The Acolyte has not yet finished airing in Disney+ and the truth is that the series based on Star Wars has not left anyone indifferent. The project has been led by director Lesly Headland, who has spoken with Collider about the criticism received towards the episodes released so far.
And the project is not alien to the classic review bombingwhich has been bombarding the main reference portals for films and series with negative reviews. On IMDb we can see that the audience has given it a 3.5 out of 10 after 77,000 votes, while on Rotten Tomatoes only 14% of users have given the High Republic adventure the thumbs up. In this regard, Headland has responded that he does not pay much attention to this kind of movements:
“Everyone knows what review bombing is. In fact, when the show first came out, my publicist was like, 'Okay, so the reviews…' And I was like, 'Does anyone take them seriously anymore?' Maybe the average viewer… I understand the goal, which is for the average viewer to look at the page and say, 'Oh, the user ratings are really low. '
But I think if you're in the Star Wars fandom, you already know what review bombing is. So I guess if you're totally new to the fandom and you're considering watching the show, it could affect you. But I also think my work in the past has always been very word-of-mouth, so I don't know if… I think behind the scenes we all know what it is – not that it's not concerning – but I think it's pretty predictable, I would say.”
The creative has made it clear that, although she prefers that it does not happen, review bombing is far from being a concern that keeps her up at night. She believes that it is very common among fans of the galactic saga to show this kind of behavior, which clashes with your way of enjoying Star Wars. This is how she responded to the question of whether she is surprised that fan arts, fan fics and memes have been created about her. The Acolyte:
“It certainly blows my mind. My kind of fandom as a teenager and young adult when the prequels came out, was like, 'Create my own world based on the premise of the Star Wars universe. ' So the idea that, first of all, working on Star Wars is my dream, it's the pinnacle of my career. I don't know exactly what I'm going to do after this. So to be able to be a part of that and create Star Wars content and then have people doing what I was doing is very surreal and absolutely, like you said, it's a vote of confidence that this fits into the world that I love so much.”
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