Shorty before his passing, Frank Herbert released a book called Eye, a collection of short stories. In his forward, he talks about his feelings about the movie and stated how the movie's ending was wrong and the book wasn't about a man who became a god, but about a man who plays at being god.
I'm arguing with the author a bit here, but Paul is forced into that position by a variety of circumstances. He makes mistakes and regrets some of them.
I read that, the ending aside, he was actually quite pleased with the Movie. As far as I know, he actually provided the opening narration for the three-hour TV-Cut.
Plays at being a god and absolutely doesn't want to be one. My take on the movie is that it was very well cast, but missied the essence of the timeing and missed Paul's internal struggles. The beginning with the "boring" procession missed the fact that everything about the Dune crisis was time critical. There simply wasn't enough time for carefully considered action. That never got into the movie. Paul didn't have time to carefully plan.
Princess is out here analyzing the philosophy and thematic elements of a Sci-fi classic while wearing a Megan The Stallion shirt. I have no choice but to stan👸🏾❤️
12:37 Reminds me of people going to Rage Against the Machine concerts cause they like the music & start complaining about all the politics between songs. What machine do you people think they're raging against?
The world is full of contradictions. They are a rich band who has played Israel (which is controversial in some left wing quarters because of the Palestine issue). Likewise, we see corporations rushing to back BLM, while its founders are on record as calling themselves "trained Marxists", meaning that they want to destroy said businesses.
I love how this series is so deep and so open to interpretation. Paul always knew the Jihad couldnt be prevented but he actively tried to prevent it, always wanted to, Paul is the protagonist of books 1 and 2 only, i argue that much like Middle Earth is the "main character" of the lord of the rings, the Golden Path is in fact the main character and main thrust of Dune.
Every decision Paul has made is boiled down to a human instinct level..from survival, falling in love to wanting revenge..Leto ii is beyond any such things and thats why he more or less succeeds
I don't think Paul is the protagonist of any of the books. Herbert was trying to warn us against following charismatic leaders, like Paul, and I think in a lot of ways he's an antagonist. A very sympathetic antagonist, but not the protagonist.
@@MauDib he reads like a tragic hero of the modern era..its why his last name is Atreides, its specifically suppose to be a direct correlation with Atreus from Greek Myth. Paul did not want people to die in his name but he chose that path because it was the only path where humanity didnt stagnate further into extinction..he failed because he didnt take it further like his son did
@@crcurran agreed. Book 1 he reads as the protagonist. Thru books 2&3, seeing billions of people die in Paul's jihad, Paul fail to guide humanity to the Golden Path, and ultimately run away from the Golden Path due to his fear of what it would cost him, he steadily becomes more of a tragic figure than hero.
The first book will get you chanting: "Mouad'ib! Mouad'ib!" The second will get you say: "Maybe not Mouad'ib?" The rest of the books will get you to say: "I'm not sure wtf I've just read, but f*** leaders, anarchy it is."
I loved the 1st book and didn't hate the rest until Leto was killed by Duncan Idaho, I cannot tell you how much I hate Duncan Idaho. He kills Leto basically because this big slug is making moves on this cute human lady. Waaaahhhhhh. Now, Leto had to die, but that was the justification.
"That's the trap of Dune, only seeing the surface level entertainment that is meant to deliver these intense messages." NAILED IT. That one sentence sums up the fundamental challenge with getting a good movie made, even with a director who's a huge fan. Struggling with the studio's execs and decision makers to make sure the point isn't blunted for the sake of more pew pew sci-fi.
But does Princess Weekes actually see the intense messages or did she just read from someone else's script? After all, according to her ideology, Dune is problematic.
This helped so much! I had a HUGE problem with how Dune played out and couldn't bring myself to read the other books. What I didn't realise was, that was the point.
Exactly this! I read the first one years ago, and was all "This dude SUCKS" re: Paul, and I never went any further with the series. I still have a rule about spending excessive time with horrible people (even fictional ones), so I likely won't read the rest, but at least I feel better about my reaction it.
The signs are there in the first book. But the first book mimics conventional storytelling so well, that it's easy to miss. If you plan on reading all six book, prepare for a wild ride!
SAME, though I have to say these were not the only problems for me. But I am glad I now understand a bit better why this series is considered a classic
@@mizknack5082 The books move away from Paul. The second book (which is relatively short) is sort of a coda to the first book, and is his swan song. The books might still not be for you, but the Dune novels are not the saga of Paul Atreides, and book 5 and 6 take the books in a surprising new direction.
This is an issue with several books, films, etc. Apologists will say it's the reader's problem for giving up to early. Many times, and I think this definitely the case with Dune, it's either bad writing or possibly editing. There will always be people that for one reason or another just can't get into a book or story. When it's a common criticism, it's the writing. I hadn't read these books since highschool, so I got the audiobooks. I was able to get through until about the halfway point of the third, and remembered why I hadn't read them a second time sooner. For me its the characters, they're all so one-note any in all honesty I could care less what happened to any of them. All of the characters that were remotely interesting were killed halfway through the first book.
