When it comes to Star Wars, fans will find anything they can to complain about. From screws being used in construction (seriously) to the sudden non-lethality of lightsabers, the Fandom Menace isn’t happy unless it’s mad. Now the trolls have set their narrow sights on The Acolyte and a scene that depicts a fire in space—you know, that thing that happens in every Star Wars movie.
Fire In Space Isn’t Anything New To Star Wars
Seriously, getting mad at The Acolyte for a space fire is like getting mad at Star Trek for having spaceships when they can just beam everywhere. That hasn’t stopped the naysayers, though. All over TikTok, X, and YouTube you can find angry fans frothing at the mouth over such an egregious error. How dare Disney ignore science in a franchise with space wizards!
Explaining the way things operate in the Star Wars universe goes beyond pointing out that the franchise is more fantasy than science fiction. Star Wars operates on the “does it look cool?” principle of storytelling. Does it make sense for ships in deep space to explode in a shower of sparks? Nope. Does it look cool? Heck yeah!
Since When Did Star Wars Follow The Rules?
The burning ship exterior from The Acolyte is no more insulting to our intelligence than the fire on the Super Star Destroyer in Return of the Jedi. It doesn’t break immersion anymore than when Jango Fett’s seismic charges make that “BWOMMM” noise in space. At this point, certain fans are just looking for something to groan about.
George Lucas himself wanted the Millennium Falcon to drift a little bit when it turned, just like a race car hitting air resistance. Lucas was famously quoted once as saying, “In my world, there’s air in outer space. When I want it.” Well, now it’s Disney’s world, and guess what? Judging by The Acolyte and its cosmic fire, there’s still air in outer space.
Just Let The Space Fire Happen
Manufactured Internet Outrage
This kind of fake and manufactured outrage is not new. Star Wars fans have been watching Disney like a hawk ever since they acquired the franchise. Watching and waiting for anything they can jump on. The Acolyte’s space fire is just the latest nit for them to pick.
Having watched the most recent episode of the show, I can sadly say it’s going to get worse before it gets better. If fans are losing their minds over The Acolyte showing a fire in space, they’re going to absolutely start jumping around and hurling rocks at one another over the two-mom thing in Episode 3.
Don’t Succumb To The Dark Side
That’s not to say that there aren’t plenty of legitimate reasons to criticize The Acolyte besides fire. But that would require actual thoughtful analysis instead of quick knee-jerk cherry-picking, and these rage-baiting trolls can’t be bothered.
As Yoda himself said, the Dark side is a quicker and easier path to walk.
