The Acolyte
Summary
As controversial asThe Acolytemay be , Star Warshas always been broken on Rotten Tomatoes . There ’s something unusual about the way Rotten Tomatoes has come to prevail on-line word when it comes to talking about the quality of movies and TV shows . In theory , it ’s a review aggregate web site , a way of plainly seeing the fair opinion on the latest film or show . In practise , it ’s far more , and undecomposed Rotten Tomato oodles are often major parts of a selling strategy .
Suffice to sayThe Acolyte ’s consultation score on Rotten Tomatoes has not been used for marketing function . At time of written material , it sit at a stupefying 14 percent , with over 25,000 reviews- a clear signThe Acolytehas been reassessment - bomb . Incredibly , this is actually an improvement , because until a few days ago it had a score of just 13 percent . As wince - worthy as this may be , it ’s just another sign of a much more long - scarper problem;Star Warsand Rotten Tomatoes have never pop off together well .
The Acolyte review - bombing look even more absurd after the activeness - packed episode 5 , which proves the Star Wars Disney+TV show has been underrate
Star Wars Has Been Review-Bombed Since 2010
Even the prequels were review-bombed
It ’s easy for forward-looking watcher to forget thatStar Warshas always been divisive . Nowhere is this considerably illustrated than in the initial response to the prequels , where there was initially quite a wildcat backlash . I was on the outskirts of the fandom at that time , and quickly learned there were part of the assembly I would prefer not to venture . Now , the generation who grew up with the prequels have number of long time , and their reputation has recover ; but years ago , the prequels provide the first case ofStar Warsreview - bombardment on Rotten Tomatoes .
critique - bombardment only became a " matter " in 2008 , when gamers flooded Amazon ’s review varlet for the video gameSpore . It did n’t take long for the tactic to find its elbow room toStar Warsmovies on Rotten Tomatoes , though ; there ’s grounds of a reexamination - bombardment campaign that run from October 2010 for the next two years . The movie ’s audience score shake off from 85 % to 64 % after a 160,000 % addition in right to vote . It ’s unconvincing to be a happenstance that 2010 was the yearRed Letter Media ’s Mr. Plinkett refresh and the funniness documentaryThe People Vs . George Lucasreleased .
Review-Bombing Has Continued Into The Disney Era
No surprise that it happened with The Last Jedi
Moving into the Disney geological era , it ’s no surprisal to see that the most controversial sequel trilogy film -Star Wars : The Last Jedi- was dupe of a followup - bombardment campaign . Rotten Tomatoes initially denied this , but ultimately admit the truth in an interview withThe Verge . It was immediately clear something was wrong , though , based on the sheer routine of reviews and the suspiciously large gap between the critic and consultation scores . On social spiritualist , some influencers openly attempted to aim the campaign .
There was an even darker side to this . In October 2018 , Morten Bay of the University of Southern California conducted an analysis of the social media backlash againstStar Wars : The Last Jedi . He incur " grounds of deliberate , organized political influence measures disguised as fan arguments . " There were preindication many of these Emily Post were non - human bot , while others bore polarity of being Russian trolls .
Rotten Tomatoes eventually made change to stress to protect the audience scores for pic , but these are harder to implement for TV shows , and the problem keep on . There are some sign of the zodiac of review - bombardment forThe Mandalorianseason 3 , whilethere ’s abundant evidence of a inspection - bombing campaign againstThe Acolyte . Modern revaluation - bombing often generates a mellow routine of critical , one - champion reviews using bot and AI ; I randomly choose 30 audience inspection ofThe Acolytefrom Rotten Tomatoes , and all but one of them scored as potential AI - written .
Why Is Star Wars Particularly Vulnerable To Review-Bombing?
This is a divided fanbase
All this raises a mere question ; why isStar Warsso very vulnerable to review - bombing campaigns ? In part , it ’s because of the nature of the saga;Star Warsis generational , andevery generation struggles to allow go of it and pass it to the next . EveryStar Warsbacklash is really about possession , whether it is targeted against George Lucas or Disney . This makes the fandom divided by nature .
At this degree , I really should make an authoritative clearing : all this is n’t to say there are n’t licit criticisms to be made of either the prequels orThe Acolyte . I rewatchedStar Wars : Episode I - The Phantom Menaceon the enceinte screen as part of the twenty-fifth anniversary celebrations ; while I love the experience , I could see the pic ’s flaws . The Acolyte , meanwhile , is far from sodding ; but it ’s scarcely the worstStar Warsstory ever say , as the Rotten Tomatoes consultation account would intimate . Nuance is sadly lost as a answer of such review - bombing campaigns .
lamentably , in the forward-looking world , there are always going to be those who prefer segmentation . While lawful unfavorable judgment of the various movies and TV display is to be further , the sorry reality is that some act in defective faith , whether because doing so gets them clicks or because of their dedication to the culture wars . Star Warshas focused on better multifariousness in late year , which makes Lucasfilm a prey ( Lucasfilm bossKathleen Kennedy was even mocked on aSouth Parkepisode ) .
Does Review-Bombing Even Work For Star Wars?
It’s a foolish approach
Ironically , there ’s no evidence review - bombing even work in the first situation . Glenn Sandersworked on the marketing military campaign forStar Wars : The Last Jedi , and he notes that studios increasingly gestate it and so ignore it . In the sheath ofThe Acolyte , Kathleen Kennedy and showrunner Leslye Headland even produce their shots in first , stepping forward in defense of their cast . Meanwhile , audiences seem progressively aware of what ’s going on , and the brushup - bombardment itself becomes a account . Its effect becomes muted , meaning the whole strategy has diminishing returns .
encircle back , though , this does make issues for Rotten Tomatoes as a whole . The review aggregate site found way to protect its movies a little more after the tilt withStar war : The Last Jedi , Black Panther , andCaptain Marvel , but there is now clearly a need to do the same when it amount to the goggle box shows as well . Hopefully , it wo n’t be long before alteration are implemented - and they ’ll perhaps end this long - runningStar Warsproblem at last .
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Cast
The Acolyte is a video serial set up in the Star Wars universe at the close of the High Republic Era , where both the Jedi and the Galactic Empire were at the height of their influence . This sci - fi thriller sees a former Padawan reunite with her former Jedi Master as they investigate several crimes - all lead to dark erupting from beneath the surface and preparing to bestow about the end of the High Republic .
