George Lucas desperately wanted to avoid this kind of debate.
This same line of thinking that is currently used to criticise The Acolyte is also precisely what George Lucas wanted to avoid in Star Wars. In fact, although George Lucas did not create the name lightsaber, the decision to switch from the term lightsaber to lightsaber makes it clear that Lucas did not want arguments about factual science to affect Star Wars. Basically, he didn’t want to waste time explaining how it worked; that’s not what the franchise is for.
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Part of watching Star Wars requires suspending disbelief. If Star Wars were based on real science, much of the franchise would be unrealistic or couldn’t happen, and watching with the expectation that the movies and shows will be true to real life will only ruin the experience and miss the point of the franchise entirely. Yes, Star Wars: The Acolyte showed a ship on fire in space, because Star Wars is not meant to reflect real life.