@@timwhite5562 the first couple books were hard to get through, but every book except the second is better that the one before it, and yeah, i hated all the characters - atreides only look good when there are harkonnens around - except maybe sheanna, odrade, duncan idaho (sometimes) and miles teg
The first book is just a prologue. The real meat is in the sequels. Leto II is one of the most interesting, complex and ambiguous characters in fiction.
@Steve Jakubowski I think Lew is referring to the fact that Leto II is both a "benevolent dictator/protector" since he was willing to do what Paul would not in order to ensure that Mankind went down the Golden Path. Leto is certainly no hero -- but nor is he fully the villain despite the atrocities done in the name of the God Emperor. He is fully aware of what he is doing (hey, he is prescient after all) and what must be done to ensure humanity's survival. Do the ends justify the means? I guess that is a question everyone must answer on their own after reading the book.
The sequel trilogy seemed to be about deconstructing letos godhood. Just as the first trilogy was about deconstructing Paul's hero. I think this would have been made more explicit in the final novel. I'm unsure that letos path was necessary and due to analogues in the real world I mistrust the decision making of one who chooses to miserable for the aparent benefit of others
Thanks, great episode. My first reading of Dune was in 1970, and I wholeheartedly agree with your analysis, particularly regarding Caste, Caste, Colonialism, the Noble Savage, and White Saviorism, tropes that are in no danger of dying out any time soon. I saw spice as a metaphor for oil, water, and every other critical resource, natural or engineered scarcity, with one of my favourite relevant lines "It is said in the desert that possession of water in great amount can inflict a man with fatal carelessness." However, if I were to pick a single line summed the book for me originally, that among the many subtexts of environmentalism and politics resonated most it was "No more terrible disaster could befall your people than for them to fall into the hands of a Hero.” Regardless of how I may now critique the narrative from the perspective distance of a half-century since that first reading, Dune was the beginning of the end, for my faith in the "ideal" of heroic leadership, the myth of redemptive violence. No Gods, No Masters, No Bosses.
The first half was good, then she started trying to indoctrinate us into Marxist critical theory without irony. A book about an anti-colonial death cult and a cult of personality? Could be Mao, Stalin, or even that murderer Che Guevara who executed gay people in Cuba. These people never learn.
@@Grimloxz Quinn's ideas has an excellent take on it. This is far left critical theory posing as academic fact and missing several points along the way.
I think Paul is also basically T. E. Lawrence in space - a foreigner who adapts to desert life and culture and becomes a military leader, uniting various factions to overthrow an occupying imperial force.
00:01:13 There’s one book missing (God Emperor) in the original that ends by Chapterhouse. They close nicely the series and shows the point of the God Emperor.
@@derek8856 yeah... more research was needed before sending this video out lol I mean, yes, the "Free Men" were freed from their mechanical overlords in days gone by, but you do not pronounce it as 'free men'... that would ruin the surprise lol.
@@Grimloxz Comicbookgirl19 does this novel series better; in summation, in context and history, and in explaining the significance and impact in storytelling and genre.
I'm always surprised when people say the story doesn't get reflective of its tropes until the sequel books. When reading dune it felt kinda clear that the bene gesserit were an insidious colonizing force and that paul's rise was to some degree exploitative and shortsighted. My strongest thought on putting the book down was "man, stilgar sure got a raw deal..."
I'm currently up to the last of the 6 written by Frank Herbert and it's just incredible how many different concepts and scenarios are discussed. The only problem is that I can't find anyone to talk about it with in my small, rural Australian town
As a reader of the entire Dune franchise, this is very well detailed and researched video. You covered the inner meaning of the books and all of the information was accurate. Keep up with the great work and I do hope that the upcoming Dune movie spawns a successful series!
I was going to reply something very similar. Dune is a masterpiece. No question but the greatest? I think there are a few other series that have a very solid stake to that claim as well. I think I would probably put four or five in that list and not in any order because it would be WAY too hard to decide which is better than the others. :D
Aside from all the philosophical stuff, Dune was the first book to show me the importance of tight world building. Dune was always less of a classic adventure and more of an interessting "sandbox" to play in
I am SUPER HYPED for this movie! I've read almost the entire franchise (all originals and almost all of the expanded series) and I've never been more hyped for a movie!
Interesting comments about the white Savior concept. However, how does it compute that this savior was created by generations of selective breeding. He had little choice in his fate.Also, his path to savior-hood was paved by centuries of indoctrination of the fremen via the "Missionaria Protectiva project"
Well, I see it as reflective of the methods through which historical leaders have come to power. Thought political machinations, through myth and religion, and through selective breeding (nobility and kings). Just because leaders are installed using these methods rather than springing fully formed from the ether of happenstance doesn't make them any less legitimately kings or Presidents. Paul is a white teenager, who is dropped into a very Arabic coded culture and through one way or another ends up being better at all the traditional things they do, is accepted as the leader, and leads them to take back their planet (something they were unable to do without him). In other words no matter the circumstances that led to it he is a white savior of people who couldn't do for themselves. Why should it matter whether the reason he becomes the savior is human meddling as opposed to random chance or actual divine selection?
