#Star Wars Criticism

[flilisskywalker]

Tony Gilroy: Well, Cinta and Val girlfriends lesbians I think that's the term. I don't know, I was just like, yeah, they are a couple. People fuck in space.

Leslye Headland: Osha and Mae mothers are lesbians, they are very lesbian, you can see the LGBTQIA+ all over that coven. Woman can impregnate other woman with cosmic powers because it's cool as hell.

Dave Filoni and Jon Favreau: I mean... you guys like deepfake Luke Skywalker, right?????? And Grogu? You guys definitely dig Grogu, hmm? Maybe another Order 66 flashback?

[mistergreatbones]

I hate that all of ahsoka’s relationships are seen as secondary to her relationship with anakin.

(oh my god i need to stop making ridiculously loooooong rants about a children's show from 2008. anyways spoilers below.)

Like, we know she has a relationship with Obi-Wan, but we never really see it expanded on. They’re in a lot of scenes together, but anakin’s always there and the focus is always on him. There aren’t really any one-on-one moments between just the two them.

During the Rako Hardeen arc, Ahsoka watches Obi-Wan die in her arms and all she has to say is that she’s worried about Anakin. We see Anakin be angry and try to kill “Hardeen” and Ahsoka’s right there with him with no elaboration into how she feels. And then Anakin calms down after he learns the truth and Ahsoka is just… also chill. If she was even told it was fake it happened off-screen, and on-screen she just all of a sudden stops being angry and sad and is just joking around with Padmé likes nothing’s wrong?

And Padmé. They hug and joke about Anakin and go off on missions with each other. Ahsoka confides in Padmé and goes to her apartment uninvited, and Padmé always seems genuinely happy to see Ahsoka, but I don’t remember ever actually seeing them meeting one another. And, while we do see Ahsoka mourning Padmé’s death, but we don’t ever get to see Padmé’s reaction to Ahsoka leaving. Padmé was just as much Ahsoka’s friend and mentor as Anakin, but while it’s implied that Anakin’s so aggressive and cold during season six is because he’s upset about Ahsoka, Padmé’s just… the same as she always is. She gets to be sad and angry about Anakin’s behavior, but her own relationship with Ahsoka is almost forgotten. And when Ahsoka comes back, Anakin gets to be ecstatic and happy over it, but then we don’t even know if Padmé was told her friend had returned.

It’s kinda like the show just assumes Ahsoka has a relationship with the people Anakin’s close to, but no one’s allowed to, like, outshine him.

Ahsoka spends the entire series with the 501st, but we never see her have any meaningful connections with them. She knows everyone’s name and she defends them in battle and she talks about how she trusts them, but she never interacts with anyone outside of combat. And they defend her too and follow her orders without question and paint they’re helmets in her honor (painting over one of obvious and most important identifying feature, meaning they are literally giving up their individuality to welcome back the girl they missed so much, but that's a whole other conversation), and most of the time we see them they are dying around her and she doesn’t even blink.

And Rex. Oh boy, Rex. Ahsoka spends her entire padawanhood at Rex’s side, and we’re never shown how it affects either of them. Rex is a battle-harden soldier forced to take orders from an inexperienced child. He lived with her and he fought with her and he watched her mature but there’s nothing to suggest he helped raised her. He’s not her master or her mentor or her brother or her father or her crèchemate or her CO, he’s just a guy who works for her. She calls him her friend and “Rex ol’ boy” and jokes with him and confides in him like they’re equals, but he only calls her “Commander” or “kid”. We get to watch Anakin warm up to her, but we don’t ever see Rex get used to her. He isn’t allowed to question her, he doesn’t react when she gets his brothers killed, but by the end he clearly respects her. He doesn’t mention her once when they aren’t in combat, but he’s happy to see her whenever they reunite.

Which, like. It makes sense. While most of the time we see Ahsoka is during missions and battles, she still was a Jedi and missed out on a lot of missions because she was back at the Temple doing her Padawan duties. If Ahsoka's primary social sphere is the Jedi, it'd make sense for her to only have a working relationship with the clones, but when never really get to see Ahsoka's relationship with the Jedi either.

