Television Star Wars: The Acolyte (Disney+), update (08/19): RIP in Peace

[GeneticBlueprint]

I love his thing about lighting the lightsaber. Who are you doing that for? 

[Greatoneshere]

34 minutes ago, GeneticBlueprint said:

I love his thing about lighting the lightsaber. Who are you doing that for? 

 

Yeah it's a stupid quibble but I agree and laughed at that bit. Same with the fire in space stuff. Not a big thing (like bombs dropping in TLJ) but funny. 

[GeneticBlueprint]

Yeah. I don't care about fire in space or those kinds of things. But that bit at the end of the first episode with his terrible dialog combined with turning on his lightsaber for nobody was very cringe. Like something some nerd would have recorded and put on the Internet in 1998.

[legend]

You guys mean when he turned it on in the cave? Pretty sure he was using it as a flashlight/lantern. It just looks funny because the scene was far more over lit than it was supposed to be.

[Greatoneshere]

9 minutes ago, legend said:

You guys mean when he turned it on in the cave? Pretty sure he was using it as a flashlight/lantern. It just looks funny because the scene was far more over lit than it was supposed to be.

 

Nah he's talking about the master of the assassin twin who is standing on a rock face and just lights it for intimidation purposes when no one but the two of them are around at the end of episode 1. Yord using it in the cave made sense. 

[legend]

Just now, Greatoneshere said:

 

Nah he's talking about the master of the assassin twin who is standing on a rock face and just lights it for intimidation purposes when no one but the two of them are around at the end of episode 1. Yord using it in the cave made sense. 

 

Oooh gotcha. Yeah that makes less sense  

[SoberChef]

 

A 'CW-esque' Star Wars TV show...yeah I'll pass thanks.

[Greatoneshere]

56 minutes ago, SoberChef said:

A 'CW-esque' Star Wars TV show...yeah I'll pass thanks.

 

I already posted this video in this thread.  

[Kal-El814]

The CW comparisons remain unhinged.
 

And I swear to Christ… the Super Star Destroyer in RotJ ALSO caught fire in space in a way that could only exist in atmosphere. Bombs dropped from TIEs in Empire, the complaints about bombs in TLJ remain silly. You’re doing this to me on purpose I swear.  There’s stuff that kinda has the vibes of stuff that happened in the OT like Han being a goofball and then there’s stuff that LITERALLY happened in the OT like those two examples. 
 

EDIT - whoever that was igniting their red saber WAS goofy

 

Having read more about the show, some spoilers about what might be coming. 
 

Spoiler

More non Jedi force users / witches in the vein of the Nightsisters. I’m looking forward to that! 

 

[Spork3245]

6 minutes ago, Kal-El814 said:

The CW comparisons remain unhinged.
 

And I swear to Christ… the Super Star Destroyer in RotJ ALSO caught fire in space in a way that could only exist in atmosphere. Bombs dropped from TIEs in Empire, the complaints about bombs in TLJ remain silly. You’re doing this to me on purpose I swear.  There’s stuff that kinda has the vibes of stuff that happened in the OT like Han being a goofball and then there’s stuff that LITERALLY happened in the OT like those two examples. 
 

EDIT - whoever that was igniting their red saber WAS goofy

 

Having read more about the show, some spoilers about what might be coming. 
 

  Hide contents

More non Jedi force users / witches in the vein of the Nightsisters. I’m looking forward to that! 

 

[Kal-El814]

16 minutes ago, Spork3245 said:

[AbsolutSurgen]

Just watched the first two episodes.  It is easily the least interesting of any of their TV shows.

 

None of the characters are interesting or memorable.

 

The writing is bad.  The character motivations are not clear, and the situations the characters are put in seem contrived.   

Why is Osha put on a ship controlled by Droids after being captured by Jedi?  Just cause.

Why is Mae not using weapons?  Because the show runner likes kung fu movies.

 

[Greatoneshere]

5 hours ago, Kal-El814 said:

The CW comparisons remain unhinged.
 

And I swear to Christ… the Super Star Destroyer in RotJ ALSO caught fire in space in a way that could only exist in atmosphere. Bombs dropped from TIEs in Empire, the complaints about bombs in TLJ remain silly. You’re doing this to me on purpose I swear.  There’s stuff that kinda has the vibes of stuff that happened in the OT like Han being a goofball and then there’s stuff that LITERALLY happened in the OT like those two examples. 

