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.

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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.

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

 

[Curzon Dax-sama]

Fascinating how I can still go back to DS9, LoGH or Stargate and it still holds up today, but Star Wars has become an utterly retarded shitshow, because the Mouse™ tries to drag it on until the heat death of the universe.

 

[Tablet County]

It's true. The Acolyte isn't ruining Star Wars. It was ruined already. And it's also true that I'm ruining Star Wars. Just not the good Star Wars that was already ruined. If I'm ruining Nu Wars just by thinking it's shit and not watching it then good. It deserves to be ruined.
So, what you've said to me is true, from a certain point of view.

 

[remiem]

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.

The funny thing is that under 18's who are into Star Wars and care about it are usually the ones who were introduced by their parents and thus are more invested in the original films and the material banished to legends. So even those who do care, don't care about Disney Star Wars. Which is why so much of the additional toy merchandise is still OT and PT stuff. Because if they killed all of that and only did new characters / material they'd be making nothing. It's also probably another reason they keep reaching into legends to pull back fan favorites into newer material because even though the new characters will peg warm and be landfill you'll still manage to move some of the old popular character and they can pretend that means it was a success.

Imo. When your silly space adventure series that was quite profitable has been reduced to a soap box that people use to argue real world semantics, you dun fucked up.

 

[Picnic_Boy]

The author actually stopped mid-article and asked, "hey, you guys agree with me, right?" Not exactly a Braveheart speech.

 

[Falcos_Commisar]

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.


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

Exactly.

Andor season 2 is pretty much the LAST Star Wars Media that still interests me.

When Disney killed Rogue Squadron it was the death knell for pre buyout stat wars media getting any kind of attention from Disney

 

[GarthVader]

Not really into lesbian fan fic. Sorry.

 

[Meat Target]

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.

Whatever happened to "the customer is always right"?

Ahh, how could I forget. It's been supplanted by "if you damn dirty peasants don't think the shit straight from our buttholes takes like chocolate ice cream, then Russian trolls are causing you to misinterpret your own opinion."

 

[bango skank]

These articles are starting to read more and more like an abusive relationship as time goes by, blaming the viewer’s lack of engagement for all of their failures. It’s like waking up to a series of seething voicemails after putting your phone on silent. “We’ve actually done more for you than anyone ever has but you’re too much of a STUPID FUCKING BITCH to see that!”

They’re so mad that no one wants to watch their slop.

 

[Drag-on Knight 91873]

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.

Listening to Gen X's complaints about the prequels is why the sequels are the way they are even without the gay and lame chicks in it. Acolyte just has more lame and gay women in it, but the rot starts all the way back to TFA.

 

[Absolutego]

Fascinating how I can still go back to DS9, LoGH or Stargate and it still holds up today, but Star Wars has become an utterly retarded shitshow, because the Mouse™ tries to drag it on until the heat death of the universe.

It's not like Paramount is desperately trying to wring the Star Trek franchise to its last penny and we can still go watch the original Star Wars trilogy!
Star Trek is on life support just as much as Star Wars is, maybe they found a higher floor bottoming out because the one cartoon caters well to the Rick and Morty audience but that's essentially it.

 

[Curzon Dax-sama]

It's not like Paramount is desperately trying to wring the Star Trek franchise to its last penny and we can still go watch the original Star Wars trilogy!
Star Trek is on life support just as much as Star Wars is, maybe they found a higher floor bottoming out because the one cartoon caters well to the Rick and Morty audience but that's essentially it.

I ignore, willfully, everything that was done with Star Trek post 2005. I invite everyone to do the same.

 

[Absolutego]

I ignore, willfully, everything that was done with Star Trek post 2005. I invite everyone to do the same.

That's a good rule and one I also apply to anything Star Wars post-1983. At least Return of the Jedi was good in the first half.
I'm just not sure I understand why that coping mechanism applies to one corporately-owned zombie scifi franchise and not another.

 

[Bland Crumbs]

At least share the archives of them being that stupid for the rest of us. Do you know how many results "actor says something stupid" returns on the internet?

This where I saw it:

 

[Meat Target]

I ignore, willfully, everything that was done with Star Trek post 2005. I invite everyone to do the same.

That's a good rule and one I also apply to anything Star Wars post-1983. At least Return of the Jedi was good in the first half.
I'm just not sure I understand why that coping mechanism applies to one corporately-owned zombie scifi franchise and not another.

And that's why I'm trying to enjoy Warhammer while the pozzing is still relatively at bay.

 

[LaxerBRO]

Why not address some of the claims made in the numerous critiques?

 

[Meat Target]

Why not address some of the claims made in the numerous critiques?

Admitting your ideological foes have valid criticisms or concerns is anathema to the apologists of Clown World. Anything other than "these shitlord chuds are evil racist Nahzees!" breaks their brains.

 

[Haramburger]

Always relevant to post:

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

Include the images if possible, they almost always improve the article and mousing over a thread will preview the first image in the OP/article which often lures readers in. Thumbnail them when possible.

 

[Jarl Varg]

I ignore, willfully, everything that was done with Star Trek post 2005. I invite everyone to do the same.

Strange New Worlds is ok, Discovery is absolute dogshit! Everything Star Wars(Except Rogue 1 and Mandalorian Season 1) after the originial trilogy is absolute dogshit. Wanna watch real scifi? Stargate SG-1, Babylon 5, Farscape, Star Trek DS9, and Battlestar Galactica 2004 series.

 

[DoomsdayElite]

Some dykey looking sheboon is saying it's good, so that's how I know it really sucks ass. No one is watching this garbage, not even the wokescold dangerhairs they're pumping this dogshit out for. I haven't cared about SW in many, many years but it's still sad to see what the franchise became.

 

[Absolutego]

Strange New Worlds is ok, Discovery is absolute dogshit! Everything Star Wars(Except Rogue 1 and Mandalorian Season 1) after the originial trilogy is absolute dogshit. Wanna watch real scifi? Stargate SG-1, Babylon 5, Farscape, Star Trek DS9, and Battlestar Galactica 2004 series.

liking Strange New Worlds is just settling for a new, updated version of the original series designed for modern audiences and with the requisite Marvel-tier quips.
Fuck anything made after Enterprise.