The setting is roughly 100 years before the events of “The Phantom Menace.” The Jedi Council is alive and well, training young Padawans and learning hard truths about some alum.
Namely, Osha (Amandla Stenberg), who in the show’s opening moments does a very bad thing. That’s all we can say thanks to the Emperor … we mean Disney’s legal team!
Star Wars continues down an unfortunate path of ruin and bad storytelling. The latest entry in this journey to the Dark Side is a new show called “The Acolyte.” The creators say it is the “gayest” yet. Matt Walsh has thoughts.
After recounting a series of rough financial numbers, Walsh says:
Disney, over the past eight months, has apparently decided to double down on agenda-driven content, to the point that they’re openly attacking their own fans. It’s a remarkable turn of events.
Faced with this brand collapse, Disney had two options. One option was to retool their content to focus on entertainment and family values instead of activism, which is what Disney used to do, when it was a universally beloved and much more financially successful company. They could get back to their roots. Not in the sense of churning out more remakes, but in the sense of being a company that makes wholesome family films that capture a sense of wonder and imagination.
The other option was to keep doing exactly what they’ve been doing, and continue to shove the same agenda — the equity/representation/LGBTQ approach — that they’ve been pushing for years now.
Eight months ago, Disney’s CEO, Bob Iger, publicly pledged to pursue the first option. He declared that Disney would refocus its efforts on entertainment, not political messaging. That was the plan, or at least the plan that was shared with the public. But that’s not what happened.
“The Acolyte” dispenses with any talk of Skywalkers, past or present. The focus is on the Jedi way of life, which it turns out is rather dull. So is the writing in the first three episodes. Showrunner Leslye Headland (co-creator, “Russian Doll”) has a sprawling canvas on which to create, but so far it’s a paint-by-numbers affair.
Disney+’s “Andor” delved into the geopolitical workings behind the saga. Everything in “The Acolyte,” at least from the jump, is surface-level deep.
Sometimes, it’s not even that.
“The Acolyte” moves at an agreeable pace, but there’s precious little “why” behind the narrative so far. Yay, diversity! Woo-hoo! Female characters aplenty! Bechdel Test … nailed! That feminist streak gets a workout. It’s also where Comic-Con nation may shriek the loudest.
Disney should be accustomed to that by now, but it least the sequences feel fresh to the franchise.
For a while.
That episode loses control mid-story. The ensuing plot pivots make little sense beyond getting to where the storytellers need us to go. To label it clunky is being kind.
“The Acolyte” could find its legs, eventually. The bigger threat looming over the story might be worth the wait, and the writing could mature with more time.
How many people will stick around to see is another question.
here and more, but didn’t anyone tell Disney about Bud Light and Target?
All the combined efforts of feminism and diversity and equity and wokeness have brought us to this point. But it’s bureaucracy and inertia that’s keeping it alive, long after everyone’s tired of it. That inertia is the reason why — whether you’re going to a restaurant or a movie theater — you’re now guaranteed a product that’s as mediocre as the people who created it.
Delusions of Adequacy 