The Star Wars franchise has been moving backwards in time for its new Disney Plus series The Acolyte. The series takes place around a century prior to the events of The Phantom Menace. However, some fans have shared complaints regarding the show’s unexpected characters, with The Acolyte showrunner Leslye Headland speaking out against descriptions of “lesbian space witches” in the series.
Headland discussed this description, which has become quite commonly-used since the debut of the series, by first opening up about statements that The Acolyte is the “gayest” project in the Star Wars universe to date. Though Headland herself hasn’t stated this, she has accepted those who feel that way, and she explained her thoughts with THR in more explicit detail:
“I was surprised by the question. Amandla and I just burst out laughing because that’s our knee-jerk reaction to being asked that,” Headland explained, referring to a journalist that previously asked about the series being “arguably the gayest Star Wars by a considerable margin.”
“But to be honest, I don’t know what the term ‘gay’ means in that sense,” admits Headland, adding, “I don’t believe that I’ve created queer, with a capital Q, content.”
She also commented on the two mothers of Osha and Mae, two twin girls who were born without a father and raised by two women:
“They’re in a matriarchal society. As a gay woman, I knew it would read that their sexuality is queer, but there also aren’t any men in their community,” she explains. “So a closeness between the two of them would be natural. It seemed plot-driven.”
Headland also believes it’s “reductive” for these characters from The Acolyte, often referred to as “lesbian space witches” by viewers, to be called “lesbians.”
“I would say it’s really reductive to call them lesbians. I think it means you’re not really paying attention to this story.”
However, for those that find queer meaning in the series, Headland doesn’t want to disown the use of queer material in The Acolyte:
“I’m proud of being a gay woman who’s accomplished this feat, and certainly, if my content is called queer, I don’t want to disown whatever queerness is in the show. I would be proud to create something that inspired queer people,” states Headland.
Additionally, she doesn’t want people to look at something as being “gay” as a bad thing:
“Honestly, I feel sad that people would think that if something were gay, that that would be bad. It makes me feel sad that a bunch of people on the internet would somehow dismantle what I consider to be the most important piece of art that I’ve ever made.”
Ultimately, while Headland doesn’t consider the series to be particularly queer, she is absolutely open to those interpretations being made by other viewers and supporting them. With that in mind, it certainly seems as though plenty of viewers – for better or worse – are making those interpretations. Stay tuned to ScreenGeek for any additional updates regarding The Acolyte and the Star Wars franchise as we have them.