THE ACOLYTE Review Bombing - A Counter Argument From A Traditionalist

**MAJOR SPOILERS BELOW**

For quite some time, there has been a trend in modern media when it comes to how the audience receives new content, how the media reviews this content, how the audience receives it, and how the media/studio reacts to it. This is especially present in content which is considered progressive or woke, meaning it features female, diverse or LGBT characters in prominent roles.

The pattern goes like this:

1. Early reviews by the access media score high.
2. The content is released to mixed or negative reactions by fans.
3. A narrative circulates through the media outlets, sometimes even the studio, that the fans, specifically a certain segment of the fans, are perpetuating a toxic narrative that negatively affects either review scores or the success of the project.

And this brings us to Episode 3 of The Acolyte and the accusation that “certain fans” are review bombing this series into oblivion …because it has girls in it?

Here is a recent quote from an article on comicbookmovie.com on the subject:

“There’s been a fair bit of review-bombing on the review aggregator, Google, and IMDb, and the prevailing opinion is that it’s in response to The Acolyte’s diverse, primarily female-led cast.”

Huh. I’ve got a few questions as I muster up a counter-opinion.

1. The prevailing opinion? By who? Where is the evidence to support this claim?
2. If true, how do you know the review bombing is specifically because the cast is diverse or female-led?
3. Have you reviewed the counterargument to your claim and addressed it in your own assessment?

If these questions were answered, it would allow the journalist to get their message across and still seem impartial, which is what a good journalist does.

1. What actual proof do these journalists provide that it’s negative review bombing?
2. The critics' score is down from 93% to 84% That’s a pretty big swing, don’t you think? Isn’t this a worthy mention? Isn’t it also reasonable to assume the original critic reviews by the access media might have been favorable, while other critics are just seeing this for the first time and aren’t as partial to Disney?
3. Why don’t they discuss the divisive parts of the story, the bad writing and acting? How about the controversial way the writer paints the Jedi? Instead, they lean on diversity being the issue which “certain fans” seem to take offense with.

Spoiler Alert: These elements are the least offensive thing about this series.

To conclude their argument, they often cite their own reviews. Why don’t they cite other sources that agree with their assessment based on the positive aspects of the actual production that doesn’t have anything to do with blind defense of the studio?

For example, known progressive outlets like IGN and AngryJoe have negatively reviewed the show. AngryJoe gave this episode a 1. They spent over an hour dissecting it and explaining their position, even making it specifically clear they disagree with anyone rating the story strictly on its diverse elements.

The review bomb position claims the series is good …without explaining why.

Even Forbes came out and wrote an article destroying this series. They are hardly conservative but went into very specific detail on why they thought it was terrible.

This opens up additional questions:

1. Why does this view of “certain fans” conflict with recent diverse projects that were reviewed and supported just fine? Examples like: Fallout, One Piece, Blue Eye Samurai, Furiosa, even House of the Dragon. Its hard to take this argument seriously when this data is ignored. In fact, ask yourself this. If The Acolyte is so good, how are these mostly new IPs beating Star Wars?
2. If it’s really about “certain fans,” where are these other fans the studio is marketing towards? Instead of taking the low-hanging fruit, (Blaming the fans they say they don’t want or are problematic) it would be at least interesting to explore why the LGBTQ+ and female fans don’t seem to defending or supporting Star Wars either.
3. I can admit there are many YouTube channels hating on the show. But at least they dissect it. They explain their position. Isn’t it strange the studio is trying to pivot away from the fans that made it the multi-billion franchise it is? It would be interesting to know these journalists’ viewpoint on why this is? Doesn’t seem like a smart strategy. I think I can admit any fandom can be traditionalists. Why wouldn’t they be? The fans waited years to see Luke rebuild the order, but the studio robbed them of this. After the pushback, the studio continued down a direction the fans have repeatedly pushed back against. Each Star Wars series has reviewed worse and worse and according to these type of journalists, this all started with the inclusion of diversity.

Did it?

Nope, if they did any research, this started with Solo, which was a white, male-led project. Do you know what project has better critic and audience scores and came out before Solo? Rogue One. This was both female led and diverse. Most fans think Rogue One is a great Star Wars movie (I rate it above TPM and AOTC). The point is that the data doesn’t add up.

Acknowledging these data points would at least spark different, productive conversations on the topic. Articles wouldn’t devolve into the same back-and-forth argument and the studio might actually discover what is wrong with its product.

So what is actually wrong with the product?

This would require an exploration of different aspects of the plot. Three Act Structure, Story Circle, Heroes Journey, etc. Tropes exist for a reason; the bottom line is …this show is not competently written. My issue with articles blaming the fanbase is not their opinion. It’s the fact that they make no effort to defend it. It’s easier to continue blaming faceless fans or using the opinions of others they name as some source of truth. As a journalist, you need to challenge your own opinion or speak to people who disagree with you. If you just speak in similar circles, if you don’t educate yourself on how a proper story should be written …how exactly are you growing? Why would you expect people to trust your opinion?