 

It might be hyperbolic I think but the show looks and feels cheap, there's no question. And again, how the stupidity is presented matters - if the rest of the show were enjoyable then it'd be easy to ignore/paper over things like a Super Star Destroyer catching fire like in the OT but when the rest of the show is listless then plot conveniences will feel amplified to viewers because there's nothing else to cling to.

[SoberChef]

How in the actual fuck did this show cost $180 MILLION!?

[EternallDarkness]

watched the second episode last night and still not impressed

[SuperSpreader]

1 hour ago, SoberChef said:

How in the actual fuck did this show cost $180 MILLION!?

 

Don't be sexist

[AbsolutSurgen]

57 minutes ago, SuperSpreader said:

 

Don't be sexist

There is way too much toxic masculinity in this thread. Kathleen Kennedy called it a week ago. 

[TheLeon]

I was thinking I need to watch this just so I can have an opinion. Then I realized I haven’t had D+ for like 7 months.  Oh well. 

[legend]

I don't think the show looks cheap per se. I think it's just wildly over lit, which might come across as cheap because it's like you're walking through a building with florescent lights on everywhere.

[Commissar SFLUFAN]

17 minutes ago, legend said:

I don't think the show looks cheap per se. I think it's just wildly over lit, which might come across as cheap because it's like you're walking through a building with florescent lights on everywhere.

 

That could very well be the case and it makes the show look like a daytime soap opera where everything appears visually "flat".

[EternallDarkness]

5 hours ago, TheLeon said:

I was thinking I need to watch this just so I can have an opinion. Then I realized I haven’t had D+ for like 7 months.  Oh well. 

 

 

Not really missing much 

[AbsolutSurgen]

10 Years Later, The Newest Star Wars Show Has Restarted an Annoying Old Debate

WWW.INVERSE.COM

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Lucasfilm’s latest series is the franchise’s best yet, but fans are too blinded by their hate to see it.

Quote

No one hates Star Wars more than those who claim to be Star Wars fans. Sure, the past few years have given the fandom plenty to critique. The sequels splintered the fanbase beyond recognition, and Lucasfilm’s efforts to expand the galaxy on the small screen have been mixed, at best. And in some cases, criticism isinevitable: not everyone will find something to like in the franchise’s recent output. At a certain point, though, the discourse reaches a fever pitch, and even Lucasfilm’s most promising projects get swept up in the drama.

The Acolyte is not the first Star Wars project to face the brunt of fan backlash, and it likely won’t be the last. But the new live-action series is also one of the best additions to that galaxy far away in a long time, embracing decades of nostalgia while also thinking critically on the franchise’s legacy. It also might be the most diverse Star Wars story yet — and while that’s definitely a boon for marginalized fans, it’s made The Acolyte the target of a vocal splinter of the fandom.

Whether you know them as the Fandom Menace or a cluster of blue checkmark users on Twitter, it’s impossible to escape their orbit. The same folks that review-bombed diverse swings like Marvel’s Eternals and the Lord of the Rings prequel The Rings of Power have now set their sights on The Acolyte. To hear them tell it, the series is the worst thing that’s ever happened to Star Wars, and its showrunner, Leslye Headland, is just as fiendish as Lucasfilm president Kathleen Kennedy. To them, The Acolyte’s “woke” agenda is something to be feared. It’s ruining Star Wars; it’s poisoning pop culture itself. It needs to be stopped by any means necessary.

We realize how ridiculous that all sounds, right? God, I hope so. But if not, let’s try this: The Acolyte is not actually “ruining” Star Wars, but the bigoted backlash is definitely ruining the fun for everyone else.

It’s not outright shocking to see something like The Acolyte marred by racist, misogynistic, and even anti-LGBTQ backlash. That Star Wars devotees would share multiple bad-faith treatises about the series on YouTube, or tank its audience score on Rotten Tomatoes, is just par the course at this point. This is, after all, the same fandom that launched consistent attacks against actors like John Boyega, Kelly Marie Tran, and Daisy Ridley; the same fandom that were publicly admonished by Ewan McGregor himself when Obi-Wan Kenobi faced similar pushback.

