Shortly after the third episode of Acolyte dropped, a friend (who wasn't watching the show) said she probably wouldn't bother watching it because her brother told her the show was ruining everything that's been established about the Force and that it's implying the Jedi are wrong/evil.
I had gotten wind of some complaints like this being found on social media, but the fact that I was hearing this take first-hand from someone I know well kinda floored me.
Just today I came across a thoughtful discussion on Reddit about how both TLJ and Acolyte explore the idea of perspective and presenting opposing viewpoints (I would submit that Bad Batch does an exceptional job with this as well, even if it's not one of the main aims of the show), and this made me want to put some thoughts down on virtual "paper."
SPECIFIC ACOLYTE SPOILERS BELOW.
1) It seems some people somehow can't accept the heroes actually making mistakes and being called out on it in the story. Like, there's no room for gray areas and nuance. (This trend became especially apparent to me after TLJ first released.)
For example, I love the Jedi and think their basic beliefs, including their adherence to the Light Side, are absolutely correct. I also see how flawed the Jedi Order itself became by the time of the prequels, and also know that the Jedi themselves are flawed (of course they are!). Most of the Jedi are trying to do the right thing, but that doesn't mean they won't make mistakes. And it's painful sometimes to watch them make mistakes, but their intentions are still good and ultimately they are the heroes to root for, especially when they're up against the sheer selfishness and power-hungry machinations of the Sith in particular.
Somehow, though, Luke igniting his lightsaber in a desperate moment of weakness means Luke's character is absolutely ruined, no chance for redemption. It doesn't matter that it was a fleeting thought and Luke didn't actually act on it, just the thought is enough to condemn not only him but also the creators for daring to make Luke Skywalker anything less than a flawless hero.
Somehow, The Acolyte presenting a group of people who view/describe the Force differently than the Jedi do, and then spending equal time showing their perspective/justifications/flaws just as much as they show the Jedi's perspective/justifications/flaws, means the show is ruining the Force and obviously hates the Jedi.
It ends up that some of the discussion around who was right/wrong, that the Jedi should/shouldn't have done what they did, and that the coven should/shouldn't have done what they did tends to become inflammatory because some people won't accept that most of the characters are flawed and make mistakes and are just trying to do the best they can with the knowledge they have. (I say "most" characters, because Qimir is just straight up evil and there's no debate about that. He killed Jecki and referred to her as "it." Enough said.)
2) Another thing to consider is that, on the macro level, the stories themselves still are VERY much about good vs evil. No matter how much backstory is given to the "evil" characters or how sympathetically they are portrayed, at the end of the day very few of us root for the Sith or Imperial types to actually be in charge of the galaxy, we still want Jedi/Light Side Force users and Republics and independent systems with some semblance of democratic governments to win out. It's at the micro level that individual characters - both the good guys and the bad guys - are portrayed with more nuance to where the good guys make mistakes and the bad guys are granted some level of humanity to where we might see parts of ourselves portrayed in them (even if it's as simple as "there, but for the grace of God, go I"). Yet somehow some fans seem to take issue with this depiction of the heroes/villains and conflate it to mean the overall story somehow isn't ultimately about good vs evil. Even for stories like Acolyte that I consider to be villain origin stories, I don't think most of the audience WANTED Osha to kill Sol or join Qimir; regardless of why she did it, we still are guided to recognize that giving in to hatred and revenge is not a "good" thing. This show doesn't paint the Jedi Order as the "bad guys." It does thoughtfully depict both sides of the conflict as having both flaws and virtues (well... everyone except Qimir. He's just evil.) And it does depict the gradations of gray that come with making decisions with wide-spread ramifications that also involve other people with varying motives needing to make decisions as well.
3) Ironically, if a project doesn't depict a good guy as having notable flaws or a bad guy as having some semblance of sympathetic characteristics, we then get the accusations of characters being Mary Sues or one-dimensional or "flat." So there's just no way to win here.
Ugh yes this exactly