@@LC-sc3en But then why does it matter hes white? Also, race is never even implied in any form in the books?(yes coding is real I get that but then it seems a leap to go to the "white Saviour" when the story has nothing to do with race but rather culture and those are not the same thing.)
@@nathanprime2434 If the coding were any stronger Frank would have to write it directly onto Paul's forehead. Paul is a rich boy from a culture that considers the Dune natives inferior and savage. But in actuality they live in a careful and respectful religious balance with the natural habitats of Arrakis. The Fremen have language and names directly pulled from Arabic while the Bene Gesserit are strongly Catholic coded. Paul proceeds to come in as an outsider to a "savage land", outdoes all the natives, becomes leader of the people in short order, and leads them in a fight against the "bad colonizing power". Which they had been attempting somewhat and failing before he arrived. The history and mass popularity of the white savior trope in undeniable in western literature and media. It showed up in one of the first American novels and *continues to be a popular story today*. These stories follow the same basic pattern as Paul's story every single time. I can't think of a single story which follows this pattern where the savior is not white. But there are some variations on the theme. Sometimes the white savior just ends up inspiring rather than leading a rebellion or sometimes there is a tragic ending and the rebellion fails (though even in failure the story is about how much such failure hurts the savior character). But variations on a theme does not mean that the stories are not part of the white savior tropes. Herbert was a very well read and intelligent man. It would be an insult to say that he didn't know or intend his work to evoke the popular trope. Especially since he spends so much time deconstructing it and emphasizing how much manipulation of not only Paul but also the culture he plays savior to in order for such a scenario to play out.
@@dhindaravrel8712 Actually, the etymology of the Fremen originates from 'Free-Men', since some of the Zensunnis Wanderers were slaves originally. They're explored in the Legends of Dune trilogy.
I’ve heard from an avid dune fan and academic archeologist that it’s pronounced freh-men and is derive from an arabic word unrelated to the words free and men
Because he is one. His thirst of avenging the death of his father is all consuming, he guilt his mother, who he knew was pregnant, to aid him in converting the Frehmen to his cause. Jessica does as her child wishes, condemning her unborn daughter to a life of tragedy. The whole first book is about high jacking the Frehmen's culture for their aims, and once they obtain their revenge, the 2nd book is about the socio-political disaster cascade Paul started with that revenge, and his unwillingness to take responsibility and reign in the aftermath of his coup, due to his cowardice; he didn't want Channi (his love) and his family to pay the price. He supports whatever political maneuvering keeps his family safest, and then Channi gives birth to the expected heir Ghamina, and the surprise twin brother, Leto II, he realizes he is off the hook, he abandons his newborns and everything to become a walking crazy man in the desert. He could not see Leto II in his visions, his son was beyond the genetic capacity to be scryed, guessed and be manipulated. Paul had been a genetic mistake, he was conceived against the will of the Bene Geserit, Jessica was told never to have boys, so Paul's parents went against the religious order and protected him, a KH born a generation too early, a ticking bomb, a man not reafy for his destiny, too much power, too little sense. Jessica was engineered and educated to be the maternal grandmother of the KH. Paul stole his sister Aria's future, the moment he was conceived, because his mother is also a coward who was swayed by her love and devotion for Duke Leto. Jessica, like Paul her son, are Harkonnen, people who are swayed and controlled by their passions. Jessica's grandson Leo II became the KH, not the expected one, the perfect male Bene Geserit, but nevertheless the one to bring forth The Golden Path, that the female Bene Geserit wanted, but could not see. Afterwards, both Leto II and the Bene Geserit worked hard never to allow the genetic combination that gave rise to Paul ever to happen again. Leto II instead takes over the breeding program to recreate in mass, the one genetic trait he found in himself to be useful to ensure the Golden Path, the ability to never be predicted, or being seen in the future, like he was, and his assassin was.
this explenation isnt the best. i mean its kind of insultingly wrong that she said the fremen are black coded when its blatantly obvious they are based on arabic peoples and calling them "black coded" comes across as either personal bias or the complete lack of remembering that Arabic people exist..i mean Jihad? that is an Arabic word.
This was a fantastic video! I saw the David Lynch film years ago and enjoyed the spectacle, but I think it's time for a re-watch with a new perspective...
12:49 i wish someone would have said that to Chris Chibnall... I read the first book recently and it feels... unfinished. For example: Thufir Hawat, there are multiple chapters that focus on him still being alive as something important, for what ? "We have no idea where Thufir is !" at the start of the battle, nothing happened, "oh he just manifested out of nowhere to die". Btw: The first thing i think of when i hear something Dune related is "The Spice must flow", which IS NOT IN THE BOOKS.
