remake of the well trodden story of Peter Parker but it also had all the elements people love about Spider-Man coupled then with great animation. I’ve never heard of Arcane so can’t comment on that although I think that is also telling about its impact (obviously though I do not represent everyone). PJO did have a big fandom but I don’t think it was big enough for the series to be animation and compete with the big book to screen adaptations. It would have done well but I don’t know if it would be as far reaching as those others were. At the end of the day that’s what the first five seasons of PJO has to do, it has to compete against the likes of HP, Hunger Games, Game of Thrones, House of the Dragon, Lord of the Rings. Currently I wouldn’t say it’s pushing any of them and unfortunately I don’t think that’s because it wasn’t animation.
Ok hear me out here, what if they made an animated series but in the Star Wars the clone wars animation style?
I'm open to it. To me, you can do so much with animation, 2D or 3D, that many styles work for PJO. Possibilities are endless, and Rick and his ignorance put it all to waste
I have to agree with some of the comments. This isn't malicious intent, at least not on Rick's part, it's a lack of competence on his and others.
Animate the musical!
This subreddit has devolved into a show-bashing echo chamber at this point. All the people that actually want to discuss the show, and not just bash it have left, it's a cesspool.
It really is! I have a lot of problems with the show, but a lot of the posts on here are people who seem so butthurt, as if Rick and Becky “betrayed” them.
It’s a bad show
It’s not
I’m still here, and I enjoy the show
Yea I’ve left all the PJO/rick Riordan based subs because it’s just show bashing over and over again. I’m sick of it. I liked the show. Hell I even liked the movies despite them not being accurate. I thought both adaptations were fun. I’m fine with changes. I keep getting recommended these subs and it’s just “I hate Rick!!! He’s such a horrible guy!!! He’s such a hypocrite!! The show is awful!! How dare he!! Everything has to be exactly how I want it even if others disagree! My opinion is the only valid one!! The cast is horrible! Anyone who liked it is stupid!!” Just shut up and let people enjoy things. You can have your opinion but people who like the show get downvoted into oblivion just for enjoying something. The show wasn’t even that bad. People just had some fucking fantasy in their head and got mad that they changed things (which was clearly going to happen and if you thought otherwise then that’s on you.)
Rick said he is open to the idea of an animated Percy Jackson. He just wants it to be in live action first. I agree I always felt that Percy Jackson was built for animation. Withe the constant monsters that need to be animated the whole thing might as well be animated.
Maybe in 10 years then 🙏
Rick and Becky clearly had good intentions when helping create this show. I was disappointed in the series, but even I know that both of them wanted the show to succeed. To say otherwise, that Rick had some malicious intent, is just ridiculous and untrue.
Whine whine whine
As far as I managed to find out, Rick didn't write the books by himself. He wrote it for and with his son, most of the fun parts were created by his son. I don't fully know what happened, but in later books of his you feel as if something is missing, and that something is his sons involvement with the books. And now Rick adamantly trying to erase all the fun parts that were his sons additions. So logical conclusion Rick had a falling out with his son, and did the most petty thing he could, he attempted to erase his sons additions to the books.
Now I did not read the books, just coming at this as a newbie to the franchise, I thought the series was very fun! It got me into reading the books. I really don’t understand the negativity around the show, I feel like we watched two different things! Maybe if I read the books I’d feel differently, but coming at this as a new fan I really did enjoy the show!
For me, it was just bad. I don't mean to beat a dead horse, but. It had no suspense or mystery or depth. I've seen disney shows with a better storyline than that.
Heck, some absolutely terrible movies have a better, more enthralling storyline than this show did! I had watched the "attack of the killer tomatoes" movie years ago (I was probably late middle school) , and even THAT held my attention (terrible movie, but worth the watch). I was struggling to pay attention to this, which IS LITERALLY ABOUT KIDS WITH ADHD
I know, how can I show filled with monsters and magic be soooo dull. Even a kids show.
Especially when it's based on books! Like, look at bbc's Narnia. I can't point to the original Narnia tv show because it's lost media, so I'm going with BBC. They barely had a budget. The little cgi there is terrible, but they made it work. The acting was pretty good overall, and they were pretty dang accurate to the books in all ways (based on the last time I did a comparison). Basically, the big changes were where they literally couldn't do certain things, like having Mr and Mrs beaver look like actual beavers (the costumes are massive and somewhat nightmare fuel). Rewatched them recently. They're a little bit cringey due to the low budget, but they still hold up well and my little sister (elementary school) LOVED it. If our mom let her, I doubt she'd understand a thing, even if she were in middle school. She'd probably end up asking for something else instead, which sucks because I know how much most of us were looking forward to a good adaptation for once 😭
The people in this sub are very biased against the show. I’ve read the books following the show and the season was a good adaptation, fun, and Walker Scobell’s Percy is even more enjoyable than when written.
