Though Rick Riordan's Percy Jackson series is intended for younger audiences, there's
quite a bit for more seasoned viewers to pick up on.
From mythological mistakes to surprising musical references, here are the things in the Percy
Jackson movies that only adults would find unobscured by the Mist.
For a movie based entirely around Greek mythology, The Lightning Thief doesn't always pay as
much attention to its source material as it should.
We could forgive a few approximations and omissions here and there, but there's one
glaring inconsistency that undermines the entire plot of the film.
Persephone shouldn't have even been in the Underworld when Percy and his friends arrived
there around the summer solstice.
According to her own mythology, she's forced to remain in her husband's domain during the
winter months.
In the spring and summer months, she brings mild weather to the Earth above.
In fact, the entire quest for the pearls, which takes up the bulk of the film, is inspired
by Persephone's captivity in the Underworld, as the pearls belong to her and allow the
user to travel to and from Hell.
The movie references her imprisonment frequently but neglects to portray it accurately.
It might not have been so big of an issue if it wasn't Persephone who ended up securing
the gang's escape from the Underworld by knocking out her own husband.
In reality, she wouldn't have even been there, and they would've had a much harder time getting
out.
While the movies are controversial among fans of the books, we've got to give the Percy
Jackson films props for showcasing quite a bit of disability representation.
In fact, characteristics we'd associate with disabilities are some of the primary identifiers
that mark a demigod.
Percy has been told that he suffers from ADHD and dyslexia because his brain is hardwired
for a drastically different world than the high school landscape of required reading
and standardized tests, making it seem like he has dysfunctions in a place he wasn't made
for.
The "impulsivity" attributed to ADHD is actually a manifestation of his combat reflexes, and
the confusion that arises when he tries to read English results from his natural predisposition
toward reading a notoriously difficult language.
Grover and Chiron both have physical disabilities in their disguised human forms, as well, and
these two mask underlying strengths and unique abilities.
Chiron's wheelchair is a camouflaging vessel for the magnificent horse portion of his centaur
body, and Grover's crutches allow him to mask the fact that he, as a satyr, has goat legs
that serve him well as Percy's protector.
Percy's entire introduction to the demigod world is based around the ideas that there's
more to life than meets the eye and that there's a profound strength of character hiding in
anyone.
When it comes to being sensitive to individuals of diverse backgrounds, the terminology that
Percy learns to apply to the demigod world deals with similar issues to that of human
discourse.
He learns the proper way of addressing and referring to certain "demi-graphics," so to
speak, with the help of his best friend and guide, Grover, a satyr.
Apparently, "protector" duties include making sure your charge doesn't say anything that
will get him into trouble, which makes sense when the wrath of mythical creatures is involved.
It's also just something that good friends do for each other — hold each other accountable
for using oppressive or offensive language.
One of the first suggestions that Grover offers relates to his own identity, when he informs
Percy that the "politically correct" term for a half-man, half-goat is a satyr.
Grover apprises his friend of the proper language in other scenarios as well.
For example, the preferred way to refer to a cyclops, we learn, is "ocularly challenged."
In the series, we meet the children of various gods, and these immortal progeny share similar
characteristics with their classical parents — traits that younger audiences might not
be familiar with.
For example, Clarisse — an antagonist turned ally of Percy's in Sea of Monsters – is
a daughter of Ares, which is part of where she gets the aggression and competitive spirit
that initially makes her such a bitter rival.
Ares' children are pretty formidable in general.
In The Lightning Thief, during the infamous game of "capture the flag" where the son of
Poseidon first proves his mettle, Luke Castellan warns Percy:
"Sons of Ares, watch out."
This alludes to the offspring of the god of war and their inherently violent nature.
The daughters of Aphrodite, the goddess of love, have also clearly inherited some personality
traits from their mother.
Living together in the house under her name, they behave like a sorority, spending their
time tanning, flirting, and throwing parties.
Allusions like this to the personality traits of the gods are a little more subtle than,
say, the son of Poseidon being able to heal himself with water.
Something odd is going on at the Lotus Casino in Las Vegas, but only older viewers would
understand the true nature of the lotus flower cookies that Percy and his friends can't seem
to get enough of.
These addictive, brightly colored sweets represent something much darker.
The way the teenagers behave after consuming them and the effects they have on the user's
mood, intellect, and the passage of time render them a clear reference to party drugs and
narcotics.
The delicacies take their inspiration from the myth of the Lotus-Eaters, which describes
a tribe of people encountered by Odysseus on his famous quest, people who offered the
hero and his crew a mysterious plant that caused them to drift into a state of mindless
bliss outside of time.
This is certainly what happens to Percy, Annabeth, and Grover in Las Vegas, a city synonymous
with indulgence and excess.
Mr. D — as the attendees at Camp Half-Blood call Dionysus, the god of wine, madness, and
parties — is the newly appointed camp director in Sea of Monsters.
This position comes as part of a punishment Zeus whipped up to get back at his son for
going against the bro code and pursuing a dryad Zeus had a fancy for.
But the worst of Dionysus' punishment was the fact that every time he attempted to pour
himself a glass of wine, it turned into water in his cup.
In response to his curse, he comments that Christians have a guy who can do that trick
in reverse, a reference to Jesus turning water into wine in the Bible.
Not only can he not drink any wine, he can't use his powers to grow grapes for wine, either.
In the books, it's hinted that a prior period of punishment caused the Prohibition era,
which is also a decidedly adult allusion.
Numerous nods to the real world exist in this series in addition to Biblical and mythological
references, and it's likely that they pass right over children.
