How knowledgeable in Star Wars Leslye Headland is?
There have been some allegations Headland is not a "true fan" at all and is not conversant with Star Wars overall. Actually, though, she has been part of the fan base for decades. "My relationship with Star Wars most likely runs the span of most of my life," she said to The AV Club in an interview from back-dated 2021. She remembered "devouring" the original trilogy on home video, while elsewhere she recounted seeing the Star Wars Special Editions in 1997.
Deeply engaged in the classic Star Wars Expanded Universe, Headland regularly writes about Timothy Zahn's Heir to the Empire as among the most influential books she has ever read. Again drawing on her interview with The AV Club, "I loved every aspect of [Star Wars], from the world-building and Ralph McQuarrie's production design to the hero's journey of it all—Luke's arc and what that meant." The scene from Return of the Jedi where Luke is screaming out his father and Vader is glancing back and forth between the Emperor and his son and you cannot see his face always strikes me. I still get shivers about it now. It had this enormous impact on me.
Is Leslye Headland working on Woke Star Wars?
Right-wing Twitter accounts reexamined an old Star Wars Celebration 2023 quotation following the release of The Acolyte teaser. Focused only on trying to push diversity in the Star Wars franchise, this tried to present the Disney+ TV show as "woken," Elon Musk even responded to the video, likening it to a South Park clip parading Lucasfilm's lack of diversity.
Though more adversarial, Headland notes that her plot was influenced by the sisterly connection between Anna and Elsa in Frozen, a pretty clear inspiration. Years ago, the twins Osha and Mae were split apart in The Acolyte; one was reared by the Jedi and the other supposedly by the Sith. Two subsidiary characters have a lesbian connection, yet their relationship is a significant narrative point since the two ladies involved passed away sixteen years earlier. All of this suggests, if not absurd, logical overstatement of attempts by The Acolyte to forward some sort of LGBTQ+ agenda.
Leslye Headland's Relationship To Harvey Weinstein
Leslye Headland's historical ties to Harvey Weinstein have some of the most alarming implications. Headland started her career working six years at Miramax, spending a year as Weinstein's personal assistant. ABC News claims Headland said she never saw any incidents or physical violence from Weinstein; she didn't exactly have a great time at Miramax either. Talking to American Theatre, she remembered being screamed at in front of "a whole bunch of grown men," and she came to feel a man in that type of power was untouchable.
That specific interview is significant since it tackles the elephant in the room: Headland's play Assistance, a barely veiled indictment of her six years at Miramax with an eye toward a boss obviously influenced by Weinstein. Headland notes she couldn't even talk specifics with her colleagues at Playwrights Horizon "given that I was an ex-employee of the company and having signed everything that I signed." She is quite careful and exact in her comments. This last comment could allude to a non-disclosure agreement (NDA). NDAs are well-known to be freely utilized by Weinstein and Miramax executives to coerce silence.
Why Is Leslye Headland, the Next Showrunner for Star Wars So Controversial?
Arguments over Star Wars' future showrunner, author of The Acolyte, abound on social media; but, why is she so divisive? With The Acolyte review-bombed on Rotten Tomatoes and Metacritical, Star Wars' newest Disney+ TV program has proved very divisive. Not all objections have been in good faith, and some thinly veiled sexism and bigotry have crept into otherwise reasonable assessments. Some has specifically gone toward showrunner Leslye Headland.
Headland, who was born in 1980, is most well-known for the play and 2012 film Bachelorette as well as for the 2015 film Sleeping With Other People. But her major break came with Russian Doll, and she lost no time approaching Lucasfilm following that triumph. "I called Lucasfilm as soon as Russian Doll came out. I wish to work in this field. That's what I want to do,'" she said THR. But Headland has turned out to be a divisive decision with notable social media Criticism in particular. What are these objections, and what actual foundation support them?
Forget The Acolyte Season 2; Showrunner Leslye Headland Shares Her Actual Seasonal Wanting Count
In a recent interview, Leslye Headland, the Acolyte showrunner, stated how many seasons she thinks Star Wars' newest program would have, so underscoring her passion for the brand. Scheduled for a two-episode premiere on June 4th on Disney+, the Acolyte is the next Star Wars forthcoming TV show release. The project is attracting a lot of interest, partly because it marks a period of the Star Wars chronology not yet shown on-screen. Set 100 years before the prequel trilogy, The Acolyte will show the inner workings of the Jedi during the High Republic Era.
Showrunner Leslye Headland recently revealed in Collider that she would be pleased to keep working on the program for the foreseeable future, hence this age clearly presents much for The Acolyte to investigate. Headland said, "This is my ideal employment. I'm stating three [seasons] since I'm hoping they'll let me do that, but if I could click my fingers, it would just be, this is my work till I retire. Actually, working on Star Wars is the only higher creative or career peak I can imagine. I am therefore truly excellent. I really don't need to do anything else."
The Acolyte's Viewpoint Is Quite Different From George Lucas's... But Makes Sense
Although this would be a different reading of the Force's balance, it exactly matches the definition of the term used in current times. Lucas's protégé Dave Filoni offered his opinions on the Force's equilibrium back in 2020, contending that each individual both shapes and is shaped by the force. To Filoni, the dark side is found in greed, thirst for power, and fear; the light side is selflessness, living in balance, and conquering fear.
Simply said, Leslye Headland and Amandla Stenberg are moving one step ahead. Through examining the tales of individual Jedi, The Acolyte sounds as though it will effectively be a trip from balance to imbalance, illustrating how the evil side of the Force came to rule. This reveals why the Chosen One was first needed, thereby making this a necessary prelude to the prequels themselves.
