RADIOJune 21, 2024

Nerdrotic: Why “The Acolyte” Proves Disney HATES Star Wars Fans

Disney’s newest Star Wars series, “The Acolyte,” has received some of the worst fan ratings in the franchise’s history — 14% on Rotten Tomatoes!. But is it because of racism, as the show’s star, Amandla Stenberg, suggests? Or maybe, as media critic Gary Buechler of‪@nerdrotic‬ believes, it’s because “The Acolyte” destroys Star Wars lore left and right. Gary joins Glenn to break it all down, from the “lesbian space witch” plot that somehow made Glenn defend midi-chlorians to how the show seems to prioritize DEI requirements above good storytelling: “Disney doesn't understand Star Wars fans … They hate the fans. And they actively hate Star Wars.”

Transcript

Below is a rush transcript that may contain errors

GLENN: The one and only, Gary Buechler is on. Nerdrotic is what he is known as. And he has been hysterical, on the new Star Wars series from Disney+ called The Acolyte.

I haven't seen it. But I have heard about it, and I have heard my friends talking about Gary, and his conversations on it.

Disney is actually blaming him for the loss of credibility on that new space thriller of the space lesbian witches. And YouTube has actually dinged him. And is giving him strikes.

Because he is a hatemonger. Because he doesn't like the lesbian witches in space.

Gary, you're here to answer for yourself, brother. What's happening?

GARY: I'm here to answer for my sins against Disney. Thank you for having me on, Glenn. And that is happening to -- it's not -- it's random. But it's happening to a lot of YouTubers. And commentators. And I'm not sure if you're aware.

The star, Amandla Stenberg yesterday released a diss track against Star Wars fans, and she is copyright claiming, and dinging everybody on YouTube as well for her blatant attack on the Star Wars fandom, which is always, you know, just a great strategy, which, oh, by the way, never worked.

GLENN: Yeah, I know. It's really great.

Look, I'm a star of this new show, you know, from just this legacy that have been loved for 50 years.

And I'm a big Star Wars fan. But all the Star Wars fans, they really suck a lot. They really -- they're crazy. They don't know, you know, talent when they see it. They don't know a good story line. Yeah, that's the way to attract those -- those loyal viewers, every single time.

I saw the Rotten Tomatoes.

The -- the -- the experts tell us that it's absolutely fantastic. 84 percent.

The average audience score is 14.

GARY: That's a bit high in my opinion.

GLENN: Yeah.

GARY: So --

GLENN: Tell us the story first. What is the story?

GARY: Oh, the story of The Acolyte is as you said, there is a coven of lesbian space witches, who magically conceived identical twins without a father, through a power of not the Force, the Thread. By the way, somebody needs to call Darth Povich because the twins don't look anything like mom. They don't have horns.

And they were split up at -- at the age of like -- I would say it's eight or nine. And they haven't seen each other for 19 years. Yet they have identical haircuts.

GLENN: Really? What are the odds of the hair cut thing? Really? That's crazy!

GARY: Well, you know, a good hairstylist keeps her secrets, so obviously she isn't telling either one that they're going to the same one. But...

GLENN: So before we get into more of the lesbian space witch thing, which I think America and the world has been crying out for, for a very long time.

GARY: Yes.

GLENN: Tell me who is in charge of this disaster in space. Who did they get to -- to run this?

GARY: Oh. Former personal assistant to Harvey Weinstein, Leslye Headland is the head writer on this show.

GLENN: Oh.

GARY: Yeah, I know. It's shocking. That somehow, somebody connected to Harvey Weinstein can get work.

GLENN: Yeah. I would think they would be in the federal witness protection program myself.

But they might even turn them down. The -- so she -- she found work, after being the personal assistant. So the one that was lining up all the hotel room meetings and everything else.

She's now the head writer of the lesbian space witch show.

GARY: She is. I think the term is Judas goat.

