Culture The Acolyte Isn't Ruining Star Wars - You Are - Lucasfilm's latest series is the franchise's most promising, but fans are too blinded by their hate to see it.

Link
Archive

No one hates Star Wars more than those who claim to be Star Wars fans. Sure, the past few years have given the fandom plenty to critique. The sequels splintered the fanbase beyond recognition, and Lucasfilm’s efforts to expand the galaxy on the small screen have been mixed, at best. And in some cases, criticism is inevitable: not everyone will find something to like in the franchise’s recent output. At a certain point, though, the discourse reaches a fever pitch, and even Lucasfilm’s most promising projects get swept up in the drama.

The Acolyte is not the first Star Wars project to face the brunt of fan backlash, and it likely won’t be the last. But the new live-action series is also one of the best additions to that galaxy far away in a long time, embracing decades of nostalgia while also thinking critically on the franchise’s legacy. It also might be the most diverse Star Wars story yet — and while that’s definitely a boon for marginalized fans, it’s made The Acolyte the target of a vocal splinter of the fandom.
Whether you know them as the Fandom Menace or a cluster of blue checkmark users on Twitter, it’s impossible to escape their orbit. The same folks that review-bombed diverse swings like Marvel’s Eternals and the Lord of the Rings prequel The Rings of Power have now set their sights on The Acolyte. To hear them tell it, the series is the worst thing that’s ever happened to Star Wars, and its showrunner, Leslye Headland, is just as fiendish as Lucasfilm president Kathleen Kennedy. To them, The Acolyte’s “woke” agenda is something to be feared. It’s ruining Star Wars; it’s poisoning pop culture itself. It needs to be stopped by any means necessary.

We realize how ridiculous that all sounds, right? God, I hope so. But if not, let’s try this: The Acolyte is not actually “ruining” Star Wars, but the bigoted backlash is definitely ruining the fun for everyone else.
It’s not outright shocking to see something like The Acolyte marred by racist, misogynistic, and even anti-LGBTQ backlash. That Star Wars devotees would share multiple bad-faith treatises about the series on YouTube, or tank its audience score on Rotten Tomatoes, is just par the course at this point. This is, after all, the same fandom that launched consistent attacks against actors like John Boyega, Kelly Marie Tran, and Daisy Ridley; the same fandom that were publicly admonished by Ewan McGregor himself when Obi-Wan Kenobi faced similar pushback.

The problem is that nothing has changed. In the 10 years since this vocal minority suddenly cried out against diverse casting and more nuanced storytelling, they’ve yet to actually learn their lesson. Their arguments are bleeding into even the casual discourse surrounding The Acolyte. Comments on set design and screenwriting have turned into misogynistic microaggressions against Headland; even critiques on the series have been weaponized by its haters. There’s no room for nuance when it comes to The Acolyte: you either stand with the series, flaws and all, or you’re irrevocably against it.
The origins of this toxicity aren’t difficult to figure out. At the end of the day, it boils down to entitlement: many male fans feel like they own the franchise, and are determined to safeguard it from anyone that could challenge that ownership. That makes it hard for disparate groups to coexist, and it’s even harder for any non-white, non-male creatives hoping to tell stories within the franchise.

What began as a relatively niche issue has become Lucasfilm’s biggest hurdle moving forward. The Acolyte can weather the storm (after all, it’s been well-received by critics) but what about the fandom, and its relationship to those guiding the franchise now? As the discourse spirals out of control, it’s getting harder to ignore it outright. There’s no easy way out, but something has to change, otherwise, this vocal minority will end up ruining Star Wars for the rest of us.

------
Article includes some pictures, presumably from the series, but I'm not certain about local protocol of posting those.

 

[Übertroon]

Star wars died a decade ago, they're trying to pretend the corpse is alive

 

[Higgs Bonbon]

yap yap yap, if it's got nothing to do with the Yuuzhan Vong it's not canon

 

[Pedophobe]

Ask not what franchised commercial brands can do for you....

 

[Male Idiot]

If it is a vocal minority, how can they ruin it for the massive Modern Audience? Hmmmmm?

 

[Something Awful]

Cool, I’ll keep being the problem and Disney can keep tanking its stock by putting out shit that appeals to nobody except a dwindling number of American wokeshit slop enjoyers. Let’s see which of us gives up first.