There are a lot of quotable lines that come exclusively from the film adaptations. Like "THE SLEEPER HAS AWAKENED" When that was a passing reference to something else in the books.
Paul is ultimately killed by a member of the Jakarutu Sietch, Cast Out Fremen water thieves who bear no loyalty to the Atredies, not one of his own followers.
I'm always puzzled when talking about Dune, more people don't talk about how Herbert was inspired to make Dune a desert planet by living near the Oregon Dunes, a beautiful place on the coast of Oregon and does, in fact, look like an alien world. I should know, I live here!
It was his first experience with teraforming, watching them replant the dunes to prevent them from being eroded. We owe everything to those dunes, lol!
Paul being a teenager doesn’t really matter because he has the minds of eons worth of humans in his head. That collective knowledge unfortunately robs him of any childhood he may have been able to enjoy. =(
Beautiful breakdown. But I think you missed on the subtle text throughout the first novel, just a hair. Its also interpretation to play into it as well. The original Dune has the underlining of something much darker on the horizon if Paul kept going on this path. He can see the universe burning in his name, but he feels powerless to stop it. He is fully aware of his exploiting of religion, but justifies it in the name of survival and revenge. Every savior trope he embodies is giving a ticking reminder to the audience that he knows this won't end well. The book even has a bit of a downer ending. Herbert went to great lengths to tear down the hero of a thousand faces, charismatic leaders, and saviors, but only really planted the seeds. All the possible bad is laid before us but we sympathize with his plight. After the key event towards the back of the novel, Paul gives in to his emotions and dives headlong in despite the dangers he sees coming.
I think it's a poor breakdown when the person doing it clearly didnt read the books. The tone and way she spoke about things displayed her ignorance and it made(to me) the whole video ridiculous. She must have just read a synopsis and reviews and cobbled together her own version.
@@nathanprime2434 I haven't read them yet myself, gonna be starting on the 1st book probably today, but I get the sense from the video that she is is projecting a bit of her own ideas and beliefs onto what was written. I got the sense more that the book is about the corrupting influence of absolute power and less about Imperialism
My introduction to Brian Herbert and K.J. Andersons' work was buying a signed book (both signatures) at a used book store for 4$. In hindsight I payed too much for the book.
I actually like the 1984 movie. I mean, if you think of the sheer sweeping scope of the book and give consideration for when the movie was made, it is amazing that it came out as well as it did.
Try to find the nearly 3 hour cut as it shows that David Lynch actually had a good adaptation, but the producers and studios forced him to cut half his movie out for the theatrical release.
@@coolnegative Best of luck. I found it uploaded online last year and even then they site got taken down. There is an extended cut on DVD but is missing a lot of scenes that were never polished. Still good hunting.
It would be interesting to see her take on it now that she's finally published her own scifi novel. She distanced herself from that review, for good reason.
The impression I get from Princess Weekes reaction to some of the story details and plot revelations is that maybe she didn’t read the book and instead either read or watched some kind of summation or something. The revelation that Vlademeer Harkonan is Paul’s grandfather makes sense in the story and ties into a lot of stuff. Paul’s mom was supposed to have a daughter so that she could be married to the Harkonans who only had sons to further unite all families under one lineage and eventually that would lead to a later descendent to become the messiah for the Bene Geserate. Jessica instead had Paul because Leto wanted a son and Jessica so loved Leto she would use her training with controlling her body to give him one which, of course, changed centeries and millennia long planning. Just one example.
I would recommend she actually read the books first. From the way she talked about the subject matter, it strongly implied she got all the info from reading synopsis and reviews and cobbled together he own version.
@@nathanprime2434 Yeah, I noticed that too. Especially when she started saying that it's not a subversive story until the sequel, which just isn't accurate. Along with it being a white guy power fantasy, which also isn't what the book is. It seems like 80% of the people who talk about what Dune was about didn't actually read it.
As someone currently reading through the original Dune Chronicles (on Heretics at the moment), I am surprised you managed to make such an amazing summary of the series and its themes without once mentioning the Bene Gesserit by name, considering how big a role they play in the series. Admittedly that would just be opening up a whole 'nother can of worms, especially once you get to Heretics and (presumably) Chapterhouse, where the reader gets a deeper look into how they operate, but I'm still impressed.
Each reader can take something different from a book. Issac Asimov spoke of a conversation he had with a fan about Foundation, the fan explained his interpretations of the book and when Dr Asimov told him that he had not intended to convey any of the meaning the young man had gotten, the fan said that Dr Asimov didn’t know what he was talking about.