I think that's -- she got a job by begging for it on the red carpet. When she was famously asked what's your favorite Star Wars. And she said, all the Star Wars. Obviously, not knowing a single thing about it.

Later, she's come out and claimed, that she does.

And she's written this entire story, that not only passes the Bechtel test. It passes any DEI requirement with flying colors for lack of a better description.

GLENN: So go ahead.

GARY: No. Ultimately, it's -- it's the story, Glenn.

What -- what Disney loves to do is conflate whatever happens on Twitter, and any kind of complaints. With like real criticisms of this show.

And ultimately, despite all the obvious, quote, unquote, diversity. Which is just meant to exclude, well, white man. Let's be real.

And it's just a bad story, that destroys the lore. And that's what Star Wars fans are mad about. It goes back to the past and it undercuts Anakin, his entire redemptive arc, the specialness of Anakin and the prophecy. And every time they release another minute of Disney Star Wars, I can't even call it Star Wars. It's Disney Star Wars.

On D+, it destroys more lore, and that's what the fans are upset about.

The thing is, this has been going on for years now, Glenn. You can go back all the way now to the force awakens. And it seems to come to a head on this show, for some reason.

When I think it probably could come to a head five other times. Six other times.
(laughter)

GLENN: But why this one?

I mean, they -- have they just been like, you know what, we've tried suddenly to kill this thing?

Let's just finally kill it.

CHARLIE: Right. They found a way to kill something again! It's pretty amazing.

I would argue that Obi-Wan Kenobi is much worse, as far as destroying lore.

Obi-Wan, his sole purpose was to watch Luke. They had a show where he takes off on Luke twice, follows around a little baby Princess Leia, who never mentions meeting him as a kid.

And fights Darth Vader twice. So it really shouldn't surprise anybody.

But I guess this show is -- I would equate it. Oh, go ahead.

GLENN: No. I'm sorry. I'm sorry.

We have a delay and I'm -- I forget, I'm so excited to talk to you about this.

The -- the -- I never thought I would be in a position of Defending midi-chlorians. But this one kind of throws all of that out. Right?

GARY: It kind of does. I personally am not a fan of midi-chlorians. And never will be.

GLENN: Oh, I hate it.

GARY: Absolutely hate it. But I guess Disney Star Wars has proven, things can always get worse. And the biggest victory comes with the prequels. Like the prequels are now looked at which more fondly than they were before, thanks to every bit of Disney Star Wars, Lucasfilm has created.

But with this show in particular, it's just hit the zeitgeist.

Because I would equate it to the marvels from last year. It was just so predictably bad. And that it still beat our very lowered expectations of how bad it would be.

And it's a show, if you see it, it's contradictory.

You have characters, contradicting each other. None of it actually makes any sense in -- for storytelling-wise. You spend your first two episodes establishing a character. Then you go into a flashback for an entire episode. That really doesn't tell you anything new.

Then the last episode was 27 minutes long. Without previously being on credits.

And nothing happens. Absolutely nothing happens. And, oh, by the way, it cost $180 million to produce.

GLENN: Oh, my gosh.

What is -- what has happened to Disney? I mean, besides all of the DEI crap.

They just -- the greatest storytelling company ever, cannot seem to tell a story anymore!

CHARLIE: No, they are creative bankruptcy personified now.

And they were on the top when Bob Iger decided to buy a bunch of franchises.

And everybody was calling him this massive genius when he just went on a shopping spree. And never bothered looking into what it takes to cultivate these franchises and keep them around.

What it took to keep them around for decades. You know, it's not being talked about as much. But they have a Dr. Who Show, that they're now in charge of, running around with Acolyte.

It's a race to the bottom with both of these.

GLENN: I love Doctor Who. And their -- and their --

CHARLIE: So do I.

GLENN: When did Disney buy into Doctor Who? I hate the BBC, but how did the BBC even let that happen?