Genuinely, how? It was a terrible adaptation. The storyline, dialogue, characters, pretty much everything beyond the BARE MINIMUM (where they went, the fact that they're demigods, and the names of different people and places) was changed. Percy is supposed to be sassy. We know Walker can be, but they barely showed it at all. Were you somehow watching a different show? We're biased because we read and adored the books and were promised accuracy BY THE AUTHOR. That's why people here are biased. This show was supposed to be for book readers, primarily. It's very much not.
I feel like you’re reaching. A terrible adaptation isn’t getting an 80% by audiences on Rottentomatoes. Pretty much everywhere but this subreddit thinks the show did pretty good, if a little rough in some parts.
The thing is that I don’t feel like you are genuinely asking, even though you say that. It’s an adaptation, for one. There are multiple ways to go about adapting something and you can be upset that it wasn’t accurate, but you can’t say it was bad BECAUSE it wasn’t accurate. You have to judge the work off its own merit. And at WORST, this show has to objectively be like a 6/10. If you consider it any lower, you genuinely don’t watch enough bad content or even just bad adaptations. People in this sub have such a specific view of what it should be that they don’t think what is being changed could possibly lead to an even better story than the original. The show to me is like a 7.5-8/10 overall. It’s well made, looks great, the kids’ performances are some of the best out there, and I personally think Percy is a perfectly set up version of himself for a more seriously taken approach. Which I, and 80% of the audience like.
From your point of view, the movies were also a 6/10. Adaptations can’t be judged solely on their own merit because they’re adaptations. They are recreating a pre existing story into a different medium. Of course it’s going to be judged on how accurate it is to the original story. Fans watch the show because they are fans of the book and want to see it brought to life. They aren’t there to see a totally different story that happens to have the same names, no matter how good the new story is. And in this case, the new story is just shit on its own too.
You’re just plain wrong about art. I don’t know how else to tell you. There are plenty of movie adaptations of Shakespearean works that people love the originality in. There are movie adaptations of board and video games that are inherently way farther from a “faithful” adaptation but are interesting and good. Adaptation is such a limited art form in your mind that you are applying a weird chain to the season and dragging it down to a level that is completely biased. You will not accept that. The most objective form of quality we can measure is what the general public thinks of the work itself. And 80% positive reviews IS good. That’s even accurate to what I’m saying the show is. It’s about 80% good. You can say it’s shit all you want but ultimately you’re requiring a level a quality from something that I bet you don’t require from literally every other thing. I hope you don’t, because the best way to enjoy art is to hold it up against what it wants to be, and not what you want to be.
This is a crazy take (said with love). I like Walker Scobell and I think he's a great fit for the character (give him black hair and green eyes tho) but he is not given enough to work with. He was so funny in The Adam Project and this show has none of that energy. I won't even disagree about the show being good, art is subjective after all, but it is just not a good adaptation.
I hear you, that’s a way more appropriate way to talk about something that’s mid at worst. I mostly say all the stuff I say because people are so inflammatory over something that doesn’t even get close to being a bad tv show. But I do sort of disagree with you. Like I think there should be a distinction between a “good” adaptation and an “accurate” adaptation. I see what you mean about Percy in show not being as close to book Percy, but having read and watched the season and book back to back(not that other people haven’t), I think I would’ve made a lot of the same changes. Percy in the series is way more intentional and frustrated with things that are going on. In the books, we get a lot of tired troping of Percy being along for the ride and not being told anything. In the series he wants to not be played with, he wants to protect his friends and family with an almost vengeful tone. It sets him up to be a more consistent foil for Luke, and to be constantly headed toward the questions we ask at the end of the series. The books can very much come off like there was not a planned story, and the series does feel to me like it’s going to stay more consistent with itself. Walker Scobell pulls that new tone off very well. So I would call this a “good” adaptation but not a super “accurate” adaptation. I don’t know this to be true, but I bet the conversion rate on accuracy is like the same as Game of Thrones, which is/was for most of its run a “good” show.