I couldn't pinpoint why I found myself becoming a fan of this show; I knew I was enjoying it but it was more then that. I just couldnt figure it out. Then just now, it dawned on me. The host!! She makes me feel like I'm a kid again in the mid 90s watching cable T.V. lol. She has a HUGE 90s vibe (and let me be clear, coming from me that's about the dopest comment I could ever give someone since I loved growing up in and everything about the 90s). The way the segments are done and the way she explains things just triggers some part of me and makes me feel really nostalgic.
Your analysis and discussions are always rich and thoughtful, and this one is no exception, even though I’m not a fan of the Dune series. Read Dune decades ago (yeah, I’m old) and liked it well enough-though I was already uncomfortable with some stuff that would be termed “dated” now-so I moved on to book 2. Yikes. Couldn’t get even a quarter of the way in; hard noped out of the series at that point. I prefer Sheri S. Tepper’s novel Grass, and the two extremely loosely linked novels that came after that featured some of the same characters and universe. She manages to acknowledge (and criticize) the same failings of humanity while managing to find a decidedly more revolutionary path to change. Interestingly, the setting of Grass is, in my view, more brutal than Dune, but there are definitely structural and thematic similarities which is why the two are often compared. I also appreciate far more of the colonized POV in Grass, rather than it being so heavily from the colonizer/imperialist side.
Dune has long been my favorite novel, and you brought up so many points in ways I'd not considered before! This was an excellent video essay - thank you.
Great video! It captures the series so well. Also I’m now have some reading ahead of me, I want to read what those critics wrote as those quotes were amazing. If you all have time I would be very interested in hearing your critical review of of chapter-house and Heretic of dune. Pedantic part of me is raising its head, aren’t there 6 books in the original series?
I love the movie, I’ve even sat through the 4 hour version. Me and my dad would watch it anytime we saw it on tv. When I was a kid I tried reading the book, but couldn’t. I don’t know if I just didn’t grasp it or I got bored because I knew most of the story from the movie. I’d like to see more videos about the Dune series. And you’re right, Dune did influence sci-fi for years after it was written. The story sounds a lot like Star Wars, but then again so does everything else. I hope the new movie does it justice and when those giant sandworms bust onto the screen, the music is just as loud and iconic as the original! “THE SLEEPER HAS AWAKENED!!” ✊
Good stuff! I will say this, for whatever reason the David Lynch version of Dune remains closest to my heart. I can enumerate all the things that I liked about it, I can point to the fact that I was about 10 years old when it came out, and so on, and I'm betting there's a LOT of folks who would have many many things to say about all of it. But even acknowledging its problems, I still love it. And I hadn't read the book yet. Going back to watch it after finishing out the first 3 books - still loved it. As to the "not delivering" on all the questions it brings up...to me that IS what makes a good, impactful look into philosophical questions. I felt Herbert was simply exploring the questions, showing people fumbling towards some kind of answer, and not always- or even often! - finding any answers. I came away from God-Emperor thinking really hard about a lot of this, and wondering. I still wonder. And I feel like that's the point: we are not handed a nice neat pat answer in the end, all tied up with a ribbon. We're given a look at the many facets of the questions asked, the problems presented, we're shown a few different ways that various peoples try to answer those questions - and how those solutions play out, and maybe don't work very well, or work but in a way that maybe isn't worth the pain caused. So in the end, each individual must find their own path: which in a way, was just exactly what Paul and Leto were hoping for. A return to individualism, I mean.
I don't think even the first Dune novel can be called a 'White boy power fantasy' - even in that book, it is made very clear that Paul is a prisoner of circumstance and his own precognitive abilities. If Paul and Jessica refuse to use the religious system seeded into the Fremen by the Missionaria Protectiva then they would both inevitably die in the desert and the Harkonnen and Imperial plot would succeed. But by using that religion in order to survive, Paul sets in train a sequence of events that leads inevitably to the Fremen Jihad and the deaths of tens of billions of innocent people. Paul's abilities swiftly make him aware of this consequence of his decision, and he repeatedly struggles throughout the rest of the book with trying to work out how to avert that outcome, but for all his efforts he fails, and he knows full well what that failure will mean. He seriously considers his own death as an option, but he realises that all that will do is make him a martyr in the eyes of the Fremen and worsen the carnage. Not many power fantasies have at their core the fundamental powerlessness of their protagonists to avert disaster. Paul also never asked to be made different and to have these responsibilities foisted upon him, seeing himself as a freak at least at the beginning. His creation was a combination of the work of the Bene Gesserit and their breeding program on the one hand, and his mother's choice to defy orders from the Bene Gesserit and give Duke Leto a son instead of the daughter she was 'supposed' to bear on the other. The shape of Paul's life is not of his own choosing; again, as much as he is superhuman, he is also the victim of the decisions and priorities of others, ensnared in the machinations of various power brokers in the Imperium before he even took his first breath. It is all much more complex than a 'white saviour' narrative even in the first book.