GARY: Well, they were about to cancel it because the first female doctor played by Jodie Whittaker, by the way, wasn't a hit like they suspected.

GLENN: Oh, no. What a surprise.

GARY: Yeah. What a shock. So they decided to bring back Russell T. Davies, who had brought the show back in 2005. And it was extremely good and popular. And it's just proved that you can't go home again, and how much has changed in entertainment, Glenn.

I -- post-2016, you have the guy who originally brought it back. Made it a worldwide sensation.

Making the worst Doctor Who now.

And, of course, it's filled with things like pronouns.

And we had -- it's not even the first like male kiss. You know, gay kiss. In Dr. Woman WHO. But they gave this one to the doctor. And made it more prominent with the first black gay doctor. And they're in this trap now.

Instead of giving the fans what they want and just making good entertainment, they have to abide. You know, and the BBC started this much earlier on back in 2012.

The Diversity and Inclusion Initiative, which is all the DEI stuff. And it prevents them from telling a good story. They have so many rules on themselves.

So with the corporatism, it goes back to Disney. With the corporatism, they really can't take chances anymore.

And this even goes beyond woke entertainment. They just need to have this built-in audience, to spend money on anything. And in my opinion, overspend.

And what makes things insane is they paid so much money for this built-in audience, that they immediately decide to piss off. Not only with their story telling. They come out and gaslight the fandom, with a term that's a real term called fan baiting. Which is to start controversies online, so people are talking about their show.

And, again, I haven't seen an example of this ever working. But they've been doing it now for seven or eight years.

GLENN: We're talking to the Gary Buechler.

So we're talking to Gary Buechler about Nerdrotic. Or he's -- he is Nerdrotic online. We're talking about the new Disney show. You know, they omitted they had a secret gay agenda. And I really don't care. And I really don't care.

But God, stop preaching to us, and stop trying to make it look like the whole universe is, you know, lesbian space witches.

Because it just ain't. It's just not.

And, you know, I used to think, that George Lucas was the biggest problem to Star Wars. Because he would introduce things like Jar Jar Binks. Like, oh, jeez. But at least he cared about the story. At least the story of the force was consistent. And it built on each other.

Not anymore!

GARY: No. Not anymore. This was a basic story of good versus evil, and it doesn't work in the modern nihilist times that we're in. Where, oh, it's gray. And the Jedi are bad. George was a genius. George is at the top of his craft -- he -- there will never be anything like him again.

Was he the best storyteller? No, he actually had a lot of help with the original trilogy. Not much help with the prequels. But he still -- when he's putting in half the effort, he's better than everybody in Hollywood.

And he's looking much better nowadays too. Unfortunately, with Bob Iger, with Nelson Peltz and because he's an old man. Right? He's in his 80s. He doesn't want to rock the boat. He made a lot of money on this Disney deal.

A lot of money. But Disney doesn't understand Star Wars. They never will.

And more importantly, they don't understand Star Wars fans. And they actively hate them. Which has been kind of the undercurrent.

Sorry.

GLENN: No. I don't think they understand anybody.

I really don't. I don't think they understand their own Disney fans.

You know, the children in their families. They don't understand any of it.

They act as though they do hate them.

GARY: Because they do. And forgive me. This isn't Glenn's fault. This is my first radio interview. And I apologize. And thanks for having me on, Glenn.

They hate the fans. And they actively hate Star Wars. And they're now calling the fans racists and bigots for pointing out inconsistencies of lore, like normal fan stuff. Stuff that fans have done forever and will do Trevor.

And Hollywood is having a very hard time in -- in the social media era. We've seen the death of the movie star. And, quite frankly, it's because we got to know them.

And now it's based on property. Right?
And they don't want to take the time to understand these properties. And you can't use the old model of, oh, well, we can just change stuff, and nobody is going to care. No. A lot of people always cared. Now you're going to hear about it, a lot. And you have to figure this out, or you're going down.