The problem with this show is the writing has a specific intent but isn’t intelligent enough to convey the message it wants to. They want you to sympathize with the Witches but invoke the opposite response. The protagonist/antagonist is unlikeable, and since the writers don’t understand the plot structure, the show can’t get you to relate to them. Instead, it changes things about the lore so the plot can happen. Worse, it doesn’t seem to know it’s doing it.

For example, The Witches in episode 3 are supposed to be the good guys. You can tell because they have all the character traits of the character(s) you sympathize with. They speak softly, often conveying their point of view to garner empathy. This is how you portray the good guys.

Conversely, Sol is hiding while the noble Witches run and hide to protect their children from the evil Jedi. This is why you get the Force, er the Thread, from their perspective, and the Jedi bust in to spoil the ascension. The Jedi are the antagonists. The only problem is the Witches are doing exactly what the High Republic doesn’t want them to be doing. The Jedi are the peacekeepers. We know this because of what we know of the Jedi. We are not aware of a counter view because the show is too lazy to do any world building. It doesn’t grasp that world building and setting are two different things.

A good start might have been:

1. What exactly are the rules of this world set 100 years before the world we know?
2. How are the Jedi different?
3. How are we introduced to the world through the protagonist’s journey?

Nah, let’s just skip that. It’s only an era we haven’t visited. None of that is important…

Instead, the Witches, through their words and actions, are the actual villains.

1. They are deceitful.
2. They lie.
3. They are entitled.
4. They use the Force in a way that is unlawful, then claim oppression. How were they oppressed exactly?
5. Instead of not breaking the law, they self-exile. They admit “some think what we do is dark and unnatural.” Uh, yeah, that kind of sounds like the dark side. Especially considering those are Palpatine quotes. I would think the Jedi would have a problem with you conjuring up force babies off the grid. Kind of sounds …problematic.
6. They even encourage the children to lie. This is supposed to convey what? Female empowerment? Osha tells them about 100 times she wants to leave, but she’s only allowed to be empowered if she joins their cult. So she’s empowered, as long as she agrees with them and does something she doesn’t want to do.
7. They establish themselves as aggressors by attacking Torbin. (The Jedi ask permission to test the children anyway)
8. They know their actions are unlawful but justify those actions because they believe their worldview is right.

Exactly as villains do… Actually, who uses runs and hides from Jedi? Villains, right?

Why shouldn’t we trust the view of the Jedi? They have kept the Sith in check for a Millenia …or did we just retcon that?

Maybe they should have fleshed out both sides and why Osha feels the way she does. By convincing Osha, they convince the audience. That is how storytelling is done correctly. Our protagonist needs to go through changes to grow in a way needed to achieve her goal. The show fails at this. So much so that I wonder if Mae isn’t the actual protagonist. You know, the sister who wants Osha to stay so badly she locks her in a room …and tries to kill her.

Instead, the writers break another known rule about flashbacks. You don’t take the audience out of the current day for 30 minutes of flashbacks. Especially showing the audience what we already know (Mae is alive). She isn’t a very good assassin either since she breaks into the front door to kill Torbin. Meanwhile, the guy has an open skylight she could have just gone through. Again, the plot needs to happen; just stick a skylight there, which, of course, she uses again when the plot needs her to.

The Jedi aren’t written very smart either. Unknown force user running around killing Jedi. Where is the sense of urgency? Everything is unguarded, and they seem more interested in burying it from their enemies. (world building again, what enemies?) Where is the Jedi Council? Maybe they should have more than a Padawan guarding the known location of Mae, who, of course, escapes.

The show is telegraphing some reveals besides whoever this Sith Master is. These Jedi seem to feel guilt, and Torbin self-deletes after meditating for 10 years. This will probably explain why the Witches are all dead in the same exact place. They don’t seem burned or crushed. Maybe that's because a candle can’t burn a stone castle to the ground. Then again, in this story, you can survive a crash to the surface of a planet …FROM SPACE.

The writing is amateurish. The plot is non-existent. We don’t know what Osha wants, why she flunked out of the Jedi Order, or what her goals are. These are things the story needs to establish before the inciting incident. The showrunner takes the short path to show us this early, which can work, but you now have to shift from the mystery plot in which the audience is invested to a character they don’t know. Worse, we get the answer to the mystery right away. An alternative way would have been to intertwine the flashbacks over the course of the episodes and leave it a mystery if Mae survived. Let the audience take the clues from the flashbacks and make their own guesses. This, along with sprinkling in back story, would have given you multiple points of intrigue leading to the finale.

1. Is Osha the killer?
2. Is it possible that Mae survived?
3. Which twin is the killer?
4. Who is the Sith Master?
5. Who are the Witches?
6. What is their connection to the Jedi?
7. What are the Jedi Council’s thoughts on such a critical issue?

Instead, we know most of these answers, or they are ignored. The Jedi are presented as incompetent. They can’t even put together the basics of a good investigation because the plot doesn’t allow them to. The audience wants to root for their heroes. They want to be invested in a good, cohesive narrative, and the showrunners haven't given it to them.

All of this is why it’s getting negative reviews.

That is the answer you are looking for…