Star Wars Has Been Review-Bombed Since 2010
Rotten Tomatoes has become a big deal for online movie and TV show discussion. It's supposed to be a simple way to see average opinions, but it's used for marketing and promotion too. The Acolyte's audience score on Rotten Tomatoes has not been used for marketing. It sits at a staggering 14 percent, with over 25,000 reviews, a clear sign that The Acolyte has been review-bombed. This is actually an improvement because it was even lower before. Review-bombing is a problem that's been around for a while, and Star Wars and Rotten Tomatoes have never gotten along well.
The Acolyte is just the latest example of a long-running trend with Star Wars. Star Wars has been divisive for years. The initial response to the prequels illustrates this with a savage backlash. The prequels provide the first case of Star Wars review-bombing on Rotten Tomatoes.
Review-Bombing Has Continued Into The Disney Era
The most controversial sequel trilogy movie, Star Wars: The Last Jedi, was the victim of a review-bombing campaign. Rotten Tomatoes initially denied this, but later admitted it was true. The sheer number of reviews and the huge gap between the critic and audience scores showed there was something wrong. Even some influencers on social media tried to lead the campaign.
There was also a darker side. An analysis of the social media backlash found "evidence of deliberate, organized political influence measures disguised as fan arguments." Many of these posts were from non-human bots and Russian trolls. Rotten Tomatoes tried to protect audience scores for movies, but it’s harder to do with TV shows, and the problem continues.
Why Is Star Wars Particularly Vulnerable To Review-Bombing?
Star Wars is vulnerable to review-bombing because of the saga's nature. Star Wars is generational, and every generation has a hard time letting go of it and passing it on to the next. Every Star Wars backlash is really about ownership, whether it’s against George Lucas or Disney. This makes the fandom divided by nature.
There are legitimate criticisms of The Acolyte and the prequels. The Acolyte is far from perfect, but it's not the worst Star Wars story ever told, as the Rotten Tomatoes audience score suggests. Nuance gets lost because of review-bombing campaigns.
Does Review-Bombing Even Work For Star Wars?
There is no evidence that review-bombing works. Studios are increasingly expecting it and ignoring it. Kathleen Kennedy and Leslye Headland defended their cast against the review-bombing. Meanwhile, audiences are becoming more aware of review-bombing, and the review-bombing itself becomes a story, making its effect muted. The whole strategy has diminishing returns.
Rotten Tomatoes has tried to protect movie scores, but they need to do the same for TV shows. Hopefully, it won’t be long before changes are made to end this long-running Star Wars problem.
