NP: Dune again, white dudes-- and others. Not Others.

[David Morris]

I’m not sure you are saying the same things (similar?).

Slate’s Ali’ main concern seems wrapped up in the article’s title: Is Dune
a White Savior Narrative?

Not enough black/color/Arabic sympathetic cast members who “survive to the
end.”   Suffusing TOO MUCH Islam into all of the cultures depicted (not
keeping it only to Fremen) was a bad choice WHY?  Because Hollywood has a
bad history with Islam boogie men? Not being blatantly subversive enough in
attacking that history? Only the Fremen should embody “good” Islam?
Savior-Paul is white (wasn’t that a Herbert intention?)?  Wouldn’t the only
way out of that trap be to make Paul black?

I think the article is hopelessly muddled, except for its title.

David Morris

On Wed, Oct 27, 2021 at 10:51 AM Joseph Tracy <brook7 at sover.net> wrote:

> Great article. Saying similar things myself but I was less articulate,
> less filled out than this.I sense we are in basic agreement that Herbert’s
> intentions as a writer got subverted by 2 things:1) too much attention to
> the machiavellian  maneuverings of the Empire,House Atraides  and the
> godlike messianic powers of Paul A,  with little serious development or
> nuance or internal divisions in the Fremen culture. and 2) too binary a
> conflict (messiahs lead to wars- really what about buddhism) with no 3rd
> option. As I said earlier I think killing the ecologist off was a big
> mistake as he could have represented a 3rd way. War is never ecologically
> friendly, and future heavens are piss poor substitutes for milk and honey
> now.
>
> I do not think the original reception of Dune was as nuanced or
> provocative as Herbert intended. I think a lot of the novel’s popularity
> revolved around fantasies of revenge against imperial violence toward
> justice and the earth, and the idea that psychedelics might be a liberating
> force that would free individuals and society to a higher destiny.
> The dark side of messianic powers was not what I remember people talking
> about, and in fact this was a heyday of Jesus People and other cults.
>
> There is an appeal of being at the center of a great mystery hinging on
> your personal destiny that is seductive to the ego and dangerous , just as
> there is an appeal to disappearing safely into the peace of enlightened
> non-attachment that can be more like asleep than awake. Is there at least a
> 3rd way?
>
>
> > On Oct 27, 2021, at 9:28 AM, Mark Kohut <mark.kohut at gmail.com> wrote:
> >
> >
> https://slate.com/culture/2021/10/dune-2021-movie-vs-book-white-savior-islam.html
> > --
> > Pynchon-L: https://waste.org/mailman/listinfo/pynchon-l
> >
>
>
>
> --
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