GLENN: Gary, thank you so much for talking to us on. He's one of the largest pop culture voices on YouTube and social media. And the establishment, Disney, and everybody seems to be afraid of his voice. Because he's -- he's just speaking the truth that we all know.

THE GLENN BECK PODCAST

Why Your Actions Matter More Than Words in the Eyes of God

Glenn Beck and Eric Metaxas expose the spiritual crisis gripping America’s churches — a moment they compare to Dietrich Bonhoeffer’s warning before World War II. As the culture descends into moral confusion, too many Christians retreat into silence, claiming faith while refusing to act. Together, they argue that true belief demands courage — that “faith without works is dead” — and warn that neutrality in the face of evil is itself a form of complicity.

Watch the FULL Interview HERE

Is Socialism replacing the American dream?

The American Dream used to mean freedom and the chance to build your own life through hard work, faith, and independence. But today, it’s been replaced by comfort, consumption, and debt. Glenn Beck breaks down how America traded liberty for lifestyle, why socialism is gaining ground, and what it will take to reclaim the real American Dream before it disappears for good.

Transcript

Below is a rush transcript that may contain errors

GLENN: I don't know if you saw the visualizing the American dream, Stu.

You know, what the American dream actually is, is that you can forge your own way.

You can -- you know, you can have a scrap of land, and grow your own food if up.

You can, you know, go to school. Not go to school.

You can find a job. If you're qualified for it, you have an equal chance of getting it, you know, based on merit.

But the percentage of Americans who say the American dream is retirement is 86 percent. Health care, 86 percent. Owning a home, 85. Raising two kids, 78. Owning a car, 72. Vacations, 71. Pets, 66. A wedding, 55 percent. That's the American dream, I can get married.

The American dream, if that's what you think, they've now estimated, the cost per household over the cost -- over the lifetime, retirement is $1.6 million. Owning a home now, 30-year mortgage, 20 percent you want to, is $957,594. Owning a car, buying and finance to begin with new cars every ten years is now $900,000 over your lifetime. Raising two kids to 18, plus four years of public college, $876,092. Two kids. Health care, over your lifetime, spending from ages 22 to 85, $414,000. Vacations, annual vacation from '22 to '85, $180,000. One dog and one cat for 11 to 13 years is $40,000!

That's more expensive than a wedding. The engagement ring, the ceremony, and the reception is now estimated to be $38,200.

There's a reason socialism is doing well. You look at that, and you're like, wow. I mean, if that's the American dream. And for a lot of people, that is the American dream!

That's not what the American dream is supposed to be, but, you know, once -- you know, once Woodrow Wilson and FDR got a hold of us and they started advertising, it became stuff instead of freedom. It became stuff. And, you know, when there's a new report out. Let me see if I have that.

There's a new report out now that shows, first time home buyers made up just 21 percent of the home purchases. That's the lowest on record.

The typical age of repeat buyers hit an all-time high of '62. The median downtowns, reaching 23 percent.

The highest since 2023.

And also, where is it?

The last one is -- the median age for first time home buyers, in 1981, it was 29 years old.

I'm sorry. Yeah. Twenty-nine years old. In 2021, it was 33 years old.

What is it this year?

Median age, first time homeowner, forty.

You're 40 before you can buy any kind of home. That puts these things that people want, dream about, out of reach, until you're 40?

You know, 29 is one thing. But if you're not seeing -- you're not seeing your life really kind of settling down until you're 40, I -- I can understand why you're like, you know what, this system doesn't work.

Because you've never seen it work. It's betrayed you.

Or so you've been sold. It's betrayed you.

And everything is being pushed out of your reach. And when you're young, the one thing you're not is patient.

And at 40, I can see why people are not, you know, yeah. Well, socialism is neat because capitalism isn't working. How would you respond to that?

STU: I mean, it's more lengthy than we have time for. But I would say that the response to, you know, you thinking that you want a home is not to embrace an ideology that murders 100 million people.

