I was looking forward to Dune part 2, until I realized what they did in the casting. The Fremen are all arabic and black. The evil Harkonnen and Sardaukar are White. The Harkonnen are literally albino White. The messaging couldn't be more clear. White people bad, non-whites are oppressed and good. To make it even more blunt, Paul is being played by a jewish actor, who bravely leads the non-whites against the evil Whites. This is probably why they won't (faithfully) adapt the subsequent Dune books, because it turns the first book on its head.
Even though Villeneuve claims to be a big fan of the books, he's said in recent interviews (if I remember correctly) that the female characters aren't focused on enough, and aren't strong enough as female characters, so he's going to change the story. Anyone that's read the Dune books knows that's a profound lie. The women are some of the strongest characters in the lore. The Bene Gesserit are literally immortal, if they choose, by manipulating their body chemistry, but don't for fear of being found out by the Imperium until their plan comes to fruition, and are some of the best fighters in the Imperium. Villenuive said he wants to focus on the female characters more and give them more material, which is just going to create the extremely grating modern feminist girl boss trope, in a story that doesn't need it. It's explicitly said in the first Dune book that the female Fremen fighters are extremely capable fighters, and fight with their men.
Should've seen this coming from what they did in Part 1. They race and gender swapped Liet Kynes. He was supposed to be able to blend in with both the Imperium royal houses and the Fremen. He's described as having "long sandy hair". His father was Imperial but his mother was Fremen. Black people don't have hair like that. Kynes was also supposed to be a stand in for Frank Herbert, a White man. Also, even though it's not explicitly mentioned in the books, Paul and Chani bond over the fact that both of their fathers were murdered by the Harkonnen and the Emperor. There was a lot left unsaid in the Dune books by Herbert, who left clues for his audience, enabling them to fill in the gaps, especially with regard to character motivations.
At most, the entire Dune saga revolving around spice is an allegory for oil and the Middle East, which would make the Fremen Arabic and the Imperium White, if taken at face value. However, the Fremen aren't native to Arrakis. Through thousands of years of immigration, they finally ended up there. I don't recall Fremen ever being explicitly defined in terms of race in the books. Skin color is mentioned sparsely, but only for a few key characters. There were some suggestions in the books of racial differences along planetary lines, and that there are differences between Fremen and the Imperium, but it's left just vague enough to allow other interpretations.
In any case, at the minimum, the race and gender swap of Liet Kynes was an insult to the author himself. At most, it's an insult to the author's work, characters, intentions, and story, perverting it to insert messages Herbert never intended or wanted. Nowhere in the books does Herbert chastise the evil White people and venerate the oppressed POCs, nor would it be smart. Herbert was quite intelligent, and any scifi author knows you make your allegories vague, so they have wider appeal and applicability.
The change in part 1 was a clear indication of what their priorities/subversions were, which is being dialed up in Part 2. It's annoying, because Dune would be a fantastic IP to (properly) adapt, but not in modern Hollywood. I guess I'll have to stick to the SciFi miniseries and the books.
I’ve read the first book. Should I read all the books? I still haven’t seen the sci-fi series. Just the 84 movie. I didn’t know he said all that. Race swaps serve as a red flag at least. I did hear in his defense he was forced to race swap but I didn’t know he said that about focusing on females. Didn’t know about the Fremen casting.
I've only read up to Children of Dune. I'd like to read them all, but I prefer to buy the older hard cover books, which are ridiculously over inflated in price at the moment.
As for my impression, the first 3 books are well worth a read. A relatively minor, if largely impacting spoiler, but the first book is turned on its head. Herbert wanted to warn about messianic savior figures in the Dune saga, like Paul Muad'dib Atreides in the first book. The first book can be appreciated by itself as a classic hero's journey and revenge tail set in a great scifi universe. The Dune saga, however, explores the consequences of that, and of messianic figures in general.
To be vague, and yet clear enough to make the point, Paul's actions lead to horrific atrocities. Paul sees a far flung future problem which he sees no way to avoid, or chooses not to follow the path to avoid it. His children do, however, which affects all the subsequent books, which go much further in time than one would normally expect, and from what I've heard, get rather weird. I've also heard that Herbert intended to write one or two more books, but he knew his time was short (health problems), and wrote fairly strange final chapter, with himself and his wife inserted into the story, as ordinary yet godlike figures looking down upon the galactic story Herbert was telling, but it's really just a thinly veiled final address to his readers and fans, to thank them.
It's obvious, even in book 1, especially in Paul's spice visions, how esoteric Herbert can be. He also makes philosophical commentary throughout subsequent books, which you may or may not like. I appreciate what he's saying, but as I'm inclined that way, I noticed that he contradicts himself in some areas (philosophically), which I venture most people would miss. In any case, it doesn't affect much, because Herbert is very good at his world building, even if it's a bit unique compared to other authors, and the messages he's conveying are genuine. Some chapters/sections get quite abstract and cerebral, which can be tough to read, but overall I definitely recommend the books.
