The Acolyte has quickly become one of the most divisive Star Wars projects Disney has released thus far. The show has caused debates ranging from continuity errors to pronoun usage, and has emboldened a certain segment of fans to slam the show with unfortunate rhetoric concerning race and gender. In response to the backlash, The Acolyte’s Amandla Stenberg has released a new song and music video addressing the controversy.
Stenberg, who plays both Osha and Mae on the show, released the song via her Instagram account with the caption, “Happy Juneteenth. And to those who are flooding me with intolerable racism — since it took me 72 hours on my laptop to make this song and video, u got 72 hours to respond. and I expect choreo!” The song begins by addressing the viral clip of her 2018 appearance on The Daily Show with Trevor Noah, where she said “white people crying actually was the goal,” while promoting her film The Hate U Give. ” Trevor ask what I want the people to know, I say white people crying was the goal, If they could take one thing what would it be? I say empathy, ooooo that’s why they mad at me?”
While many fans are engaging in discourse concerning lapses in the Star Wars timeline, the surprise appearance of Ki-Adi-Mundi for example, others are attacking the show for what they perceive as a forced political agenda. Stenberg addresses those fans with the lyrics, “And now you listening imma tell you something fascinating, they spinning WOKE bastardize it and appropriate it, last I recall WOKE was something we created, speak truth to power, keep an eye out for you silly racists, and now they use it to describe anything they threatened by.” A full transcript of the lyrics are available via The Hollywood Reporter.
The Acolyte Showrunner Responds to the Backlash
The criticism of The Acolyte reached a fever pitch after the third episode titled, “Destiny” was released. The episode sparked controversy among fans after it was revealed that the twins, Osha and Mae, were raised by a coven of witches, though how the twins were conceived remains a mystery for now. In the episode, Mother Aniseya played by Jodie Turner-Smith, explains the twins have no father, and that she was the one who created the twins. The revelation angered fans who believe that it takes away from Anakin’s story, explained in Star Wars: The Phantom Menace. It also led to some nasty discourse online in relation to gender and sexual orientation.
Leslye Headland, The Acolyte’s showrunner, has received a lot of criticism throughout the season, and is also aware of the backlash. Headland, who ran the popular Netflix series Russian Doll, voiced her concerns over the intense response to the show. “Honestly, I feel sad that people would think that if something were gay, that that would be bad,” Headland said. “It makes me feel sad that a bunch of people on the Internet would somehow dismantle what I consider to be the most important piece of art that I’ve ever made.” There are four more episodes to go for The Acolyte, after the latest episode titled, “Day”, finally saw the Jedi confronting the mysterious villain who had taken Mae under her wing.
The Acolyte is available to stream on Disney+.