Creator's Jedi mind trick won't make 'The Acolyte' good

"The Acolyte" showrunner Leslye Headland asked fans to rain praise on her show through online comments and word of mouth, while also asking them to ignore bad ratings the show has received.

Headland and her band of merry women have been widely criticized for their disastrously woke contribution to the "Star Wars" universe — which includes a scene implying that lesbian witches can use the Force for the male-less conception of babies.

The show has introduced many new, prominent female characters and even includes Headland's wife in the series.

Backlash to her excessively female-centric storyline even caused self-professed nonbinary actress and series star Amandla Stenberg to release a diss track. Stenberg's poorly performed rap song talked about how the actress is oppressed and has generational trauma stemming from slavery.

To her credit, Headland has reacted to criticism much better, likely due to not having an online presence.

'I wanna say that people don't want me to exist as a gay woman.'

Headland has been vocal, however, in urging fans to help ensure that "The Acolyte" gets a second season by providing "any online support and love" they can.

"It's a little tricky because of the way that the internet works, but if you enjoyed the show and you want to see more of the story, any support that you can give the show on social media platforms would be super helpful," she said.

Headland even went so far as to say that even if viewers didn't really like the show, they should support the actors if they enjoyed their performances.

"Sending love to the cast, too. ... Even if you were kind of like 'whatever' on the show, if you enjoyed the performances, get on their social media, let them know that you love them, or that you support them or that the performances were great."

The Disney+ producer also said that word of mouth works best, so viewers should "encourage [their] friends to watch the show" and ignore bad ratings it has received online.

"A lot of my work has been word of mouth. We were talking about the review bombing, so just telling people don't pay attention to the IMDb score. If you enjoyed it, tell people. It kind of seems that it's sort of basic, but I think what's interesting is that, nowadays, if you like a show, you're very rarely going to go online and be like, 'I liked this show!'" she told Collider.

The show is rated 3.9/10 on IMDb.

She added that fans should tell people at dinner that they "binged the show" and that it was "fun," further asking fans to essentially do the right thing and "be appreciative."

"So if you did love the show, then pivot and be appreciative. … By the way, I know this is already happening, even though I'm not online."

Headland also hinted that criticism of the series had something to do with her personally.

"People don't want me to exist as a gay woman, as a woman in this particular space, working in this wild sandbox," the showrunner said.

Headland's reasoning here is certainly "on message" for Disney, which has a habit of reducing fan complaints to sexism.

"I think Leslye has struggled a little bit with it. I think a lot of the women who step into 'Star Wars' struggle with this a bit more. Because of the fan base being so male-dominated, they sometimes get attacked in ways that can be quite personal," Lucasfilm President Kathleen Kennedy said in May 2024.

The often-parodied executive added that she firmly disavowed "anyone who engages in bigotry, racism or hate speech."

While Headland praised her crew's dedication, she remains haunted by a vague sense of persecution.

"There was a whole crew of people who believed in me, but deep down, I felt like, 'I am unaccepted for who I am because of what I believe in and wanting to wield my power the way I'd like without having to answer to the legion of people that just exist out there.'"

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