She has these really meaningful moments that shape her identity with Sinube and Aayla and Luminara and Jocasta, and then barely interacts with them afterwards. We see how important Plo is to Ahsoka, and then she never mentions him or mourns him, and he we never see her feelings on her leaving.

We see Yoda genuinely shook and haunted and guilty and regretful about what happened to Ahsoka. We see her go to him for advice and spar with him and be taught by him and helping him with the younglings during the Gathering. We know they know each other, but we don't know why Yoda assigned her specifically to Anakin. We don't see either of their feelings about Ahsoka being a member of Yoda's lineage. We don't know her feelings about being in the same lineage as Qui-Gon or Dooku either.

We get to see Ahsoka and Barriss become friends on Geonosis, but we don't get to see that relationship develop until all of a sudden Barriss is framing Ahsoka for terrorism. Which is. Something that deserves elaborating I believe.

And we don't get to see Ahsoka be friends with any other Jedi her age. Anakin was the one who introduced Barriss and Ahsoka, and Kanan is younger than her and didn't seem to know her super well. We never see any of the people Ahsoka was raised with. The only person from her childhood she ever mentions is Plo. Like surely Ahsoka had friends growing up that she missed, other Padawans on the frontlines or at the Temple when she was being accused. And is Ahsoka *was* friendless growing up, that would likely have reflected in her personality?

And for the other friends Ahsoka makes in her range: she doesn't talk to Saw or Lux again after Onderon, we know next to nothing about her relationship with Bo-Katan, and when Ahsoka and Riyo were playing Nancy Drew it's just casually brought up that they've been besties the whole time?

(Trace and Rafa were done well though. They and Plo can remain unelaborated.)

And after tcw, this doesn't get any better! We don't know why she stayed in touch with Bo-Katan to the point that she knows what backwater planet Ahsoka was liberating.

And fucking Rebels,,, like we know she was a close friend and mentor to Ezra, but we don't see many meaningful moments between them, until all of a sudden Ahsoka is sacrificing herself and Ezra is crying on Kanan's shoulder like he did when his parents died. And then Ahsoka is ignoring the rest of the galaxy, just trying to find Ezra.

We don't see her relationship or feelings with Kanan, one of the only Temple-raised Jedi left. We don't see her relationship with Sabine, just that they're working together to find Ezra.

And Tales of the Jedi ALSO brought up more questions. Bail and Ahsoka are friends?? Ahsoka regularly lets the clones give her a concussion, to the point they can just be standing in a circle shooting at her in the middle of the hanger on the Star Destroyer and no one blinks??

And, well it's no longer canon, Ahsoka was designed wearing traditional Togruta clothes in the form of her sash and her akul-tooth headdress, which you can only get from killing an Akul single-handedly. This implies she has a relationship with her culture, and has performed Togruta rituals, likely on Shili. She calls the Togruta colonists on Kiros as "her people", implying she sees herself as one of the Togruta, in addition to being a Jedi. But does she know her parents? Does she have Togruta friends, whether on Shili or within the Jedi? Certainly you can identify with the culture you descended from without being close to your parents (2nd and 3rd gen immigrant identity crises rise up!), but we don't get to know her thoughts and relationship to her people. We don't know who took her back to Shili, who taught her about her people since her parents couldn't. I mean we know there are other Togruta Jedi, but I don't recall Ahsoka even interacting with Shaak Ti, a Togruta Jedi who was already in tcw.

I mean, we don't even see how her species makes her different from the humans around her. We don't see her fangs or her roar or her echo-location. They even gave her human eyes when originally they were gonna look like Shaak Ti's.

When Ahsoka leaves the Order, she stops wearing Togruta clothes. She doesn't go to Shili or Kiros, places where it can be assumed she has a relationship with someone, even if it's not her parents. She doesn't go see Padme or Riyo, both established to be close friends not in the Jedi.

We know she feels angry and upset with the Jedi and the Republic who betrayed and abandoned her, but we only see her goodbye to Anakin, not to Plo or Obi-Wan, who were on the council that dismissed her and would have complicated feelings in regards too. Not to Sinube or Jocasta or Aayla. Not to Padme. Not to Rex.