I was looking forward to Dune part 2, until I realized what they did in the casting. The Fremen are all arabic and black. The evil Harkonnen and Sardaukar are White. The Harkonnen are literally albino White. The messaging couldn't be more clear. White people bad, non-whites are oppressed and good. To make it even more blunt, Paul is being played by a jewish actor, who bravely leads the non-whites against the evil Whites. This is probably why they won't (faithfully) adapt the subsequent Dune books, because it turns the first book on its head.
Even though Villeneuve claims to be a big fan of the books, he's said in recent interviews (if I remember correctly) that the female characters aren't focused on enough, and aren't strong enough as female characters, so he's going to change the story. Anyone that's read the Dune books knows that's a profound lie. The women are some of the strongest characters in the lore. The Bene Gesserit are literally immortal, if they choose, by manipulating their body chemistry, but don't for fear of being found out by the Imperium until their plan comes to fruition, and are some of the best fighters in the Imperium. Villenuive said he wants to focus on the female characters more and give them more material, which is just going to create the extremely grating modern feminist girl boss trope, in a story that doesn't need it. It's explicitly said in the first Dune book that the female Fremen fighters are extremely capable fighters, and fight with their men.
Should've seen this coming from what they did in Part 1. They race and gender swapped Liet Kynes. He was supposed to be able to blend in with both the Imperium royal houses and the Fremen. He's described as having "long sandy hair". His father was Imperial but his mother was Fremen. Black people don't have hair like that. Kynes was also supposed to be a stand in for Frank Herbert, a White man. Also, even though it's not explicitly mentioned in the books, Paul and Chani bond over the fact that both of their fathers were murdered by the Harkonnen and the Emperor. There was a lot left unsaid in the Dune books by Herbert, who left clues for his audience, enabling them to fill in the gaps, especially with regard to character motivations.
At most, the entire Dune saga revolving around spice is an allegory for oil and the Middle East, which would make the Fremen Arabic and the Imperium White, if taken at face value. However, the Fremen aren't native to Arrakis. Through thousands of years of immigration, they finally ended up there. I don't recall Fremen ever being explicitly defined in terms of race in the books. Skin color is mentioned sparsely, but only for a few key characters. There were some suggestions in the books of racial differences along planetary lines, and that there are differences between Fremen and the Imperium, but it's left just vague enough to allow other interpretations.
In any case, at the minimum, the race and gender swap of Liet Kynes was an insult to the author himself. At most, it's an insult to the author's work, characters, intentions, and story, perverting it to insert messages Herbert never intended or wanted. Nowhere in the books does Herbert chastise the evil White people and venerate the oppressed POCs, nor would it be smart. Herbert was quite intelligent, and any scifi author knows you make your allegories vague, so they have wider appeal and applicability.
The change in part 1 was a clear indication of what their priorities/subversions were, which is being dialed up in Part 2. It's annoying, because Dune would be a fantastic IP to (properly) adapt, but not in modern Hollywood. I guess I'll have to stick to the SciFi miniseries and the books.
I’ve read the first book. Should I read all the books? I still haven’t seen the sci-fi series. Just the 84 movie. I didn’t know he said all that. Race swaps serve as a red flag at least. I did hear in his defense he was forced to race swap but I didn’t know he said that about focusing on females. Didn’t know about the Fremen casting.
I've only read up to Children of Dune. I'd like to read them all, but I prefer to buy the older hard cover books, which are ridiculously over inflated in price at the moment.
As for my impression, the first 3 books are well worth a read. A relatively minor, if largely impacting spoiler, but the first book is turned on its head. Herbert wanted to warn about messianic savior figures in the Dune saga, like Paul Muad'dib Atreides in the first book. The first book can be appreciated by itself as a classic hero's journey and revenge tail set in a great scifi universe. The Dune saga, however, explores the consequences of that, and of messianic figures in general.
To be vague, and yet clear enough to make the point, Paul's actions lead to horrific atrocities. Paul sees a far flung future problem which he sees no way to avoid, or chooses not to follow the path to avoid it. His children do, however, which affects all the subsequent books, which go much further in time than one would normally expect, and from what I've heard, get rather weird. I've also heard that Herbert intended to write one or two more books, but he knew his time was short (health problems), and wrote fairly strange final chapter, with himself and his wife inserted into the story, as ordinary yet godlike figures looking down upon the galactic story Herbert was telling, but it's really just a thinly veiled final address to his readers and fans, to thank them.
It's obvious, even in book 1, especially in Paul's spice visions, how esoteric Herbert can be. He also makes philosophical commentary throughout subsequent books, which you may or may not like. I appreciate what he's saying, but as I'm inclined that way, I noticed that he contradicts himself in some areas (philosophically), which I venture most people would miss. In any case, it doesn't affect much, because Herbert is very good at his world building, even if it's a bit unique compared to other authors, and the messages he's conveying are genuine. Some chapters/sections get quite abstract and cerebral, which can be tough to read, but overall I definitely recommend the books.