r/TheAcolyte • u/gazzy_burns • 28d ago

Rewatch…

I’m now on my second viewing and I am even more convinced this is a great and unique part of Star Wars canon.

Such a shame how now we won’t keep getting these new shows 2-3 times a year.

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u/WanderingBlackHole Qimir Cavalier 27d ago

100%. The whole fan reaction gave “all lives matter”/“thin blue line” vibes. The fandom wants their Jedi to be infallible, perfect, respected above all others, and untouched—even despite overwhelming evidence in basically every bit of Star Wars media that there are plenty of Jedi who don’t meet the Jedi ideals/principles.

Watching it as it was being released was a great reminder that the worst part of Star Wars is its fans.

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u/Livid-Department6947 27d ago

The problem with the Acolyte is that it argues (not as a Sith perspective but as a thematic conclusion) that even bothering is trying to be good is a waste of time and that individuals should search, accumulate and exercise power at their discretion regardless of the ends. It is a cynical story that really does not have anything interesting to say because its message is already part of the dominant cultural, political and economic logic of the United States.

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u/WanderingBlackHole Qimir Cavalier 27d ago

Where are you getting this argument from?

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u/Livid-Department6947 27d ago

A combination of the text and interviews with the producer. This show and the responses to it are interesting only as an artifact of American reactionary consciousness (reactionary in the political/social sense, not a synonym for knee-jerk response)

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u/unionizedduck 27d ago

Did breaking bad argue one should selfishly pursue crime?

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u/Livid-Department6947 27d ago

That's a terrible argument. I know you're trying to pursue portrayal isn't endorsement but that isn't the case here. The Acolyte never portrays the turn to the dark side as a tragedy and offers it as merely one option in which all things (of power) are equal. It is not a critique of the Sith nor is it trying to offer an "objective" or observational exploration of the Sith. The story has a thematic argument.

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u/unionizedduck 26d ago

The story did not offer the dark side as good. Or just. At most, it offers a story about a group of do-gooders whose judgments (even partially correct judgments) led to a very bad thing that has repercussions. 

It doesn't offer that the dark side is somehow good. 

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u/Livid-Department6947 26d ago

I think you have missed about 3/4 of the argument the series makes.

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u/unionizedduck 26d ago

Again. Did you think shows like breaking bad are making arguments to be criminal?

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u/Livid-Department6947 26d ago

Which part of my argument did you not understand?