Did you know that if you didn’t like the Paris Olympics’ opening ceremonies, you’re a right-wing fascist? You’re illiterate and know nothing of history. If you didn’t like The Acolyte, you’re a racist, sexist incel. Don’t even get me started on those people who didn’t like Star Trek: Discovery. At least that’s what the internet says.
It sucks because I don’t want to be fascist or illiterate or ignorant. I also don’t want to be a racist, sexist incel. But I didn’t like any of the three things mentioned above. The opening ceremonies were too long and boring. They featured too many non-French people. (Seriously, Lady Gaga, Celine Dion, Serena Williams, Nadia Comaneci, Rafael Nadal, and Carl Lewis aren’t French. Doesn’t France have enough talented people to fill the ceremonies with their own?) Having them spread out around Paris made it feel disjointed. And no one really knew what they were looking at. Half the people thought the Last Supper was a Bacchanalia. Or maybe they thought a Bacchanalia was the Last Supper. I don’t know.
For The Acolyte, the biggest problem was the pacing. It might have been an OK two-hour movie. Unfortunately, it was spread over eight episodes. There wasn’t nearly enough plot to fill eight episodes. It was billed as a mystery, but any attentive viewer figured out the mystery by the second episode. The dialogue was clunky. And they threw in some cameos that only served to make the Star Wars universe feel smaller.
The less said about Discovery the better. It was too self-serious. Its representation was too self-conscious. The representation didn’t stem naturally from the plot or the characters. And the show kept stretching the willing suspension of disbelief past the breaking point.
I’m not trying to yuk anyone’s yum. If you liked these three things, that’s great. I’m happy for you. And I’m sad that I didn’t like these three things. I wanted to. I just couldn’t. But it’s just a matter of taste. There’s no need to call anyone a fascist for not liking these things.
