The Acolyte - A trainwreck and a demon filled story.

[Prism_Skywalker]

I truthfully wanted to like The Acolyte, and I did in some regards, some of the best saber fights in recent memories, Sol's tone and character I really adored, and the actor did a great job. the CONCEPT of a mysterious Jedi murderer was interesting. But this project should be the sign that Star Wars is done. Just restart, they've gone so far from Lucas vision and this series is that:

The number one thing that turns me off from ever wanting to re-edit and fix the series is simple: THE DEMON AND OCCULT IMAGERY IS WAY TOO MUCH AND DISNEY NEEDS TO STOP:

I don't care about Mickey Mouse being a sorcerer, I'm even fine with Dr.Strange opening portals, but when you get into actual occult imagery such as phrases like above and below, "Maheo" and a whole subplot about twins being created through what I'd assume to be necromancy / conjuration, I can't as a religious believer support that. I wanted to be different, and support this show for it's good elements. and I'll still praise it's saber choreography, but anything else is complete garbage to me.

I don't know if they intended to actually worship Satan or if they just wanted it to seem dark and edgy without much thought for the spiritual implications...

I honestly am not proud of Disney for doing this. I could write a whole essay on how Disney is no longer it's former image and believe me I may. But this really needs to be a call to action for Disney to look at itself and see what it's subjecting children to. Don't say it isn't for children, in the words of George Lucas "Star Wars" is for twelve year olds and besides, no one should have to deal with demonic witchcraft in a made up space opera.

Star Wars has lightsabers / Jedi instead of swords and swordsman, it has the force instead of magic spells, it creates space alternatives that are new and creative. Or at least it did.

#DontRenewTheAcolyte

 

[futon88]

I gave up on it when the Sister Swap nonsense was about to begin, but I admit, you've piqued my curiosity and I'll probably watch the rest, now.

This redditor has some interesting ideas on how to improve it by restructuring the narrative a bit:

https://www.reddit.com/r/StarWarsCantina/comments/1e5ixou/although_i_did_like_the_acolyte_i_think_the_whole

 

[asterixsmeagol]

I don't know if they intended to actually worship Satan

LOL WHAT?!

 

[Moe_Syzlak]

I have zero idea what you’re talking about. I would love for you to provide more context for your criticism, but as of now I’m not sure what you think you saw.

Was it the best Star Wars? No. But I thought it was solidly middle of the pack for the Star Wars shows. It doesn’t come close to heights of Andor or s1 Mandalorian but it is way better than BoBF or Kenobi and Ahsoka. I was pretty turned off early with the witch stuff which I’ve never liked but the show worked more often than not for me. Again far from a home run, but I don’t regret watching it.

Edit: and I do not feel like this show was trying to do the Rashomon thing like TLJ. That never seemed to be the point to me. Was there different information each of the “twins” had? Yes, but they didn’t interpret the same thing differently.

 

[DigModiFicaTion]

The number one thing that turns me off from ever wanting to re-edit and fix the series is simple: THE DEMON AND OCCULT IMAGERY IS WAY TOO MUCH AND DISNEY NEEDS TO STOP:

Please remember that there are many walks and interpretations of life. This forum is not the platform to discuss such topics though.

On the topic of Star Wars and the definition of occult, the Force itself could be considered occult. One could also say that any supernatural aspect of any belief structure could fit the description of occult. But, that discussion again is for another platform.

I don't care about Mickey Mouse being a sorcerer, I'm even fine with Dr.Strange opening portals, but when you get into actual occult imagery such as phrases like above and below, "Maheo" and a whole subplot about twins being created through what I'd assume to be necromancy / conjuration, I can't as a religious believer support that. I wanted to be different, and support this show for it's good elements. and I'll still praise it's saber choreography, but anything else is complete garbage to me.

There are a lot of theories that Anakin himself was conjured in a similar fashion by Palpatine. I'm almost sure that they did this to follow the "rhyming" of concepts that Lucas himself says is a core element of Star Wars storytelling.

I don't know if they intended to actually worship Satan or if they just wanted it to seem dark and edgy without much thought for the spiritual implications...

