Paul Tassi’s latest Forbes article is an absolute disaster. It’s so bad that there are writers for mainstream / legacy outlets who are considering rebuttals. The reason is clear: The Last Jedi strategy of shaming the audience isn’t going to work. And or those who wish to maintain even a semblance of credibility, the reshuffle is happening quickly. Grace Randolph is running polls to figure out what HER audience thinks of modern Star Wars (to her shock), and Eric Klain (who we love) is sitting at Forbes doing his level best to make up for Tassi’s insanity.
(L-R): Little Mae (Leah Brady) and Little Osha (Lauren Brady) in Lucasfilm’s THE ACOLYTE, season one, exclusively on Disney+. ©.
Tassi’s strategy is to accuse fans of “review bombing” and then question if they are racist and misogynist.
The 15% score is embarrassing. Not for the show, but for those review bombing it to a frankly laughable degree. I’m not even The Acolyte’s biggest fan, as the first two episodes I didn’t love, though I thought episode 3 was more interesting. But the worst Star Wars project by an order of magnitude in the history of the series? And it just so happens to be one mostly starring black women? This whole situation is a parody of the modern toxic fanbase of the series, and if you want to disguise it as being upset about “canon” than it shows a distinct lack of understand of both the material of the show and the wider universe. You can critique a show, sure, but overwhelmingly, that is just not what’s happening here, and it goes well beyond that.
(L-R): Little Osha (Lauren Brady), Mother Aniseya (Jodie Turner-Smith) and Little Mae (Leah Brady) in Lucasfilm’s THE ACOLYTE, season one, exclusively on Disney+. ©2024 Lucasfilm Ltd. & TM. All Rights Reserved.
It’s hard to blame Tassi though. He’s just playing the old rules that rewarded journalists for sliming the fans of a franchise for institutional benefit. It’s a ruse that comes from a time when the institutions controlled the messaging to such a degree that they could ostracize anyone who disagreed with the corporate narrative.
Sure, channels such as Geeks ‘n Gamers and Nerdrotic sprang up out of the disaster that was The Last Jedi. Midnight’s Edge became must-listen midday podcast fare. But to the mainstream media, these were perceived as limited-in-scope alternative ragtags who represented a tiny minority of outrageous scum.
In other words, the politically-inclined media analyst bubble-types completely misgauged what was happening. As a result they failed to push the corporate narrative while simultaneously maintaining an air of authority. That’s a thread they could have perhaps managed if they had been willing to sacrifice The Last Jedi for the greater cause. But they couldn’t, and an entire ecosystem of bifurcated voices sprang up as a result.
(L-R): Koril (Margarita Levieva) and Mother Aniseya (Jodie Turner-Smith) in Lucasfilm’s THE ACOLYTE, season one, exclusively on Disney+. ©2024 Lucasfilm Ltd. & TM. All Rights Reserved.
And so here we are with The Acolyte. A few in the media are still running defense for the show and its writer / director / showrunner… a woman who is the former personal assistant to Harvey Weinstein. In any sane world, that would be enough proximal crud to keep you away from a Galaxy Far, Far Away.
In today’s world, however, logic is an afterthought and the struggle for power reigns supreme. Since Leslye Headland is on the side of the institutional cultural gatekeepers, she must be defended at all costs until and unless they’re given clearance to change their positions.
(L-R): Amandla Stenberg , set PA Taylor Young, director Leslye Headland and director of photography Chris Teague on the set of Lucasfilm’s THE ACOLYTE, exclusively on Disney+. ©2024 Lucasfilm Ltd. & TM. All Rights Reserved.
READ: Leslye Headland Confirms ‘The Acolyte’ Is The “Gayest Star Wars,” And Claims That R2-D2 Is A Lesbian
None of this is going to work, however. The Last Jedi is one of the biggest Barbara Streisand effects we’ve ever seen — and The Acolyte is now a horrible show releasing in a world where opposing voices have full ability to articulate their reasonable viewpoints with digital runway for days. They likewise have a tsunami of support with them. The vast majority of the sensible center, middle mainstream are beyond apathy with Star Wars. We’re now in “laugh-at-it” territory.
And those who attempt to pummel the audience as terrible bigots for disliking it are discovering they’re now lumped in the same category that Star Wars has fallen into.
(L-R): Little Mae (Leah Brady), Little Osha (Lauren Brady) and Sol (Lee Jung-jae) in Lucasfilm’s THE ACOLYTE, season one, exclusively on Disney+. ©2024 Lucasfilm Ltd. & TM. All Rights Reserved.
Like it or don’t like it, give your authentic opinion — but mock the fans at your own peril, dinosaur media. Star Wars is now a stink you don’t want attached to you. And the only real way to get that level of awful on you is to do the same thing that Star Wars has done: Slime the fans.
Good write up. I read Mr. Tassi’s article and thought it was oddly histrionic by his standards, though it’s always been obvious which side of the political divide he falls on. The Acolyte is a terrible, TERRIBLE piece of fiction that deserves more hate than it’s getting – I have my fingers crossed for sub-10% user score before the dust settles.