That's not -- that's not a good answer to the problem that you think you have.

GLENN: But they're not learning that anywhere.

They're not -- that is our responsibility! To teach those things. Because they're not learning it anywhere.

Glenn Beck Warns of 3 Economic Outcomes That Could Change EVERYTHING | Ep 467

Socialism is spreading fast among America’s youth, and the shocking election of Democratic Socialist Zohran Mamdani for mayor in New York City marks a major cultural and economic shift. Glenn exposes how runaway debt, record home prices, AI job disruption, and the collapsing stake in capitalism have led many Millennials and members of Gen Z to embrace socialism and communism. He reveals the three possible economic futures for 2026: two that are disastrous and one that could change everything if the Trump administration’s global financial overhaul succeeds. Plus, Justin Haskins, president of the Heartland Institute, joins to reveal some terrifying truths about why young Americans are embracing socialism from a poll he conducted with Rasmussen Reports.

The world is about to realize the DEADLY enemy we face

"The world doesn't understand yet. We're already in World War III," Glenn Beck warns. "That foe is not China. That foe is militant Islam." Glenn explains the battle we're currently facing and what's to come if we don't wake up soon...

Transcript

Below is a rush transcript that may contain errors

GLENN: From New Jersey, it's Brian. Hello, Brian.

CALLER: Hello!

GLENN: Hey.

CALLER: Yeah. Thanks for taking the calls today.

GLENN: Sure.

CALLER: Yeah. I'm worried that we are headed towards another French Revolution-style because we have entire generations. Or actually people just not being heard by their representatives.

GLENN: Hmm.

CALLER: And it's not just here. It's around the world.

GLENN: Uh-huh.

I -- actually, I had scheduled for this time, I'll just do it some other time. Talking about what's happening in -- in England.

I think England is headed for a Civil War. And -- and it's very close.

I mean, you can't put 4,000 people. 4,000 people, in jail, or try them for hate crimes. And speech crimes.

You can't -- you can't do it. In England!

You can't do that in one year. And expect people to just put up with it!

You can't -- you know, we're -- we're -- America doesn't understand yet.

The world doesn't understand.

We're in World War III. We're already in World War III.

I don't know when it becomes a hot war. Or even a war that we on our side recognize. But we are in World War III. And that -- that foe is not China.

That foe is militant Islam, period. And, you know, when we have a situation to where people are -- when the government is just like, no. It's not a problem.

It's not a problem. You know. You've got illegals all over.

It's not a problem.

It's not a problem.

It is a problem. Don't tell me what -- what the problems are not!

Because we're the ones living it!

You're the experts, who keep telling us, no. It's going to work out fine.

And it doesn't work out fine. And it just gets worse and worse.

Oh. We can spend this money. No. It looks like we can't spend this money. Oh, we can afford this. No. It looks like we can't afford this.

You know, if we do this with Ukraine, it will work out fine. No, it didn't, did it? These endless wars, all of this stuff, don't tell me what the problem is. Listen to the people and start talking to the people. Honestly, this is the reason why I'm doing this today. I -- I need to hear from you.

I need to know what's on your mind, so I stay focused and -- and clear on what America is saying.

Because I don't think -- look, you know, me taking phone calls is -- is not a true representation of anything, but it does give me a sense of -- of where you are, as an audience. Maybe not as America, but as an audience. And there are lots of things that concern me. But I want to hear it from you.
But I think you're right! We're headed for real, real trouble. All you need is real economic trouble.

You start getting real, true economic trouble. 1930s kind of depression stuff. And we're in Civil War.

Dan, Oregon. Welcome!

CALLER: Hello, Glenn. How are you?

GLENN: I'm great!

CALLER: Yeah. Good. It's been a long time.

I guess it's been over ten years, since I've had a chance to talk with you. I was one of your first insiders. I was listening to you, since you were in Florida.

