Prior to The Acolyte even being released, those having early access to several of the episodes stated that Episode 3 “would break Star Wars”.  Now, having watched it, I could not agree more. 

Let’s remember what made Star Wars great when it was first released in 1977.  It was a simple story.  Star Wars was a throwback to Western and World War II movies.  It was just set in space and used, for the time, cutting edge CGI.  The Empire was modeled after Nazi Germany and the Rebels the French Resistance. 

It was a combination of two familiar plot lines:  good versus evil and youngster coming of age.  It had a clear moral delineation, light versus dark, with good embodied by the Jedi and evil by Darth Vader.  Both were powered by The Force, which fans understood as “an energy field” that “binds the galaxy together” and was “what gives a Jedi his power.”

The Jedi were also the embodiment of good.  “For over a thousand generations, the Jedi Knights were the guardians of peace and justice in the Old Republic. Before the dark times, before the Empire.”

Yea, Disney went a and fucked that all up. 

Here’s a summary of the umbrella theme put forward by The Acolyte, at least through the first three episodes, which destroys 40 years of the Star Wars lore that made the franchise the most popular in the US and, largely, around the World. 

I’m not making this up . . .

On some planet, there is a clan of mostly minority, lesbian witches that are force sensitive.  But it’s not really The Force, it’s The Thread, described as this thing which allows you to manipulate others.    

Of course, this group of minority lesbians has been oppressed by The Republic and forced into hiding.  While in hiding the witches use The Force, errrrr, The Thread to impregnate another female witch with twin girls, one seemly good and the other evil. 

So much for Star Wars cannon where Anikin was the only one ever conceived by The Force in order to “bring balance to the galaxy.”

The oppressors then show up, you know, in the form of four Jedi to address the situation, the village gets burnt down and the witches killed.  Sixteen years in the future, the evil twin is out to murder those four Jedi, which seems in the series to be morally justified, given their immoral behavior. 

Sounds like a theme right out of current times when it’s morally justifiable to take to the streets during a pandemic, burn and loot cities and assault police officers all in the name of “justice”. 

Forget all the terrible casting, the horrible and juvenile dialogue, with CGI and set design I would expect from a low budget production done by the CW.  When people turn on something Star Wars, they just want to be entertained.  For the OG fans, they just want a feeling of nostalgia for the old characters.

You don’t do this my having your cast members refer to it during press junkets as “the gayest Star Wars ever” or that it was created “to make white people cry”. 

Hey Disney, a couple of facts and lessons about Star Wars you still seem to not understand.  The Star Wars franchise is still relevant and kept afloat by a demographic that stews older (40-50) and male.  Guys like me were the ones that were in grade school during the original trilogy, who got out of school early to stand in like for Return of the Jedi, bought the toys and dressed up like the characters for Halloween.  We were the ones that, during our college years, loved and supported the next iteration of the franchise when Timothy Zahn was allowed access to it and wrote the Heir to the Empire books and Lucas released his prequels.  Us “old guys” also share a different set of beliefs and sense or morality.  The good are good.  The bad are bad.  Men are men.  Women are women.

Disney needs to understand their fans and audience.  They obviously don’t. 

More evidence of this is what’s happening at their parks.  Let’s be clear.  Disneyland was created as a place parents could take their young children to enjoy time together.  “Disneyland really began,” Walt once said, “when my two daughters were very young. Saturday was always Daddy’s Day, and I would take them to the merry-go-round and sit on a bench eating peanuts while they rode. And sitting there, alone, I felt there should be something built, some kind of family park where parents and children could have fun together.”

Today the parks seem more focused on “The Message”, as coined by The Critical Drinker, than appealing to families.  This has never been more evident than by their month-long LGBTQ+ celebration at Disney World, which takes place in June and coincides with the start of summer which is one of the most popular months for parents to take their children to the parks to kick off summer break.  Recently, a friend of mine took his family to Disney World not realizing it was during Pride Month.  What he experienced was a park full of inappropriately dressed, belligerent, extremely intoxicated and vulgar acting members of the LGBTQ+ community.  He witnessed everything from men wearing thongs and large penis necklaces, to public displays of affection which were over the top regardless of their sexual proclivity.  They cut their planned trip to the park from three days to one and a half after growing tired of trying to explain to his young children “what are those people doing” and “what is that necklace he’s wearing”.

The bottom line, when people watch a movie or a series, they just want to be entertained.  When people go to an amusement park they just want to be entertained.  They don’t want to have some agenda, regardless of if they support it or not, in full display and/or pushed down their throat.

When you attempt to do this with two things as beloved as Disney parks and the Star Wars franchise, you are going to start to lose fans and customers.    

They have had every chance to course correct.  Unfortunately for the fans of Star Wars and Disney, they refuse to do so.