Becky Riordan, who happens to be the wife of Percy Jackson and the Olympians creator Rick Riordan as well as an Executive Producer on the Disney+ live-action adaptation of the series, recently revealed that one of the series’ main goals was to “not have a patriarchal lens.”
Percy Jackson and the Olympians poster
While speaking with Variety about the show and specifically how they made Medusa into a victim of sexual abuse.
First, Becky Riordan explained the reason why they didn’t include the sexual abuse narrative about Medusa in the original novels. She said, “The only reason Medusa is not more fleshed out in the books was that it was Percy’s narrative and we don’t have her perspective.”
Her husband added, “As a 12-year-old boy in 2005, I don’t think he had the bandwidth for deconstructing the patriarchy. He was looking at it as, ‘This is a scary woman who’s trying to turn me into stone.'”
Walker Scobell as Percy Jackson in PERCY JACKSON & THE OLYMPIANS – “Episode 102” (Disney/David Bukach)
From there, Becky Riordan confirmed that not giving the show a patriarchal lens was one of the main goals for the series.
She said, “It was one of the first things we talked about, how to not have a patriarchal lens.”
Walker Scobell as Percy Jackson in PERCY JACKSON & THE OLYMPIANS – “Episode 103” (Disney/David Bukach)
As for the idea that the show depicts Medusa as a victim of sexual assault, the actual episode is ambiguous.
Medusa played by Jessica Parker Kennedy tells Percy, Annabeth, and Grover, “Athena was everything to me. I worshipped her, I prayed to her. I made offerings. She never answered. Not even an omen to suggest she appreciated my love.”
She tells Annabeth, who is the daughter of Athena, “I wasn’t like you sweetheart. I was you. I would have worshipped her that way for a lifetime…in silence. But then one day, another god came, and he broke that silence. Your father. The Sea God told me that he loved me. I felt as though he saw me in a way I had never felt seen before. But then Athena declared that I had embarrassed her and that I needed to be punished. Not him. Me. She decided that I would never be seen again by anyone who would live to tell the tale.”
After telling her tale, Annabeth called her a liar and refused to believe her story.
Jessica Parker Kennedy as Medusa in PERCY JACKSON & THE OLYMPIANS – “Episode 103” (Disney/David Bukach)
Medusa then confronts Percy Jackson in the kitchen alone telling him, “Your mother and I, we’re like sisters in a way. Targeted by the same monster. So I find myself feeling protective of you.”
When Percy informs Medusa that his mom never described Poseidon as a monster, Medusa responded, “Where is she now, your mother? Is she safe? … And do you trust your friends to help you to make her safe? Will they let you make her safe if it conflicts with their quest? I could help you remove them from the equation so you can be free of them. If you ask me to.”
Percy Jackson refuses Medusa’s offer and is then pursued by Medusa through her statue garden who threatens to turn them into stone. Jackson kills Medusa after Annabeth puts an invisibility device on her allowing him to open his eyes and strike her.
Percy Jackson and the Olympians poster
Kennedy informed Variety that the way this is depicted shows Medusa as a victim, “Jon wrote a story of [Medusa] thinking that [Poseidon] was someone she could trust, and he broke that trust. She was feeling safe, and then the situation turned unsafe.”
She added, “So I chose to play that she was a victim of rape and total abandonment, not understanding why Athena would turn on her.”
The actress later added, “She’s so stylish and grounded and calm, and that is hugely a front for the trauma she’s trying to hide. She does all of these really awful things, and becomes a terrible person, but I wanted her to feel almost frighteningly calm and kind. I didn’t want her to have a scary voice. I wanted it to feel gentle, but I also wanted to leave a layer of how we know s***’s gonna go bad.”
Aryan Simhadri as Grover, Leah Jeffries as Annabeth Chase, and Walker Scobell as Percy Jackson in PERCY JACKSON & THE OLYMPIANS – “Episode 107” (Disney/David Bukach)
Not only did Kennedy claim Medusa is a victim of sexual abuse, but Becky Riordan shared how they removed the patriarchal lens.
She detailed, “The studio execs were like, ‘Oh, this is going to be a story about Percy gaining his father’s love and respect?’ And it’s like, ‘No, that’s not the story!’ He has to go through: ‘What has my father done? Has he changed? How do I see myself in relationship to that?”
Rick added, “Percy can only judge his father by the wreckage he has left behind.”
Leah Jeffries as Annabeth Chase in PERCY JACKSON & THE OLYMPIANS – “Episode 102” (Disney/David Bukach)
What do you make of Riordan and Kennedy’s comments about Percy Jackson and the Olympians?
Ahhh, so it’s okay to appropriate and mangle *some* cultures. Got it.