The Parable of 'The Acolyte'
A Story of and for our Age
The uproar around the release of The Acolyte (defamations, deflections, deceits, and MASSIVE media distortion) are fairly interesting. The Acolyte itself is definitely not.
The Acolyte (a recent Disney Star Wars release) is not a story for our age, or any age. It is shoddy and bland and struggles with characterization, world-building, dialogue, and internal consistency. It is simply a poorly-made and hideously expensive TV show, the kind that has troubled the balance sheets of film and streaming studios for 5-10 years now (suspiciously coinciding with the application of more rigorous and intense sexual and racial quota schemes in hiring and management selection). However, the conversation around it-the fans’ reactions, the media response, and the weird psychodrama playing out on Twitter, and the panoply of Buzzfeed-like online publications and YouTube-is a story for our age.
As we survey the following events and statements and releases I want you to keep few themes in mind:
A looming sense that society is oppressive toward people like the creators, even though they have lived in absurd privilege throughout their lives and are being given hundreds of millions of dollars by a failing studio to make a fictional product which doubles as soft political activism.
A tendency among some people to feel that their opinions and positions are not just justified and valid, but completely righteous, without any real understanding of human nature or social science or contemporary reality… and a corresponding tendency to smear and defame any person who disagrees with their political stance.
The complete inability of certain artists and actors and journalists to understand their place in the culture and how they’re regarded by others (and why). (I think this is due to a profound disconnection with normal people, and a kind of cognitive dissonance. To acknowledge that they’re weird and rich and out-of-touch and are NOT champions for ‘social justice’ would be to puncture a great deal of meaning and self-importance they have assigned to their lives. This is a psychologically difficult prospect).
The dishonesty of critics and journalists who (1) want to keep favored access to new film and streaming releases and (2) hate fans who do not feel and believe the way they do and (3) fear the possibility that their position is in a minority and (4) want protection, by tech platforms and rating websites and studios. These people might only represent the views of 20-30% of the adult population (perhaps only 10%) but if that’s the case they want that 20-30% to have exclusive access to rating websites and Twitter and YouTube content creation. How can someone who espouses a view of radical empowerment and democracy and equality retreat to this kind of heavy-handed elitism? Well that’s one of the great questions of our age. I honestly think their position is beginning to collapse and the story of that collapse is why I’m today writing about a marginal and unpopular show released by a studio which has lost most of its audience.
Disney Star Wars has released flop after flop… a long line of creations which have mostly annoyed fans and repulsed critics. I heard that The Book of Boba Fett started out pretty good, and Andor was apparently well-made and -written but aside from those lonely exceptions it’s been a parade of mediocrity and degeneration.
Leslye Headland (Harvey Weinstein’s old personal assistant… who as far as I know has never fielded or addressed any questions regarding her possible complicity with his crimes; just let THAT sink in) has almost no major writing or directing experience-yet she has been given creative direction of a show with a $180 MILLION first season cost. This is pricier than 99.9% of all television shows, and it’s being spent by a studio which has lost billions of dollars (Star Wars, Willow, Indiana Jones) in the past 5 years. To say that choosing Leslie for this role is strange is a profound understatement.
Leslye surely knows that Star Wars fans (no less than fans of basically every cinematic franchise) are tired of shoddy writing, wooden ‘girlboss’ characters, shallow politically-divisive content, and disrespect of beloved franchises. Knowing that, she chose to make a poorly-written, politically- and culturally-divisive, disrespectful show with several girlboss characters and a nearly-complete absence of strong or competent male characters. She even cast her partner as a female Jedi leader-based purely on merit, no doubt. How does Disney still allow this? Why does Kathleen Kennedy (the LucasFilm studio head who has overseen the razing of every beloved IP and produced money-loser after money-loser) still have a job? I suspect there’s an element of cliquishness in that world, plus the disconnection and delusion of fantastic wealth, plus the (probably more prominent) overarching factor of ESG scores. Perhaps she has compromising photos of Disney executives. At this point it would be the least remarkable explanation.
The Acolyte famously introduced a coven of lesbian space witches (yes, really), featured an actor who repeatedly said during promo interviews that Anakin blew up the Death Star (it was Luke), said several times that Star Wars is a moral relativist fable (it is the opposite) and had a lead actress criticize the franchise as ‘patriarchal’. Headland said that her queer identity strongly informed her work on this series. None of that matters very much, though. It’s just not a good show. It’s truly awful. I struggle to write fiction and I COULD DO BETTER THAN THIS. I’m not just saying that. Please remember: this is a series with a nearly $200-million budget. They could have probably secured almost any writer on the planet. Instead I suspect they went with a writer who was also informed by queerness, and a general tendency to resist traditions (including traditions of good storytelling). This entire fiasco was eminently predictable, just like the last five have been.
