Disney dropped the ball with The Acolyte 

The Acolyte is out and once again, the internet has become the most annoying place in the universe.

One corner of the Fandom is calling the show the worst project to come out of Star Wars, which is sheer stupidity. How is The Acolyte a bigger turd than Boba Fett? How can you rate this show worse than Obi-Wan?

I get it. Recency bias is difficult to overcome. The last show you watched typically feels better or worse than everything that came before. But at the same time, calling The Acolyte the worst Star Wars project is pure insanity. Did you watch Rise of Skywalker? That was trash.

The Acolyte is okay at best, and boring at worst. Does it look like a CW TV show despite the hefty budget? Yes. But it still ticks some boxes. The visuals are fine and the characters are passable. Also, we have never seen better hand-to-hand combat in Star Wars. To clarify, I don’t like The Acolyte. However, that does not mean I agree with the exaggerations I’ve seen online.

I should probably touch on the most controversial aspect of the show. The cultural war continues to loom over all things Star Wars. People who hate The Acolyte have already begun attacking Disney and the show’s creators for supposedly accusing them of racism and bigotry. Check YouTube.

Some of the biggest reviewers have turned The Acolyte into a political tool. They keep fronting oddly defensive takes in which they argue that Disney’s actors and directors can’t take criticism. Apparently, they think everyone who dislikes the show is a right-wing conspiracy nut who can’t stand the idea of women and black people leading big-budget Disney projects.

While I hate engaging in such silly arguments, you have to push back against these individuals. Otherwise, they begin to assume that their warped perspective is the truth. Unfortunately, they are not entirely wrong. Disney, from what I’ve seen, has nothing to say about the backlash to their latest Star Wars offering.

Instead, those claims of sexism and racism have emerged from the viewers themselves, particularly in black-centered forums. Some black (and female) nerds legitimately believe that white audiences are responsible for The Acolyte’s terrible ratings. Supposedly, white Star Wars fans oppose Disney’s decision to put black and female actors in leading roles, which sounds ridiculous at first glance.

But I have seen reviews and comments online whose criticisms of The Acolyte center on the fact that a black girl and an Asian man are the primary protagonists. What does that mean? I guess, neither side is wrong.

You can’t even blame Disney for making racism and sexism claims (which they’ve yet to do) because they usually raise those issues after their actors receive blatant racist and sexist abuse online. In other words, the people who hate The Acolyte are not racist or sexist.

But you definitely have bad actors in their circles whose opinions are driven by racist and sexist mindsets. The same applies to fans of the show. Some people see sexism and racism everywhere.

But you know what makes this conversation so ridiculous? Those black and female viewers who think white audiences are sabotaging The Acolyte for racist and sexist reasons also hate the show.

Whether you think racism and sexism are legitimate concerns in this debate, or you don’t, everyone agrees that Disney dropped the ball with The Acolyte. The show may improve in the next few weeks. But for now, most viewers are disappointed. That means we are all technically on the same side. And yet, we keep looking for reasons to argue.

I don’t think I am wrong in concluding that the internet makes everything worse.

katmic200@gmail.com