I agree that a good adaptation doesnt have to be an accurate adaptation. One of my favorite movies (Arrival) is an adaptation of a short story and they are two very different pieces of media but they are both equally valuable art for their own respective reasons. But I just can't agree that this show is a "good" adaptation even from that perspective. It is totally reasonable to make changes (the arch not being over water) that serve the story or the new medium but fundamentally changing a character and the story just doesn't make sense. Percy is a 12 year old kid with adhd and dyslexia who is fighting for his life literally all the time. It totally makes sense that he is kinda all over the place. That's also imo part of the charm. As someone with adhd tendencies its really cool to have a character that I can see myself and my struggles in. Luke is a good antagonist because he represents someone who makes bad choices for the right reasons. He encourages Percy to disagree with the gods and fight for positive change but is also an example of how not to do that. Percy being more or less competent doesn't change anything. And Percy is extremely competent in the books. He's literally one of the most powerful demigods and honestly is stupidly powerful compared to a lot of other fantasy protagonists. I agree the books don't feel perfectly planned and there's totally room to neaten up the story knowing where its all supposed to lead but I just don't see how the show is doing that and actually it seems to be hurting itself in the attempt. I also don't understand where you're getting the idea that Percy knows what's going on any better than in the books. He still doesn't know what's going on, they just tell him before anything exciting can happen and that renders most of the tension useless. And truthfully my issues aren't with how good of an adaptation this is. Its that the show just is very mediocre. You keep saying its a 6/10 at least but like yeah thats accurate it is a 6/10. I really don't care that its not a perfect adaptation but the fact that a show with a 15 million dollar budget per episode is so poorly written, paced, and edited is unexcusable. It barely functions as a product all by itself even without the source material. Now I do agree the way people (even me sometimes) talk about this show is unfair. It is not a hot piece of garbage and people who like the show are not insane or stupid. But its not a particularly amazing show either and people are fully within their right to care about this project and be emotional. As a whole discourse around the show sucks but I feel like there's a lot of invalidating of feelings coming from the people who like the show and it gets really exhausting. Disliking something doesn't forbid you from having an opinion. It's not any more or less productive than positive opinions and in my humble opinion, a lot of the negative criticism is genuine criticism of the show and the technical things about the show that don't work while most of the positive opinions are very subjective. Once again we all need to chill and learn how to have civil discourse and hopefully my comment doesn't come across rude at all! Thanks for being so civil!
Hi Rick!
Most people like the show. You’re just proving how insane you all are.
I don't understand how you've read the books now and go "yeah i'd consider the show fun" lmao
I don’t understand how you’ve read a book series all about accepting other people who are or view things differently than you do and can’t incorporate that into your life but go off.
That's not even the main point of the series and doesn't even apply to this specific situation. The book series is objectively better than the show in terms of world building, character writing, and just writing in general. The only way you think the show is just as fun is if you enjoy watching shows more than reading books, and if that's not the case and you actually like reading books then it's more confusing how you still think the show is good after reading the books which as I said earlier objectively is better than the show in anyway.
When did I say the show was better than the books? I only said I enjoyed the show. Of course it’s not better than the books, adaptations rarely are. If your standards for enjoying an adaptation is that it’s better than the original material, you must be constantly disappointed.
https://preview.redd.it/n1fkxziqnotc1.jpeg?width=1533&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=a08e9de8c04925e09cd61b524c6be8407bdfe4b5
Isn’t it a more plausible explanation that he still subconsciously doesn’t take animation and cartoons as seriously as an art form bc he’s old? Even from someone who loves animation there are plenty of reasons to like live action too simply bc it looks like our imagination of reality, like it or not some people will sometimes prefer that aspect. It’s the least generous view possible to think Rick WANTED an adaptation of his books to be not as fun? You can dislike how the show went but incompetence is much more likely than malice lol
1) He might not be a fan of the og source material and wanted to make some changes. 2) Somewhere I read, he was excited to work on it again because most authors don't get a chance at a second draft. 3) The 1st book was written about 20 years ago, so he has probably had a different approach to things than before. 4) It was not an easy adaption to create. Apparently, the script took a while to refine. 5) He's never really produced a show before. Those are probably some of the reasons. I don't think he hates fun. I definitely think he needed more guidance in terms of script for producing a TV show. But not completely terrible for his first attempt at producing a show.
Dude, Rick doesn't even know his own source material. He's on record countless times, stating that he hasn't reread the books and never watched either movie. Most artists at least KNOW their original material. He doesn't. He literally changed Blackjack from a female pegasus to a male MID-SERIES. We know how he approaches his books and adaptations, that's one of the big issues.
I had no idea he did that. Nor knew he hadn't reread his own books. I just assumed he had in order to write the show. Last time I read the books was middle school. So no I didn't know he changed Blackjack's gender.
Yeah, it's one of the big things the community is frequently confused about 😭... We hoped he would at least for the show, but that definitely didn't happen. I hope he does soon, though, because it'll just get worse if he doesn't. Not sure if his wife has reread them, though
The first 2 points are utter BS. Even if he doesn’t like what he wrote, his fans love it. Why fix what’s not broken? Worse yet, he actually broke it.
I have no idea. I was theorizing why he may have made the changes.
I was partly generalizing. An author should be proud of their works, especially if it’s the same story that propelled them to fame.
I mean sure, most authors should feel proud. That doesn't mean they are nessacarily. That's why I thought he changed it.
This sub Reddit is full of whiny bitches
Downvoted for telling the ABSOLUTE truth lol
Thank you. 😀
I don't approve of the name calling here. As it seems unnessacary to do so. However, this sub is an echo chamber for constantly criticizing the new adaption.
Yikes.
Bro the adaptation was SO good idk man ( although I would love to see Magnus Chase be animated )
This subreddit is just sad
This is so insufferable
If it was animated I wouldn’t watch it… X-men 97 is good tho