Here is Leslye with one of the main starring actresses (we’ll get to her shortly). It appears that Disney/LucasFilm has scrubbed the original, so here’s some excerpts from a commentary channel:
“The gayest Star Wars ever”. I’m not sure why I should feel compelled to state that I support gay rights in an essay about Star Wars… but that’s where we are (and I do). Does Disney really think that this strategy will be most profitable for them? If they do they’re not living in the same reality I am. That’s not what I find remarkable about these women though. They just seem childish: giggly, uncertain, erratic, unserious.
Here’s the RT score for the Acolyte, after 4 episodes have been released. I watch a LOT of different criticism and film exploration channels on YouTube which span the political spectrum (I think). NONE of them have praised this show. Note the vast difference between critic and audience scores.
In reaction to the widespread fan backlash (expressed equally among black and gay and female fans I should point out) the legacy media has used their most reflexive response: blame the criticism on bigotry! Why do so many shows which have similar viewer bases AND stories based upon black and female characters (House of the Dragon, Fallout, Black Panther, Hunger Games, Wanda) succeed… if bigotry drives these viewers? Nobody seems to know. Why are thousands of comments, representing millions of viewers, all criticizing a show for its writing and characters when those commenters are motivated by bigotry? There is no word on this. Where is all of the bigotry coming from in a society which has highly stigmatized expressions of racial and sexual bigotry (in certain directions)? Why is this shadowy legion so aroused by a single unpopular Star Wars streaming release? No answer.
Like so many divisive issues, people on one side of the issue assume the most emotionally satisfying claim and then basically refuse to consider it further, and avoid consideration and communication by insulting and denigrating all of those who disagree. It’s a flawless strategy if your aim is to persist in belief in ridiculous and unpopular things which coincide with media narratives. It becomes less feasible when MOST of society disagrees… but as we can see from this case study, it’s still possible to execute, even under these conditions. Online information silos and self-imposed bubbles and digital confirmation and algorithmic biases all serve as bulwarks against ideological flexibility or productive dialogue.
Here are some examples of biased and accusatory articles (below). Notice that the real complaints of the fans (which are available to anyone with 5 minutes to survey YouTube comments or online message boards) remained completely unaddressed therein. A strawman is erected (Star Wars fans are upset about women and black people in films) and then enthusiastically whacked:
Variety: Kathleen Kennedy Confronts Star Wars Toxic Fans
This article (below) is the more recent, and is definitely my favorite. In this article the author admits that the show is not very good but questions the AUDIENCE reaction. He doesn’t question the 84% average critic score for a show that even he cannot really defend. Interesting.
Insight: The Acolyte Isn't Ruining Star Wars — You Are
Is ANYONE still falling for this? Not as many, certainly… but millions still do. That is why I think this case is instructive. Nobody really cares about Star Wars anymore but a lot of people care about media manipulation and institutional capture-more every day, it seems.
The tactics that are being used here are being used in politics, against candidates and school choice and limitations on immigration or teen sex change policies. They are the tools and patterns of the digital age and it behooves us to become familiar with them. Once you’ve been inoculated with a healthy dose of skepticism and the realization that the media is doing this on various subjects you’re immunized for life. God knows what manipulation and control techniques will follow but you will never trust the media again once you understand the reality of police violence or climate change or the data regarding ‘gender affirmation’ procedures.
The Critical Drinker is one of my favorite YouTubers. He’s a fiction- and script-writer himself and so he reviews films on their merits (as he sees them). He never only criticizes a project because of its themes or messages, unless they’re poorly delivered. That kind of equanimity and fair-minded is not being applied to him, though. Take a look at his treatment of The Acolyte:
He and Nerdrotic (a more explicitly political film critic YouTuber, who now has the phrase ‘Nerdrotic is toxic’ as his first associated suggested search term on YouTube, despite having +1 million subscribing fans) have been defamed by journalists on Twitter and there have been recent tweets linking their content to ‘hate’ (with absolutely no examples or quotations or excerpts included-they now appear to be deleted). A flurry of articles has appeared making vague claims about ‘toxic fans’ and YouTube critics and implying some nebulous links to racism, and even violence.
In short, this is a textbook fan-baiting, media manipulation campaign. It is remarkable for its feebleness, though. Even the true believers seem to sense that their reflexes are stale and their ideas place them on a continent of ice which is shrinking fast. I imagine they don’t know what’s happening. This kind of thing doesn’t accord with their self-image or their worldview. It’s a strange and transitory period and we’re witnessing the death rattle of huge chunks of legacy media. In 3 years many of these outlets will be gone entirely-there simply is no market for their shrill and propagandistic dreck.
The main actress of The Acolyte (a multimillionaire, raised by multimillionaires, who benefits from a truly extreme degree of youth and beauty besides, and who is 75% white) just released this music video (belief). The video is not available in its original form on YouTube from what I can tell. I would imagine that is 100% due to interventions by the platform. This video is a huge mistake. Brave? Not so much. Stunning? Absolutely! It is stunning how self-righteous and disconnected this poor girl must be to believe that she’s a crusader against bigotry. She makes Marie Antoinette look like a Haymarket rioter:
Some of the better tweets from the Critical Drinker:
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