For instance, kids probably don't notice the Maserati in which Percy and his friends escape
from the Lotus Casino.
And they probably won't know that the trident logo for the luxury car brand was, in fact,
based on Percy's father — or at least his Roman counterpart, Neptune, and the fountain
dedicated to his likeness in the company's home city of Bologna, Italy.
Another motor vehicle from The Lightning Thief carries its own special significance.
When the heroes get off their bus amidst the sounds of AC/DC's "Highway to Hell," the front
of the bus indicates that it's bound for Atlantic City.
As you may know, Atlantic City has a hellish reputation among many adults, and is negatively
portrayed in numerous films and shows.
The camera tracks quickly to close in on the suave ruler of the Underworld, so quickly
that we almost miss it, but eagle-eyed fans have pointed out that Hades can be seen in
possession of a Gibson SG guitar when we first meet him in his palace.
This bright red axe is the same type of guitar as Angus Young's, the lead guitarist of AC/DC.
One of the band's most famous songs is "Highway to Hell," which for Hades would simply be
the highway home.
The god's persona in the film rocks pretty hard, as well, from the unruly curls and goatee
to the leather bracelet and aesthetically ripped black sleeves.
Even more fittingly, the logo of the iconic rock band features a lightning bolt where
the forward slash would be -- a nod to Zeus' lightning bolt, which Percy is accused of
stealing in The Lightning Thief.
If The Lightning Thief did a good job with disability representation, Sea of Monsters
built on that legacy by showcasing the difficulty of growing up and the insidious nature of
impostor syndrome.
That's when the sufferer believes that they're inadequate and experiences exaggerated doubt
about their achievements despite evidence of success.
Percy actually says out loud that he sometimes doesn't believe he actually did the things
he was praised for.
This lack of belief is actually a symptom of severe imposter syndrome.
For Percy to say it in such clear terms is surely comforting to high achievers who suffer
from this illusive mental ailment.
The Mist is a magical force that prevents mortals -- and sometimes demigods, if it's
strong enough -- from seeing gods, monsters, and other supernatural entities by disguising
them as something from the mortal world.
For example, such magic is at work disguising Chiron's centaur body as a wheelchair.
In order to allow him to travel seamlessly with the group of demigods in Sea of Monsters,
Annabeth procures a spray bottle of Mist that artificially disguises Tyson, making him look
like a human with two eyes rather than a cyclops.
Hilariously, the side effects listed on the bottle are a joke at the expense of medication
commercials that spout off a slew of side effects that are sometimes so contradictory
that they do the opposite of what the medicine itself is supposed to do.
"Side effects may include handsomeness, headache, self esteem, and low self-esteem"
Sea of Monsters builds upon the deep discussion of its predecessor by exploring Annabeth's
prejudice against cyclopes.
Over the course of the film, Annabeth makes her animosity toward Percy's half-brother,
Tyson — as well as cyclopes in general — very apparent.
However, we don't really learn why until later in the story when she opens up about how it
was a cyclops who took the life of her friend, Thalia, years ago.
To complicate matters further, one of the biggest obstacles in the film's storyline
is yet another cyclops, from whom they must rescue Grover, as well as the magical Golden
Fleece.
The circumstances make it very easy for Annabeth to cling to her personal prejudice, given
that the cyclopean threat to their mission only serves to reinforce it.
Despite this, however, Annabeth undergoes a personal journey in tandem with the physical
one, a transformation that holds a lesson for viewers of all ages.
She gradually learns to dismantle her discriminatory paradigms and behaviors against cyclopes,
finally acknowledging that it's destructive to make assumptions about and harbor aggression
toward an entire group of people.
The Gray Sisters — Anger, Wasp, and Tempest — make their first appearance in Sea of
Monsters, sharing only one eye between them.
This deficiency automatically makes the trio an ideal slapstick choice to drive a supernatural
taxicab.
As a result, we got a lot of inside jokes and references thanks to these siblings.
For example, Annabeth announces their vessel as a Chariot of Damnation, prompting Grover
to reply that it looks like a New York City cab.
Annabeth retorts, "Same difference," which is sure to get a chuckle out of any adult
who's taken a bad cab ride.
The sisters also bemoan a familiar mortal woe — that of a terrible driver's license
picture.
But while our unflattering photos typically amount to a washed-out face or an awkward
blink, the crime committed by the Graeae's portrait is much more offensive.
And if you look closely with your own eyes, however many you have, it also looks like,
from the suspiciously serpentine hair, the bobblehead on the dashboard is a likeness
of Medusa.
In mythology, the Graeae are the ones who give the hero Perseus the information he needs
to kill Medusa, by beheading her.
Hermes works for the UPS Store.
That's pretty fitting for the "herald of the gods," who worked as a messenger and courier
for Mount Olympus and was also the bringer of good luck and god of wealth, trade, travel,
and language.
The portrayal by Nathan Fillion in Sea of Monsters captures a subtle blend of matter-of-factness
and mischief that only the deftest of gods could pull off.
As the god of numerous ubiquitous things, it's fitting that many of Hermes' artifacts
show up as widely used symbols even today.
We can recognize his winged feet in the Goodyear logo, as the company thought that the god
Mercury -- who is the Roman version of Hermes -- held many of the qualities they wanted
their company to be known for.
And honestly, the god of trade and commerce was a great choice to represent the tire company.
Hermes' staff is also widely used as a symbol in the United States, representing medicine,
which is definitely a field in which we want the bringer of good luck on our side.
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