The problem is that nothing has changed. In the 10 years since this vocal minority suddenly cried out against diverse castingand more nuanced storytelling, they’ve yet to actually learn their lesson. Their arguments are bleeding into even the casual discourse surrounding The Acolyte. Comments on set design and screenwriting have turned into misogynistic microaggressions against Headland; even critiques on the series have been weaponized by its haters. There’s no room for nuance when it comes to The Acolyte: you either stand with the series, flaws and all, or you’re irrevocably against it.

The origins of this toxicity aren’t difficult to figure out. At the end of the day, it boils down to entitlement: many male fans feel like they own the franchise, and are determined to safeguard it from anyone that could challenge that ownership. That makes it hard for disparate groups to coexist, and it’s even harder for any non-white, non-male creatives hoping to tell stories within the franchise.

What began as a relatively niche issue has become Lucasfilm’s biggest hurdle moving forward. The Acolyte can weather the storm (after all, it’s been well-received by critics) but what about the fandom, and its relationship to those guiding the franchise now? As the discourse spirals out of control, it’s getting harder to ignore it outright. There’s no easy way out, but something has to change, otherwise, this vocal minority will end up ruining Star Wars for the rest of us.

 

[GeneticBlueprint]

It's definitely a shame when the incels come for something for shit reasons (something something woke grr grr) instead of the actual reasons (this shit just sucks).

[Spork3245]

8 minutes ago, GeneticBlueprint said:

It's definitely a shame when the incels come for something for shit reasons (something something woke grr grr) instead of the actual reasons (this shit just sucks).

 

Well, they seem to genuinely believe that it only sucks because it's woke

[AbsolutSurgen]

This is the opposite.  The only reason you don't recognize that this is the best Star Wars to come out in years is because YOU'RE AN INCEL.

 

If you were really one of the cool woke kids, you would bask in its awesomeness.

[Spork3245]

1 minute ago, AbsolutSurgen said:

This is the opposite.  The only reason you don't recognize that this is the best Star Wars to come out in years is because YOU'RE AN INCEL.

 

If you were really one of the cool woke kids, you would bask in its awesomeness.

 

No... I'm pretty sure that was "The Last Jedi"

Spoiler

 

[Greatoneshere]

1 hour ago, GeneticBlueprint said:

It's definitely a shame when the incels come for something for shit reasons (something something woke grr grr) instead of the actual reasons (this shit just sucks).

 

Even a broken clock is right twice a day and all of that. 

[SoberChef]

Was watching something earlier today discussing this ... "show" ... and it bore down to this:

 

Those of us who grew up w/ Star Wars/Trek, comics, games, all that nerdy niche shit back in the day wherein the stories were what drew us in & the characters were nigh iconic, that's what brought us all together when we were blessed with the opportunity to communicate our collective love & passion for whatever project that may be. WE were the outsiders so OFC we loved ALL who professed their own mutual adoration of that thing we ourselves loved dearly. We gave ZERO fucks about someone's race/ethnicity/creed/sexual orientation (ALL OF WHICH DO NOT DEFINE YOU AS A PERSON & to those of you who CHOOSE to use that sole trait as your own defining measure, I'm sorry your life is so small), we just liked talking more about what we enjoy with others of like-minded individuals. It wasn't until SOME, who thought it would be a great goddamn idea, to bring their turmoil & rhetoric and issues and placed them in front of what those pieces of art even stood for to begin with, wherein then YES there are a number of us who just have no interest in incorporating it into what we've held, at times, a life long passion for. Yet when we say just that, it's ultimately US that become the "phobes/ists" as a measure of devaluing our own point of view. WE DID NOT ASK FOR THIS! All that we ask for our beloved properties is to TELL GOOD STORIES. Lately, in terms of Star Wars, that most assuredly has NOT been even near the top 3 priorities in this specific IP. 

 

It's a lot like "old school liberals" who continue to reiterate the following: I did not change, YOU changed & I refuse to go where you're heading because it's outlandish & doesn't make sense. Yet when we point that out in terms of a consumable media, somehow we happen to be the problem. How can some on here NOT understand such a position is ridiculous to me, yet that's where we are as a society seemingly. 