This isn't to rain on the parade but the pronunciations I'm this video needed some work. Also some of the points/ideas presented in this video were contrary to the novels themselves. Trying to tackle a synopsis of these books is hard but I feel the sources they cited were of a bias nature that cloud the description.
For me, something that made the dictatorships in Dune so uncomfortable (or rather, _more_ so) was the prescience of Paul and Leto II. It's fair game to criticize a conventional human dictator, but give them varying degrees of future-sight and suddenly you don't know what portion of their rule is unjust by way of error, and which is just for the sake of preventing some future cataclysm only they can glimpse. While I have a hard time reconciling this and other ideas in Herbert's work, at least it got me thinkin', which isn't so much the case with certain space fantasy franchises.
Cool. Thanks for this. I have never read, nor seen any of them, but I once had the PC game Dune.. which I never played because it never worked, but despite this, the world of Dune is such a part of the zeitgeist that the major features are quite familiar. It is a great (and necessary) thing to mask learning in storytelling, compelling philosophical conundrums in drama. Perhaps, one day, if humans last long enough, they will be reading Dune in those first year college seminars alongside Gilgamesh and other works of "fantasy".
Great video. I've been geeking on Dune lately. Movie,sci fi series and novels. I even have the Marvel comics adaption of the movie. I can't wait to see the new flick. Trailers are making me jones.
Shorty before his passing, Frank Herbert released a book called Eye, a collection of short stories. In his forward, he talks about his feelings about the movie and stated how the movie's ending was wrong and the book wasn't about a man who became a god, but about a man who plays at being god.
I'm arguing with the author a bit here, but Paul is forced into that position by a variety of circumstances. He makes mistakes and regrets some of them.
I read that, the ending aside, he was actually quite pleased with the Movie. As far as I know, he actually provided the opening narration for the three-hour TV-Cut.
@@derworfnet that wasn't Herbert.
@@anonb4632 yeah Herbert wrote the book to show that corrupt people love power.
Plays at being a god and absolutely doesn't want to be one.
My take on the movie is that it was very well cast, but missied the essence of the timeing and missed Paul's internal struggles. The beginning with the "boring" procession missed the fact that everything about the Dune crisis was time critical. There simply wasn't enough time for carefully considered action. That never got into the movie. Paul didn't have time to carefully plan.
Princess is out here analyzing the philosophy and thematic elements of a Sci-fi classic while wearing a Megan The Stallion shirt.
I have no choice but to stan👸🏾❤️
Not just “wearing” but “ROCKING IT”! Love her look in this video!! Couldn’t agree with you more!
*cough* Imp-say.
Iiiiii loavvvv ittt
12:37 Reminds me of people going to Rage Against the Machine concerts cause they like the music & start complaining about all the politics between songs.
What machine do you people think they're raging against?
One of my favorite bands of all time.
What machine do you people think they're raging against?
ruclips.net/video/N9wsjroVlu8/видео.html
The world is full of contradictions. They are a rich band who has played Israel (which is controversial in some left wing quarters because of the Palestine issue). Likewise, we see corporations rushing to back BLM, while its founders are on record as calling themselves "trained Marxists", meaning that they want to destroy said businesses.
@@anonb4632 LOL. These so called Marxists are living in mansions now. They are champagne socialists at best.
Now that a Democrat is back in the White House they are raging FOR the machine, not against it.
"...So that when he dies, they'll yeet into the stars and beyond." Literally perfect.
I would love to see you guys tackle Ursula K. LeGuin's work.
She's my favourite!
She's a monolith of scifi!
So very this
I never read her; but she looks good
she’s great
I love how this series is so deep and so open to interpretation. Paul always knew the Jihad couldnt be prevented but he actively tried to prevent it, always wanted to, Paul is the protagonist of books 1 and 2 only, i argue that much like Middle Earth is the "main character" of the lord of the rings, the Golden Path is in fact the main character and main thrust of Dune.
Every decision Paul has made is boiled down to a human instinct level..from survival, falling in love to wanting revenge..Leto ii is beyond any such things and thats why he more or less succeeds
I don't think Paul is the protagonist of any of the books. Herbert was trying to warn us against following charismatic leaders, like Paul, and I think in a lot of ways he's an antagonist. A very sympathetic antagonist, but not the protagonist.
@@MauDib he reads like a tragic hero of the modern era..its why his last name is Atreides, its specifically suppose to be a direct correlation with Atreus from Greek Myth. Paul did not want people to die in his name but he chose that path because it was the only path where humanity didnt stagnate further into extinction..he failed because he didnt take it further like his son did
@@MauDib if this was the 1960s and the only book released was Dune, yes, you too would think Paul is the protagonist.
@@crcurran agreed. Book 1 he reads as the protagonist. Thru books 2&3, seeing billions of people die in Paul's jihad, Paul fail to guide humanity to the Golden Path, and ultimately run away from the Golden Path due to his fear of what it would cost him, he steadily becomes more of a tragic figure than hero.
'At 15, Paul is ready to become the protagonist in a Science Fiction series.' Amazing line.