Article includes some pictures, presumably from the series, but I'm not certain about local protocol of posting those.

You can and should use pictures. Also, no need for quote tags in the first post.

 

[Corette]

If it is a vocal minority, how can they ruin it for the massive Modern Audience? Hmmmmm?

Are we talking about audience or people making these shows?

 

[Coldgrip]

No, I'm pretty sure DEI and woman are.

 

[liam dees]

Star Wars is now gay and I wouldn't watch it.

 

[lukewarm coffee]

They will just never admit that no one likes their shit but themselves. There have been so many articles just like this one for nearly every over-hyped piece of trash Hollywood shit out, but they still won't admit it.

 

[ToroidalBoat]

Are they seriously trying to "gaslight" with this BS?

This BS is just like when "MovieBob" claimed "The Simpsons didn't change, the viewers did" all over again.

 

[User names must be unique]

I've never watched star wars, I did listen to some nerd drone on about expanded universe lore as a sleep aide, some of it seemed interesting.

More interesting than the gay niggers in outer space Disney churns out anyway.

 

[TowinKarz]

Blah, blah, blah, it's the children who are wrong....

 

[AnotherPleb]

I remember when the main focus of stuff like Star Wars was being fun. I miss those days so damn much.

 

[Elwood P. Dowd]

This is, after all, the same fandom that launched consistent attacks against actors like John Boyega, Kelly Marie Tran, and Daisy Ridley; the same fandom that were publicly admonished by Ewan McGregor himself when Obi-Wan Kenobi faced similar pushback.

The most batshit insane fans of nuDisney Star Wars were (and maybe still are?) the "Reylos." Adam Driver's wife legitimately got death threats I think when it came out she was pregnant, or maybe just for existing, as if this would somehow prevent their head canon from happening. Weird how all of that was quietly swept under the rug. Or maybe not so weird, given that it didn't fit the narrative.

Blah, blah, blah, it's the children who are wrong....

Ironically, this is where Star Wars is in deep, deep trouble. Under 18s by and large don't give a flying fuck about Star Wars, the "fandom menace" or any of that crap, one way or the other. They're too busy playing Fortnight and reading Manga, I guess. It isn't spergs on YouTube killing Star Wars it is apathy. And as time moves on and the fandom continues to age this issue is only going to get worse.

 

[Kankichi Ryotsu]

Why won't these peasants consume my slop!? There must be something wrong with them!

 

[Broadside]

If it is a vocal minority, how can they ruin it for the massive Modern Audience? Hmmmmm?

Exactly. It's the same when the gutter press wants to malign wrongthinkers; they're a small minority "living in their parent's basement" but also they're a large threat and are the cause of all things going wrong, whether it's gamers, consumers or even voters.
Fucking make a decent show for once you useless sacks of feminist dogshit. And sort the MC's ridiculous Rick James hair out!

 

[Spud]

I love the fact that me being a Straight White Male in CURRENT YEAR is what's causing all these things to collapse. Feels great man.

 

[The Taco Santo!]

I love the fact that me being a Straight White Male in CURRENT YEAR is what's causing all these things to collapse. Feels great man.

Agreed, and the best part is you don't even have to do anything but exist. It's a real boon to lazy hatemongers everywhere, the sleepy racists and laid-back misogynists and homophobes in need of a nap.

Star Wars is some silly, silly shit and the fanbase that remains is beyond retarded, not that it was ever any different. Try consuming media aimed at adults for a change.

 

[DumbDude43]

Ironically, this is where Star Wars is in deep, deep trouble. Under 18s by and large don't give a flying fuck about Star Wars, the "fandom menace" or any of that crap, one way or the other. They're too busy playing Fortnight and reading Manga, I guess. It isn't spergs on YouTube killing Star Wars it is apathy. And as time moves on and the fandom continues to age this issue is only going to get worse.

yeah
when the prequels came out, the neckbeard manchild audience hated them but little children (like me) loved them, they created a whole new generation of star wars fans. plus there were also a lot of really good star wars video games coming out during that time which helped get these kids more invested.

i'm not sure if the sequel trilogy and all the disney content that is coming out now is accomplishing the same thing. i don't think little boys in 2019 were going crazy for the rise of skywalker (lol) like we did for revenge of the sith in 2005.