After Order 66, she mourns Anakin and Padme and Obi-Wan and the clones and... no one else. No mention of the Jedi she knew. She lived fourteen years without knowing Anakin, Obi-Wan, or Rex, but it's like she appeared out of the ether to join their group!

She went from ~Togruta girl brought to the Temple by Plo~ to ~Anakin's sassy badass Padawan~ with no in-between stage! Absolutely no mention of her life as an youngling and initiate!

And like, I know she was literally created to be Anakin's Padawan, and was never meant to be anything more then a device to aid his fall, but it shouldn't feel like that. Sure, she looks cool and she has character traits and she has other relationships, but it certainly feels like they needed Anakin to have a Padawan so they made "Anakin's PadawanTM" without thinking of her in any other way beyond that. And when she became a character who was bigger than just Anakin, they didn't bother fleshing her out as anything other than the vague idea she started as of "Jedi Togruta teenage girl Commander".

[skygirlstars]

the criticism of a lot of the Star Wars animated series post-The Clone Wars, namely Rebels and The Bad Batch, that I find absolutely bizarre is that they have “too much filler.” I disagree with that, and honestly just the concept of filler in general, but sure, you’re entitled to your opinion. but what bothers me is how a lot of people say TCW is the best Star Wars show and then hate on others like Rebels and TBB for “filler.”

like….did we watch the same TCW?

it’s probably over half “filler.” the droid arc, the one where Jar Jar gets laid, the blue shadow virus, etc etc. TBB especially reminds me so much of TCW with the sometimes meandering storylines and extremely jarring tonal shifts between episodes or arcs. but I find it kind of endearing tbh. I love that these shows are goofy some of the time and really deep other times! it’s part of the fun! that’s Star Wars!

if TCW came out today, people would hate on it. I’m not saying you have to like any of the shows, but I just find that specific criticism kind of ridiculous when someone also reveres TCW. childhood nostalgia is definitely a factor, so maybe the other shows will become more popular in a few years, we’ll see. just something to think about

[jediaprentis]

I personally don't much care for the high republic jedi costume design. Here's my reasoning (and it might sound a bit mean so don't read if you don't want to see any negativity):

- The overall silhouettes, with the use of cloaks, tabards and asymmetry, have such a basic 21st century style pseudo-medieval fantasy feeling to them. I have nothing against using medieval inspirations if done well, but it is quite used to death so if you can't do it in a fresh way it's better to do something else.

- The decorative motives, once again, look like your run of the mill fantasy bling and don't feel like they have much creativity to them. This is also a personal preference thing but I dislike the delicate and art deco-ish look they have. I feel it's quite easy to use that kind of ornamentation lazily and make the design look unbalanced and cheap. There's also too much of it which, sure, serves the narrative but also just means there's more of the stuff I dislike.

- I personally hate the use of gold in these and the beige/ocre fabric colors that go with it. Well, perhaps the yellowish brown clothes would be okay if not for the other stuff I complained about, but I'd still prefer light brown over golden tones. In Acolyte they manage to make the fabrics straight up mustard yellow. I guess they found my grandma's 1970s fabric stash. (also, the fabric they used for the tabards is too thin so it drapes weird and looks a bit cheap - which to be fair, is very 70s)

The overuse of layers, asymmetry and ornamentation ends up creating a feeling of fragility, imbalance and self importance. You may think now: "That's the point! The jedi were like this in the times of High Republic" and if that is so they have succeeded with communicating that. However, I still think it's ugly. They could've effectively communicated their messge and made them original and nice to look at.

[chiss-ticism]

I think that my only real problem with Andor as it currently stands, is just how human-centric it is. I understand full well that good costumes are expensive to make, especially if they're meant to be reusable, flexible, and expressive (which is to say nothing about the Mouse likely not wanting to pay the prices associated with unionized workers when they can just not worry about it and have humans do all the heavy lifting) as well as the fact that the average Joe'll likely find it easier to connect with a human as they can see themselves in them, but it still feels off to me.