I must have missed the Satan worshipping you are referring to. They are channeling the Force which they call "the Thread". Just because someone is a witch does not mean they worship Satan. Also, I'm not sure the persona of Satan exists in Star Wars.

I honestly am not proud of Disney for doing this. I could write a whole essay on how Disney is no longer it's former image and believe me I may. But this really needs to be a call to action for Disney to look at itself and see what it's subjecting children to. Don't say it isn't for children, in the words of George Lucas "Star Wars" is for twelve year olds and besides, no one should have to deal with demonic witchcraft in a made up space opera.

You'll need to do that at a different venue as this forum is not the place for religious discussions, especially promoting one singular view over another.

Star Wars has lightsabers / Jedi instead of swords and swordsman, it has the force instead of magic spells, it creates space alternatives that are new and creative. Or at least it did.

For your consideration:
"That wizard is just a crazy old man"
"Don't try to frighten us with your sorcerer's ways, Lord Vader. Your sad devotion to that ancient religion has not helped you conjure up the stolen data tapes, or given you clairvoyance enough to find the Rebels' hidden fort..."

#DontRenewTheAcolyte

You already cast your vote to renew it by subscribing and watching it.

To be clear, while it is certainly fine to have your strong personal beliefs, please remember that they are your personal beliefs. If you feel compelled to share those in a way that attacks another's beliefs, individual or corporation, we ask you to seek out other platforms and locations to do so as Fanedit.org neither condones nor allows such on this platform.

 

[Wraith]

Clue:

A LONG TIME AGO, IN A GALAXY FAR, FAR AWAY…

Star Wars died for me with “floaty space Leia”

 

[Bobson Dugnutt]

Also, I'm not sure the persona of Satan exists in Star Wars.

If hell exists, then something must be down there, probably some sith ghosts or whatever. Or maybe Harrison Ford just wanted to say something on set that fit his character in 1979 and didn't think about any lore implications about this weekend space movie.

Also in response to the rest of the original post...

 

[NFBisms]

I was thinking about this (albeit in a different way) as I watching the finale actually. There are some really cool, haunting / eerie music cues as Sol is walking through the remains of Jonestown that I found compelling. And later, when Mae and Osha are fighting in their old room, similar cultlike vocals (almost Kenji Kawai GiTS-y) pop up. It kind of reminds you that this is the mass grave of an entire community that died in an instant, from some unknowable witchcraft.

The unsettling nature of the whole story kind of clicked into place for me with those short moments. This is kind of an evil, occult story, but so much of the mystery and intrigue early on failed to land. It's only later, when the show kind of dispenses with the Star Wars of it all - gets ambitious with the aforementioned strings and the off-kilter vocals - that we get some fun associations. There's an aura when "the vergence" creating life comes up, that elicits the undertones of the ROTS opera scene about Plagueis, that yes, has some valence in evoking necromancy and other dark magic. But the alchemy of these elements is too little, too fleeting.

I was wondering if a rescore leaning into that dark, demonic vibe - especially for those early sections, would do this good. Let a creepy atmosphere do some heavy lifting on the mystery, make it creepy and offputting from the jump. I think how much this show hides (though I think a good edit would reveal more earlier too) wouldn't be as frustrating inside of a tone that gestures at there something deeply off - evil - happening; in the shadows, with the Force. Unlock what those short moments in the last few episodes brushed up against.

A soundtrack / tone that I think could really work for this is the Yellowjackets score:

Especially since Acolyte definitely feels like a teen girl show - not that that is what Yellowjackets is, at all, but - there is even something thematic between the two shows about girlhood and the tempestuousness of adolescence. The dark side [or cannibalism, in Yellowjackets] as a microcosm of society, both liberation from and recreation of it. Trading one cult for another. idk

 

[futon88]

That's a fascinating idea, and now I definitely need to watch the last couple episodes.

If one were to turn this into a feature-length film, it could help to start with brief, ambiguous flashes from the finale, and maybe present the story in a zippered way, where it becomes more clear the closer we get to the end (where it catches up, narratively speaking).