by Jack Dunn
Alan Sepinwall from Rolling Stone went rogue and wrote a negative review of The Acolyte TV series. Even though it was a fairly innocuous negative review, Rolling Stone decided that any review of The Acolyte that didn’t hail the latest Disney flop as “stunning and brave” doesn’t deserve to be on their web page. It may be that Alan Sepinwall is new to Rolling Stone and thought he would be allowed to do an honest review, or perhaps he just missed the 4 a.m. permissible talking points memo on The Acolyte.
Whatever the reason, Rolling Stone wouldn’t stand for rogue journalism and Alan Sepinwall’s mildly negative review of The Acolyte was quickly yanked from their web page. The review titled “‘The Acolyte’: This ‘Star Wars’ Prequel Series Isn’t A Force To Be Reckoned With,” and subtitled “Even a veteran Jedi master would lose patience with the latest Disney+ addition to the canon, which focuses on a pair of twins, revenge, and... zzzzz,” was however noted by culture critics before it was pulled from their website.
Culture critic Nerdrotic noted that Rolling Stone yanked the rogue reviewer’s negative review and asked Rolling Stone why. Nerdrotic posted on X: “Rolling Stone deleted their negative Acolyte review. Why @RollingStone? #Acolyte”
Rolling Stone, probably well aware of the Streisand effect and also realising that it was too late to hide it, put Alan Sepinwall’s mildly negative review back on their web page shortly after, with only two minor changes, which Rolling Stone will likely site as the reason for them originally yanking the article.
Whereas the original read: “Charlie Barnett is Yord, a Jedi nerd with an unfortunate rooster haircut,” it now reads: “Charlie Barnett is Yord, a Jedi nerd.” The only other change was where the original read: “Lee Jung-jae, the Emmy-winning star of Squid Game, isn’t fluent in English, and as a result his line readings can be halting at times. But he otherwise brings a necessary amount of gravitas, warmth, and regret as Sol,” it now reads: “Lee Jung-jae, the Emmy-winning star of Squid Game, brings a necessary amount of gravitas, warmth, and regret as Sol.”
It is highly unlikely that criticism of one character's hairstyle and another’s line reading would have justified Rolling Stone yanking the review. Now matter how Rolling Stone wants to spin it, it is far more like they pulled the review because it was negative, therefore an affront to the access media narrative of The Acolyte being stunning and brave.
Do you think Rolling Stone yanked the The Acolyte's review because it was negative? Let us know in the comments.
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You know, that "not fluent in English" line is exactly the kind of fascinating and relevant actor backstory that matters.
I saw a clip where there fire………in space 😂😂😂.
Then the girlboss put it out with the Force 😂😂