Can The Acolyte Redeem Star Wars on TV? | Culture Gabfest

On this week’s show, Dan Kois (writer at Slate and author of Hampton Heights: One Harrowing Night in the Most Haunted Neighborhood in Milwaukee, Wisconsin) fills in for Dana Stevens. The hosts begin by exploring the latest addition to the Star Wars canon, The Acolyte, created by Leslye Headland (Russian Doll). Amandla Sternberg and Lee Jung-jae lead the who-dunnit mystery, and while there is a lot to admire about the show’s visuals and depiction of the Master Jedi, The Acolyte often sags under the baggage of the vast Star Wars mythology and suffers from fundamental pacing problems. Then, the three tackle Godzilla Minus One, a genius and emotionally rich parable about wounded masculinity and the national trauma felt in a post-WWII Japan. The kaiju film, released at the end of last year, won the Academy Award for Best Visual Effects in 2023, and immediately shot to No. 1 on Netflix when it hit the streaming service last week. Finally, the panel is joined by Dan Charnas (author of Dilla Time and The Big Payback) to discuss Sabrina Carpenter’s “Espresso” and his very sharply framed piece for Slate, “The Musical History Lesson Buried Beneath the Song of the Summer.”
In the exclusive Slate Plus segment, the panel tackles: children’s birthday parties. To plan, or not to plan, that is the question!
Email us at [e-mail].
We’re taking Summer Strut submissions! Send your strutty-est songs to [e-mail].
Endorsements:
Dan: The quick-witted, joke-packed pleasures of Girls5eva season 3.
Julia: (1) Ambition Monster: A Memoir by Jennifer Romolini; (2) Dan Charna’s playlist, “The Genre With No Name.”
Stephen: (1) Who wrote this song?; (2) Abdullah Ibrahim’s "Solotude."
Podcast production by Kevin Bendis. Production assistance by Kat Hong.
Hosts:
Dan Kois, Julia Turner, Stephen Metcalf
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Note: Captions are auto-generated by UA-cam.
Subscribe to Slate: / slate
Learn more: slate.com/podcasts/culture-ga...
Follow Slate on Social:
Culture Gabfest on Twitter - / slatecultfest
Host Julia Turner on Twitter: / juliaturner
Host Dana Stevens on Twitter: / thehighsign
Slate on Twitter - / slate
Slate Podcasts on Twitter - / slatepodcasts
Slate on Facebook: / slate
Slate on Instagram: / slate

[@n0t_today_satan]

Nope. Everyone hates it.

[@Thickcurves]

Pretty much. It's very bad. No one likes this junk.

[@mike8099m]

Last thing I would do is watch something made by racists.

[@robertmiles1603]

Well, no. Disney "Star Wars" (Soy Wars) just gets worse and worse. That's how it is. And anyway, there is no Star Wars to redeem. It ended in 1983, with Return of the Jedi.

[@davidpar2]

The Acolyte is probably the worst pile of woke trash Disney has ever put out under the Star Wars franchise. So no, it isn’t going to help.

[@tomcoop9750]

No

[@habituallinestepper8839]

No it’s hot woke garbage

[@philasoma]

Who is part of this "great Hollywood talent" you speak of lol. Hollywood is coasting on past glory (like Star Wars) and has already been well surpassed in terms of making quality art by places like South Korea, Germany and many other places.

[@lcbryant78]

It’s supposed to be fun and for kids. This is neither.

[@ribbrascal]

Magic 8 Ball says:
LOLOL

[@tenToesUp747]

Perhaps therapy?

[@rahldraconis708]

Nope

[@Gadsen_Flag]

#Disney created a sexually deviant Star Wars universe in this show that I can't even watch with my boys.