Don't get me wrong, it's, for lack of a better word, 'interesting' to see how Imperial culture interacts with human cultures that they wrongly view as lesser - that the average Twi'lek that finds themself displaced from their home will be able to find solidarity amongst some of the humans outside of the Inner Rim - but on the other side of the coin, it also feels a bit at odds with a lot of other Star Wars media in that regard. The Empire largely used the overtly alien leadership of the Confederacy of Independant Systems to demonize any group that wasn't human, leaving them to be the main targets of their Othering and a big source of their propaganda machine, which is a large part of the reason that they get away with the use of, amongst other things, slave labor.

So, with that it mind, minor details like Mon Mothma's advocation for better treatment of the Ghorman's being an off-screen stepping stone for her character development or everyone we've seen within the prison facility (or even in places like Ferrix) Cassian interacts with significantly being human bothers me just a smidge

[padmestrilogy]

has it ever been more over

[silverknight338]

To me star wars does not give an equivalent emotional payout when investing ones time into watching it. Especially the new series. You know their efforts will be helpful, but that they won’t see the fruits until much later, if at all. Unless you’re watchig the clone wars, then all that awaits is tragedy. That’s the core of all these series: to endear characters that are destined to fail or die. Why should I invest my time watching characters struggle when they will fail?

There is barely any hope, no sort of bright future to look forward to.

[littlefeatherr]

cat_does_the_arts

[oshamirs]

Qimir in 1.08 | The Acolyte

[demigoddessqueens]

touch

Thinking of touch-starved men…, their eyes follow your hands and fingers so carefully, anxiously, getting easily jealous at how casual your touches are with others who are not them; always lingering where you are, seeking out your presence and just wanting a sliver of your attention away from everyone else; touch-starved ones who have a quiet gasp whenever you place your hands over theirs or just a casual friendly touch; chills along their spine and entire body as you play with their hair; hugs make them freeze in their tracks before arms tentatively wrap around you like your made of glass or a stardust that will vanish the second it’s over

EDIT: they can’t help but swallow down their moan(s) when your fingers brush through their hair, lightly touching the exposed back of their neck

Just….touch starved characters…

[short-wooloo]

Now that the trailer is out, it's probably best that I get this out of the way before acolyte releases

The Jedi are right about the Force and the dark side

The Jedi did not lose their way

The Jedi were not corrupted

The genocide of the Jedi was not their fault

The Jedi are not wrong for being part of the Republic, it is in fact a good thing

The Jedi are not arrogant for thinking the sith are gone

and while we're at it the sith are evil, always, end of discussion

The Jedi do not steal children

If someone wants to leave the Jedi, that's allowed, no one will stop them

The Jedi are right about attachment

Attachment is not love (SW uses the Buddhist definition because Lucas is a Buddhist and the Jedi are based off Buddhist monks, Buddhism defines attachment as being possessive or unwilling to let go of people or things)

The Jedi do not forbid emotions, they forbid being controlled by your emotions, you must control them

The Jedi are not forbidden from loving people, nor are they celibate, they just can't get married (big whup) because their duties must come first

Being peacekeepers doesn't preclude the Jedi from fighting in war, sometimes to keep the peace you have to fight back, especially when its against tyranny, see WWII (or Ukraine today)

Gray jedi are not a thing

The Jedi are not slavers or complicit in slavery

Oh and of course, the Jedi are not elitists for not training non Force sensitives, (Han voice) that's not how the Force works, dave filoni broke the rules so he could shoehorn sabine into a Jedi (to give the benefit of the doubt, I do believe sabine's role as ahsoka's apprentice was meant for an original character but things got condensed by executives, so maybe filoni isn't entirely to blame here)

(Edit)

The Jedi are not cops

The Jedi are not the government/the rulers of the Republic/galaxy

The Jedi do not persecute other Force groups

Padawans are not child soldiers

Feel free to add anything I forgot

Do not, DO NOT!! add anything Jedi critical, I'm done with it and won't hear it, don't have something nice to say? Then go away, I will block on sight, either reblog without comment (either in the reblog or the notes) or don't interact at all

[raphaerolo]

Propaganda

[jonathanrogersartist]

How 'The Acolyte' Disappointed Me, and Why the Themes of 'Star Wars' Matter

Someone recently commented on my 'On the Dark Side, the Jedi and the Moral Decay of Star Wars' essay with these words: 

"A lot of words for saying 'I don't like the newer media, but I won't get into specifics as to why.'"