The first book will get you chanting: "Mouad'ib! Mouad'ib!"
The second will get you say:
"Maybe not Mouad'ib?"
The rest of the books will get you to say:
"I'm not sure wtf I've just read, but f*** leaders, anarchy it is."
I loved the 1st book and didn't hate the rest until Leto was killed by Duncan Idaho, I cannot tell you how much I hate Duncan Idaho. He kills Leto basically because this big slug is making moves on this cute human lady. Waaaahhhhhh. Now, Leto had to die, but that was the justification.
@@viperswhip, no offense, but I think you kinda missed the point.
“Atreides Atreides Atreides!” “Gurney man… are we the baddies?”
"Lets never have another authoritarian again. Yeah!" Princess, you are a delight.
We learned that lesson well. Yup, move along. Nothing to see here...
@@jonathonpolk3592 Yet she starts quoting Marxist theory against authoritarianism, when it has always led to it. 🤦
@@anonb4632 Qanon begone.
nervously laughing in brazilian
"That's the trap of Dune, only seeing the surface level entertainment that is meant to deliver these intense messages." NAILED IT. That one sentence sums up the fundamental challenge with getting a good movie made, even with a director who's a huge fan. Struggling with the studio's execs and decision makers to make sure the point isn't blunted for the sake of more pew pew sci-fi.
But does Princess Weekes actually see the intense messages or did she just read from someone else's script? After all, according to her ideology, Dune is problematic.
This helped so much! I had a HUGE problem with how Dune played out and couldn't bring myself to read the other books. What I didn't realise was, that was the point.
Exactly this! I read the first one years ago, and was all "This dude SUCKS" re: Paul, and I never went any further with the series. I still have a rule about spending excessive time with horrible people (even fictional ones), so I likely won't read the rest, but at least I feel better about my reaction it.
The signs are there in the first book. But the first book mimics conventional storytelling so well, that it's easy to miss. If you plan on reading all six book, prepare for a wild ride!
Frank designed Paul as the protagonist but not necessarily the hero but we as readers struggle to separate the two.
SAME, though I have to say these were not the only problems for me. But I am glad I now understand a bit better why this series is considered a classic
@@mizknack5082 The books move away from Paul. The second book (which is relatively short) is sort of a coda to the first book, and is his swan song.
The books might still not be for you, but the Dune novels are not the saga of Paul Atreides, and book 5 and 6 take the books in a surprising new direction.
So Dune has the Bojack Horseman problem of people nope-ing out after the setup and missing out entirely on the payoff
Excellently put
My library only had the first part for YEARS. Imagine my surprise... lol
This is an issue with several books, films, etc. Apologists will say it's the reader's problem for giving up to early. Many times, and I think this definitely the case with Dune, it's either bad writing or possibly editing. There will always be people that for one reason or another just can't get into a book or story. When it's a common criticism, it's the writing. I hadn't read these books since highschool, so I got the audiobooks. I was able to get through until about the halfway point of the third, and remembered why I hadn't read them a second time sooner.
For me its the characters, they're all so one-note any in all honesty I could care less what happened to any of them. All of the characters that were remotely interesting were killed halfway through the first book.
@@timwhite5562 the first couple books were hard to get through, but every book except the second is better that the one before it, and yeah, i hated all the characters - atreides only look good when there are harkonnens around - except maybe sheanna, odrade, duncan idaho (sometimes) and miles teg
@@timwhite5562 anyway, duncan idaho isn't one to fall off just cause he dies in the first book
The first book is just a prologue. The real meat is in the sequels. Leto II is one of the most interesting, complex and ambiguous characters in fiction.
@Steve Jakubowski I think Lew is referring to the fact that Leto II is both a "benevolent dictator/protector" since he was willing to do what Paul would not in order to ensure that Mankind went down the Golden Path. Leto is certainly no hero -- but nor is he fully the villain despite the atrocities done in the name of the God Emperor. He is fully aware of what he is doing (hey, he is prescient after all) and what must be done to ensure humanity's survival. Do the ends justify the means? I guess that is a question everyone must answer on their own after reading the book.
The sequel trilogy seemed to be about deconstructing letos godhood. Just as the first trilogy was about deconstructing Paul's hero. I think this would have been made more explicit in the final novel. I'm unsure that letos path was necessary and due to analogues in the real world I mistrust the decision making of one who chooses to miserable for the aparent benefit of others
I wouldn't call him ambiguous to us the readers
I found the sequels uneven to be honest. Never attempted his son's work.
Does he ever get referred to as just Leto or is it always Leto II?
Thanks, great episode. My first reading of Dune was in 1970, and I wholeheartedly agree with your analysis, particularly regarding Caste, Caste, Colonialism, the Noble Savage, and White Saviorism, tropes that are in no danger of dying out any time soon. I saw spice as a metaphor for oil, water, and every other critical resource, natural or engineered scarcity, with one of my favourite relevant lines "It is said in the desert that possession of water in great amount can inflict a man with fatal carelessness."
