Fans of Star Wars: The Acolyte are sick and tired of being pushed around, and they’re not going to take it anymore—on YouTube, anyway.
The Acolyte was the most recent live-action Star Wars series to premiere on Disney+ and, it is fair to say, the most controversial one by several parsecs. While one can reasonably expect some fan pushback and criticism over shows like Obi-Wan Kenobi or Ahsoka, which feature beloved characters with deep backstories, or even The Mandalorian, which has a really cute puppet, a huge contingent of fans went berserk over this latest offering from the galaxy far, far away.
The series was created by Leslye Headland, the showrunner best known for the critically acclaimed Netflix series Russian Doll, as starred Squid Game breakout star Lee Jung-jae, Amandla Stenberg (in dual roles), Dafne Keen, and Matrix icon Carrie-Anne Moss. It took place a hundred years before The Phantom Menace (1999) and involved a series of mysterious murders in the Jedi Order, as well as some deep-cut Star Wars EU characters ported to live-action. It had a Wookie Jedi, for crying out loud.
Despite all of that, The Acolyte received a level of backlash and vitriol unusual even for Star Wars fans, who, charitably speaking, have not generally been known as the most chill bunch out there. The show was accused of “woke” politics for including POC as protagonists, the introduction of “lesbian space witches,” and for even fumbling the first canonical appearance of Darth Plagueis the Wise, who would later come to a tragic end.
As Inside the Magic has opined before, The Acolyte was a deeply imperfect show that didn’t necessarily merit a Season 2; it also was not deserving of the rage that Star Wars commentators unloaded on it. Now, a backlash to the backlash is happening, and YouTube is receiving demands to demonetize the video commentators who are accused of weaponizing racist terms and encouraging harassment of the actors and creatives behind the series.
The Star Wars fan account @rewritingripley has asked YouTube to penalize a number of Star Wars-related accounts, posting, “A handful of YouTubers have jeopardized the safety of our community & the creatives we love for too long. The Star Wars fandom demands action. @TeamYouTube demonetize Nerdrotic, Ryan Kinel – RK Outpost, and Geeks + Gamers. Hate SHOULD NOT be a career path.”
Notably, @TeamYouTube has already responded, saying “thanks for reaching out. just heard back and confirmed that this content is not violative & will remain up. we totally understand you may not agree with this decision, but we reviewed this video very carefully against our policies.” Which is basically saying, nah, we’re good with keeping the toxic fandom making money.
But while this initial demand appears to not be going anywhere, it is a notable step in pushing back against popular accounts that exist primarily to stoke anger and resentment against new Star Wars content. The term “The Acolyte Treatment” is beginning to become online code for “shutting down something we don’t like” among reactionary elements of the fandom, but people are beginning to take a stand against it. It might not result in The Acolyte Season 2, but it’s at least something.