Okay! I shall then finally clarify those specifics....

That first essay has, so far, been my biggest success on this blog, and it's attracted a number of interesting responses. Full disclosure: I wrote that fresh off the heels of feeling depressed over how the Acolyte ended, and after reading/listening to several of Leslye Headland's interviews, where she went into great detail about her ideas behind the show's choices, the themes she's trying to get across, and what personal baggage she brings to Star Wars. 

Why was I depressed?

Because the show's finale ended with the deeply problematic implication that Osha, by killing Sol and joining Qimir, has achieved true self-actualization. As Leslye herself put it, it's a 'positive corruption arc.' Interesting way to phrase it. 

Furthermore, Vernestra's actions that frame Sol for several murders, all to protect her own reputation, and to avoid oversight by the Senate, confirmed one of the things that I was really worried this show would do as soon as we began learning plot details, which is that it's leaning into this very persistent edgelord take that the Jedi are actually big ol' bastards not worth seeing as heroes. 

It's the Dave Filoni gospel of the Jedi Order as a morally broken and fundamentally hypocritical institution, a decaying monument to religious hubris, who brought about their own destruction with their arrogance and so-called rejection of emotion making them lack empathy. 

This is, as many of my followers know already, a giant misreading of George's storyline in the prequels, and what he was actually telling us about the Jedi's philosophy and code. And in my experience, it gets us some vicious pushback when we try to inform fans of it, even if we back it up with proof of George's words. 

George really did intend the Jedi to be the ultimate example of what a brave, wise, and all-loving hero should be, and are very specifically inspired by Buddhist monks. They do not 'repress emotions': they learn to regulate their emotions, so as to not let the negative ones feed the Dark Side, and they have the moral fortitude to focus on their spiritual duty. They're professionals that have dedicated themselves to a higher calling, and who still feel and display the same emotions we all feel, unless I watched very different movies from everyone else. We see that Jedi characters can still crack jokes, cry when they are sad, become scared or anxious, feel strong love and loyalty to their peers, and can even be righteously angry in some situations BUT always knowing when to pull back.

The Jedi of the prequels were victims of manipulation by Palpatine, and were caught in between a rock-and-a-hard-place with the Clone War, and they were ultimately destroyed not by their own actions, but by the treachery of Anakin Skywalker, who failed to overcome his own flaws because he refused to really follow the Jedi teachings, and was gaslit by Palpatine for decades on top of that. 

Leslye's take on Star Wars, based on how she wrote the story of the Acolyte, is that "yup, the Jedi were doomed to destroy themselves by being hypocritical and tone-deaf space cops," and she also outright compared them to the Catholic Church (this reeks of Western bias and misunderstanding of Eastern religions). The one that really stunned me, was when she said she designed Qimir to be her own mouthpiece for the experience of being queer and suppressed, who isn't allowed to just be her authentic self in a restrictive world. Which, to me, implies that Leslye wanted to depict the Dark Side as actually a misunderstood path to self-actualization that the Jedi, in keeping with their dogma of repressing emotions, only smear as 'evil.' 

Let me remind you all: Qimir is officially referred to as a Sith Lord, by Manny Jacinto, by Leslye, etc. And what are the Sith, exactly? 

Space fascists. Intergalactic superpowered terrorists. Dark wizard Nazi-coded wannabe dictators, whose ideology is of might-makes-right, survival of the fittest, and the pursuit of power for power's sake. To depict followers of this creed as an analogy for marginalized people who have literally been targeted and murdered throughout history BY the real-life inspirations for the Sith.... I find revolting and tone-deaf by Leslye. 

