I think the anthropologist is trying to make a point that's pretty unnecessary and nothing Gilroy was even trying to attempt. I don't think he was trying to subvert anything Lucas had done. He was making Star Wars where you didn't actually have to have one drop of knowledge about the Force or frankly anything else to pick up what was happening and what the stakes were. Yes, that's appealing to a larger, non-SW nerd audience. You didn't need to know Anakin's fall or the Jedi being wiped out. If you've heard Gilroy talk about the time frame he's trying to build his world in, there are only a few people who've ever seen a Jedi. They are very few Force believers. It's very much like the first movie. You can just be dropped into that world and it was fine. He was telling the story of the average people who make revolutions happen under extraordinary circumstances but I disagree about the notion that it wasn't a hero's journey. The Force healer seeing Cassian's future plays up a bit that he's fairly special. Bix felt it to I'd imagine.
Andor is very much a hero's journey because Cassian tried his best to not get involved until he had no choice at the end of season 1. He was only it in for himself and to scrape by. Then he was fully in after Marva died and Bix was hurt because of him. Very similar to Luke just wanting to drop Obi Wan off at Anchorhead and go back to being a farmer. Then the only family Luke had ever known was wiped out and he had nothing else to stay for. That motivated him to want to learn about the Force and go on his hero's journey. And Luke only succeeded because of Han Solo saving his ass multiple times. I think Andor hits so well because it captures a lot of what made the original movie great. But the story is timeless because revolutions and resistance have always happened in our history.