[johnny]

[GoldenTongue]

6 hours ago, SoberChef said:

Was watching something earlier today discussing this ... "show" ... and it bore down to this:

 

Those of us who grew up w/ Star Wars/Trek, comics, games, all that nerdy niche shit back in the day wherein the stories were what drew us in & the characters were nigh iconic, that's what brought us all together when we were blessed with the opportunity to communicate our collective love & passion for whatever project that may be. WE were the outsiders so OFC we loved ALL who professed their own mutual adoration of that thing we ourselves loved dearly. We gave ZERO fucks about someone's race/ethnicity/creed/sexual orientation (ALL OF WHICH DO NOT DEFINE YOU AS A PERSON & to those of you who CHOOSE to use that sole trait as your own defining measure, I'm sorry your life is so small), we just liked talking more about what we enjoy with others of like-minded individuals. It wasn't until SOME, who thought it would be a great goddamn idea, to bring their turmoil & rhetoric and issues and placed them in front of what those pieces of art even stood for to begin with, wherein then YES there are a number of us who just have no interest in incorporating it into what we've held, at times, a life long passion for. Yet when we say just that, it's ultimately US that become the "phobes/ists" as a measure of devaluing our own point of view. WE DID NOT ASK FOR THIS! All that we ask for our beloved properties is to TELL GOOD STORIES. Lately, in terms of Star Wars, that most assuredly has NOT been even near the top 3 priorities in this specific IP. 

 

It's a lot like "old school liberals" who continue to reiterate the following: I did not change, YOU changed & I refuse to go where you're heading because it's outlandish & doesn't make sense. Yet when we point that out in terms of a consumable media, somehow we happen to be the problem. How can some on here NOT understand such a position is ridiculous to me, yet that's where we are as a society seemingly. 

It's awesome being a white male. 

 

And a hearty LOL at the "old school liberals" note, as if that point is limited in any regard to political leaning. You realize that for every example of a liberal that you might offer on that point, one could easily cite an example of a conservative, right?  RIght?

[legend]

I see some people making fun of how "stupid" the witches are, but I don't think that's really it. It's just that the episode (the third) was pretty bland.

[Greatoneshere]

I actually thought this episode was at least a solid step up from the first two - Kogonada's direction was a significant improvement and the show didn't feel nearly as shoddy and cheap as it did before, falling more in line with Ahsoka (not sure why the show decided on adding a weird light film grain aesthetic over top of everything but oh well). I think the show would have actually worked better overall if this was the first episode and then it jumped forward in time, leaving the incident of what happened specifically to the adult witches as the primary mystery. Either way this was a solid if meandering episode, but I'm glad to see improvement.

[GeneticBlueprint]

flashback eps yay

[Greatoneshere]

1 hour ago, GeneticBlueprint said:

flashback eps yay

 

I felt this Polygon article did a decent job of getting at some of the issues I still had with this episode despite it being an improvement. The bigger issue (that they get to at the end of the article) is a feeling of safety and status quo in the storytelling overall in Star Wars these days (similar to the MCU's recent problems). I don't really care about the rock fire stuff specifically in the article (though I'm going to hope/assume there's more to this backstory event) but what the article gets at broadly about the show and Star Wars recently. These franchises have always been perpetual motion machines to make money for Disney but stakes we cared about did used to exist when it came to these franchises and that just feels gone in recent projects.

 

The Acolyte’s silly rock fire in episode 3 is a perfect symbol for its bigger problems

WWW.POLYGON.COM

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A mountain fire is the least of Disney’s Star Wars problems

[GeneticBlueprint]

5 minutes ago, Greatoneshere said:

 

I felt this Polygon article did a decent job of getting at some of the issues I still had with this episode despite it being an improvement. The bigger issue (that they get to at the end of the article) is a feeling of safety and status quo in the storytelling overall in Star Wars these days (similar to the MCU's recent problems). I don't really care about the rock fire stuff specifically in the article (though I'm going to hope/assume there's more to this backstory event) but what the article gets at broadly about the show and Star Wars recently. These franchises have always been perpetual motion machines to make money for Disney but stakes we cared about did used to exist when it came to these franchises and that just feels gone in recent projects.

 

The Acolyte’s silly rock fire in episode 3 is a perfect symbol for its bigger problems

WWW.POLYGON.COM

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A mountain fire is the least of Disney’s Star Wars problems

 

Reading the article now and may have more of a detailed response in a bit, but I just wanted to point out that I also noticed the rock fire and didn't mention it because I didn't want to get lambasted for space fire or whatever the fuck.