SO.... seeing how that show ended, and reading up on how Leslye intended it to be interpreted (Osha's 'triumph' over the 'toxic paternalism' of Sol/the Jedi in general), really put me in a funk, because deep down, I could just sense that this was not at all compatible with the ethos of Star Wars. It made me go on a deep-dive into the BTS of the writing of the prequels and George's ideas about the Jedi, and it's how I discovered the truth that Dave Filoni has been pretty egregiously misrepresenting George's themes for several years now, usurping George's words with his own personal fanfic about the motivations of characters like Anakin, or Qui-Gon, or the Jedi Council, etc. 

His influence on the franchise has caused this completely baseless take on the Jedi to become so widespread as to rewrite history for modern fans. Who are utterly convinced now that this anti-Jedi messaging WAS George's vision all along, and they get real mad at you if you show them actual proof of that being a lie. 

And the Acolyte is perpetuating this twisting of the very core of Star Wars. This is what I meant by the 'moral decay of Star Wars.' 

The Star Wars saga was made by George Lucas in 1977 to accomplish these specific tasks: 

To remind people of what it really means to be good.

What evil actually looks like, and how it comes from our fears and greed.

To teach kids how to grow up and choose the right path that will make them loving, brave, honest people that stand up to tyrants.

To give the world a story that returns to classic mythological motifs and is fundamentally idealistic, to defy the uptick in cynical and nihilistic storytelling after the scandals of Vietnam and Watergate broke Americans' belief in there being such a thing as actual heroes anymore. 

THAT is the soul of Star Wars. That is what George meant for this remarkably creative universe to say with its storytelling. But I sincerely think that what the Acolyte told, was that morality is relative, the heroes of this saga are actually bastards, the fascist death-cult is misunderstood, and a young woman being gaslit into joining said death-cult is a triumphant girlboss moment. When it actually comes across as the tragedy of a broken person choosing the wrong path that will only make her miserable, full of hatred and powerlust, and hurt innocent people along the way. 

The Acolyte betrayed one of George's most critical lessons: that the Dark Side ruins people, and if you want to truly become your best self, you must choose the path of Light, and the Jedi are the ones who have best mastered that path. So if the future of Star Wars is to continue framing the Jedi and their teachings as some corrupt and immoral system that is making the galaxy worse, then I would rather stick to rewatching the classic scripture of Episode 1-6. George wrote a complete and satisfying story, that is thematically consistent, and in my opinion should have been allowed to rest. 

I will not hate on new fans that love the new material, but I will pity them if they really think any of this is actually faithful to George's vision (they may very well simply not care, either, which troubles me too), and I am afraid of a show like Acolyte teaching young people to see the Jedi's philosophy as wrong, and the Sith as having a point. 

(P.S. I have a moral duty to clarify this, given the discourse around the show: No, this is not a problem with 'wokeness,' or diversity, or representation; that side of the fandom is very sick in the head and not to be taken seriously. 

It's a problem with Leslye's themes and tastes as a storyteller, being fundamentally against the ethos of Star Wars and how it soured the entire show in hindsight for me... a show that I was actually really liking, before the finale dropped its thematic nuke.)

[furious-blueberry0]

"Ahahah look, the clones adopted children because of Jango's Mando genes-"

NO! The clones do this because they decided to be good fucking people!

Kindness is not genetic and it sure is not hereditary, they decided to be good even if their whole life they were taught the opposite.

They decided that instead of using their hands for the violence they were created for:

They wanted to use them to wipe away the tears,

To keep others to safety,

To cup their cheeks and whisper words of comfort,

To hold them until the nightmares went away,

To be kind to others despite what their training told them.

And they learned all this on their own, while their "father" looked at them as nothing more than cannon fodder and didn't even blink twice at the idea of them dying in a worthless war.

In this essay I will-

[antianakin]

It seems like the height of arrogance to look at a story like Star Wars with some of the most blatantly obvious and evil villains in the history of sci-fi/fantasy and when asked "What went wrong to cause the situation we see in the main story" the answer isn't "the villains were working for years to undermine the heroes from the shadows piece by piece until they were able to topple everything and murder everyone" but, somehow, "the heroes were actually the REAL villains all along because they have a religion they follow and don't immediately believe everything they're told point blank."

[fortunethief]

Absolutely LOVE this look!