Please stop with this "Disney destroys 'Star Wars'" talk!

Luca Fontana

19-6-2024

Translation: machine translated

After just four episodes, "The Acolyte" is already regarded as the worst "Star Wars" series of all time. Not only that: many fans agree that Disney is now ruining the franchise for good. I disagree.

"Ironic ...", Emperor Palpatine would say.

I've lived and breathed Star Wars for as long as I can remember. But what fascinates me about the Star Wars saga and makes my heart beat faster doesn't necessarily apply to others. And vice versa. I don't want to explain to you why you have to like "Disney Star Wars" or why you are not entitled to criticise Disney Star Wars.

But - is it really that bad for "Star Wars"? Or are some fans getting a little carried away?

Witches in "Star Wars!"

Let's start with a recent example that is currently causing a lot of controversy among fans: "The Acolyte". In the third episode, a coven of witches conjures up the dark side of the Force in a ritual that looks like amateur theatre. I admit it: the scene is hilarious. And that's putting it mildly.

Despite this, the scene doesn't throw me off as a fan. It certainly doesn't make me curse and proclaim the franchise's demise. For days, angry fans on TikTok, Instagram and YouTube have been explaining how Disney is pushing through the agenda of a commune of lesbians who no longer need men to father children and that "Star Wars" is going under as a result.

But nobody was talking about a progressive agenda and the demise of "Star Wars" in the late 2000s when "The Clone Wars" aired on the Cartoon Network. Perhaps because the animated series was barely noticed by adults. Or perhaps because social media was not yet widespread enough to have a significant influence on how people reacted to new Star Wars content - or comment columns where disappointed fans would get on each other's nerves.

In any case, the concept of a coven of witches with a different interpretation of the Force than the Jedi is not new or Disney-exclusive. It's just much better realised in the Nightsisters of Dathomir - as they are called - and I agree with the many critics.

I've rarely heard such lousy dialogue! And the scripts too!

Of all the things I adore about "Star Wars" - it's not the dialogue.

Hand on heart: dialogue and well-written scripts were rarely the strength of "Star Wars":

Exceptions that prove the rule are few and far between: "Andor", for example, a series created under Disney - of all things. It has so much incredibly well-written dialogue that I find it difficult to choose one.

Would "Andor" have been made under George Lucas' direction? Hard for me to imagine. "Star Wars", as George Lucas once said when defending his polarising character Jar Jar Binks, is for children anyway.

For. Children

"Andor", on the other hand, is aimed at an adult audience and thus remains an absolute one-off in the "Star Wars" universe. Because regardless of whether we are talking about productions made under Lucas or Disney: They are all primarily aimed at a rather younger audience. One that places far less emphasis on sophisticated dialogue or coherently thought-out stories and characters than us adults who spend hours on social media or in commentary columns.

"Star Wars" is for children

The generation before me? Oh, they hated the prequels fervently. And everything in them. George Lucas was destroying his own legacy, she ranted. The very bad feeling she already had because Lucas made changes in the Special Editions was confirmed: "Han didn't shoot yet first! My childhood was a lie!"

But the prequel films went one better. Suddenly, snore-inducingly boring trade blockades were causing political stink in the Galactic Republic Senate. Yawn. That doesn't fit in with the otherwise so adventurous "Star Wars". Anyway: midichlorians? What happened to the mystical force? Darth Vader is supposed to have built C-3PO? And why the heck does the film look like a computer game?

And George Lucas, the creator of Star Wars? He was labelled the anti-Christ. As a false prophet. Fans chanted on the streets: "George raped our childhood!" There was even a documentary film - "The People vs George Lucas" - that incited people against their former messiah.

In the end, Lucas sold "his" baby to Disney. Possibly even with a sigh of relief - and not just because of the 4 billion dollars he received for the deal.

Everything was better in the past - wasn't it?

But "from a certain point of view" that was the right thing to do, yes yes.

I'm glad social media didn't exist back then. They would have savaged Lucas for such a lax approach to established lore. And for the fact that Emperor Palpatine's best and most high-tech soldiers in "Return of the Jedi" would have been defeated by a horde of teddy bears with sticks, spears and stones.

Even worse: it's even Leia, a woman (!), who kills the gangster boss Jabba because her male colleagues, including a Jedi, can't get it together on their own. Instead, they allow themselves to be captured by said teddy bears.

"Only a Sith knows nothing but extremes"

It seems that adults who grew up with "Star Wars" are always the biggest and - unfortunately - the most hateful critics of the franchise. First 20 years ago with the prequels. Today with everything Disney produces. They take every mistake, no matter how small and insignificant, as an opportunity to declare the Star Wars saga dead: "Oh God, there's fire in space in 'The Acolyte'! How illogical!"

As if there had never been fire in space in "Star Wars" before ...

In fact, "Pillar of Garbage" sums it up pretty well in the video above: In the search for confirmation bias that Disney is indeed the source of all evil in today's "Star Wars," every little quirk that "Star Wars" has always had suddenly becomes a giant hole.

Is this really the kind of "fan community" we want to be?

An appeal: Be more tolerant - and kids again

Somewhere, that child is still - and celebrates actor Hayden Christensen frenetically when he steps onto a stage today, after he gave up acting decades ago because he could no longer bear the hatred of the generation before you. [dootot

I ask that you adhere to the Community Guidelines in the comment column. You may engage in tough but fair and respectful debate and take each other to task - including me. Insults and personal attacks, on the other hand, will be removed from the comments column.

Luca Fontana

Senior Editor

Luca.Fontana@digitecgalaxus.ch

I'm an outdoorsy guy and enjoy sports that push me to the limit – now that’s what I call comfort zone! But I'm also about curling up in an armchair with books about ugly intrigue and sinister kingkillers. Being an avid cinema-goer, I’ve been known to rave about film scores for hours on end. I’ve always wanted to say: «I am Groot.» more

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