GLENN: Wow. Wow.

CALLER: So it's been a long -- yeah. It has been. And I can't say I've enjoyed all of it.
(laughter)

GLENN: Neither have I!

STU: I can't say that either, I'll be honest with you.

CALLER: You know, you were talking on yesterday's show, reminiscing with Stu about how you guys started. And I remember those old shows. And, you know, at the end of the -- the fusion of entertainment and enlightenment.

STU: Hmm.

GLENN: Right.

CALLER: And there was a lot more entertainment. I remember I laughed a lot.

GLENN: Oh, yeah. I know. I know. Those days are long dead.
(laughter)

STU: There's nothing to laugh about now.

CALLER: Yeah. I -- I'm 78. I still work 40 hours a week. I love my job.

GLENN: Good for you.

CALLER: Been married for 55 years. I have seven kids.

GLENN: Good for you.

CALLER: I've got a daughter -- I've got a daughter who is in her 40s. And she has severe TDS. She -- we don't -- I mean, we're not cutting each other off. She hasn't done that at all. We're still very close as a family. But she was down visiting the other day, and got into a conversation with my wife. And I wasn't in the room. But Kathy said it was just like listening to one of those young people out on the street that was being interviewed by the news media. And she was -- and she was in tears about it. My wife and my daughter both.

And, I mean, I love her, and I continue to support her. She's a single woman, not by choice. She just never found the right guy.

GLENN: Yeah.

CALLER: And I really think that's part of the problem. Because she started reading -- back when Trump was first running, she started reading all of this stuff about him being misogynistic and all of this stuff.

GLENN: Yeah. Yeah.

CALLER: And it's just gotten worse. I -- I'm at a loss. I really am. Because I -- like, I see the country doing better. I keep waiting for the other shoe to drop. But I still feel like that at least right now, we're doing better as a whole. But what do we do about -- what do we do about our kids about -- she went to Portland State University for the last two --

GLENN: Oh, jeez, for the love of --

CALLER: Well, yeah. For the last two years, she went to -- she went to a little college in Idaho called Ricks for the first two years, and Utah State.

GLENN: Oh, yeah.

CALLER: And then she served a mission for our church in Brazil and came home, but then she went to Portland State University. And it just seems to have gone downhill from there.

GLENN: Yeah. Yeah. So, Dan, I think you are suffering from the same thing that almost all parents are suffering from. If you're not suffering from this, then, I mean, God bless you. You know, get on your knees and thank God. Because you are a lucky, lucky family. Everybody has in their family. I have it in my family.

And you have to ask yourself, what is your goal?

My -- what is your goal with your daughter? Your real goal?

CALLER: My real goal is for us to be united eternally. That's my goal. That's my goal as a father and has been to teach her --

GLENN: And how -- and how is that going to happen with politics?

CALLER: We just stay together as a family regardless of what politics does.

GLENN: That's exactly right. Exactly right.

I think we're in a place now where as parents, you can ask your kids, but it has to be honest. It cannot be trying to win. It has to be honest. How did you get there?

I mean, I remember. You know, we've talked about this before. And you didn't believe that before. What has changed?

Can you help me with that?

I would like to see what you're reading, or what that was.

And just ask questions. But they have to be honest. They can't be, you know, because I'm setting you up. Because I want to change your mind.

But keep a dialogue open with them. And just love them!

Just love them!

Because if you do anything else, you're going to drive them away. And then they're really lost. So just love them.

CALLER: Oh, I know that. Glenn, when she was young -- when she was young, I considered her one of the elect. And the Scripture says, that in the last days, even the elect are going to be deceived. And that's what I'm seeing. But everything you've said, I -- I am doing. I'm doing it that way. Because I know --

GLENN: Okay. Good. Then you didn't need to -- I appreciate it. I'm so glad you called me. But you didn't need to -- my advice, you already have it down. You're a very wise man.