However, if I were to pick a single line summed the book for me originally, that among the many subtexts of environmentalism and politics resonated most it was "No more terrible disaster could befall your people than for them to fall into the hands of a Hero.”
Regardless of how I may now critique the narrative from the perspective distance of a half-century since that first reading, Dune was the beginning of the end, for my faith in the "ideal" of heroic leadership, the myth of redemptive violence. No Gods, No Masters, No Bosses.
I want to thank you for your excellent pronunciation of Denis Villeneuve’s name. My Québécois ears are soothed.
My brother pronounces it as "Denis Venezuela".
@Tem Fremen, rhymes with male fluids.
@Tem how would reading the books help you pronounce the words correctly? There is literally nothing in the text that tells you how to pronounce it.
This 13-minute video is as good a summary of Dune as any of the 4-hour versions that have been attempted. Better than some.
Really? They said it was 5 books instead of 6. Got the order of books wrong. And pronounced fremen as free men
@@Grimloxz I agree
The first half was good, then she started trying to indoctrinate us into Marxist critical theory without irony. A book about an anti-colonial death cult and a cult of personality? Could be Mao, Stalin, or even that murderer Che Guevara who executed gay people in Cuba. These people never learn.
@@Grimloxz Quinn's ideas has an excellent take on it. This is far left critical theory posing as academic fact and missing several points along the way.
Feel free to contribute your own totally not biased interpretation, sweetie
I think Paul is also basically T. E. Lawrence in space - a foreigner who adapts to desert life and culture and becomes a military leader, uniting various factions to overthrow an occupying imperial force.
He was also Mohammed.
That was definitely an inspiration for the series!
Paul of Arrakis.
Lawrence of Arabia
00:01:13 There’s one book missing (God Emperor) in the original that ends by Chapterhouse. They close nicely the series and shows the point of the God Emperor.
“What could go wrong she said.” 😂
There’s always a Paul
3,000 years later...
Leto II living his best Hutt life.
1:05 Frank Herbert wrote 6 Dune books; God Emperor of Dune is missing from your list (the books are also shown out of order)
This, plus the pronunciation issues, really turned me off to this summary.
@@derek8856 yeah... more research was needed before sending this video out lol
I mean, yes, the "Free Men" were freed from their mechanical overlords in days gone by, but you do not pronounce it as 'free men'... that would ruin the surprise lol.
Thank you
@@Grimloxz Comicbookgirl19 does this novel series better; in summation, in context and history, and in explaining the significance and impact in storytelling and genre.
@@MangaMattReviews I'm sure she did. Should be noted that Lindsat Ellis actually hates Dune. No wonder not a lot of work went into this.
Never be a prisoner of your past,it was just a lesson not a life sentence
-Shazistic
"The planet is Arrakis, and y'all it's a mess" should be the IMDB summary for the new movie.
I'm always surprised when people say the story doesn't get reflective of its tropes until the sequel books. When reading dune it felt kinda clear that the bene gesserit were an insidious colonizing force and that paul's rise was to some degree exploitative and shortsighted. My strongest thought on putting the book down was "man, stilgar sure got a raw deal..."
I'm currently up to the last of the 6 written by Frank Herbert and it's just incredible how many different concepts and scenarios are discussed. The only problem is that I can't find anyone to talk about it with in my small, rural Australian town
CGI was invented so that we could have Leto II in a film adaptation of God Emperor of Dune
Lucas ripped him off for Jabba.
@@anonb4632 noope, he is nothing like Jabba, he is a worm!
@@aumelb Jabba is a worm.
@@anonb4632 Jabba is a slug
@@aumelb Slugs have eyes on stalks.
As a reader of the entire Dune franchise, this is very well detailed and researched video. You covered the inner meaning of the books and all of the information was accurate. Keep up with the great work and I do hope that the upcoming Dune movie spawns a successful series!
“Dune” is the “Foundation Series,” but with R. Daneel Olivaw standing In for Paul. Psychohistory is the spice Melange.
Yea, the author said he wanted to flip Foundation on its head & make the Mule the hero
Holy crap you're right. How did I never thought it that way.
I was going to reply something very similar. Dune is a masterpiece. No question but the greatest? I think there are a few other series that have a very solid stake to that claim as well. I think I would probably put four or five in that list and not in any order because it would be WAY too hard to decide which is better than the others. :D
Very different series. Foundation is a classic series but never had the cultural depth or spiritual aspect.
Aside from all the philosophical stuff, Dune was the first book to show me the importance of tight world building. Dune was always less of a classic adventure and more of an interessting "sandbox" to play in
Yeah, You didn't watch Quinn's Ideas about the savior thing.
M’LAAAANGE
"They must call me Shaitan, Emperor of Gehenna."
"Who wants T-Rex arms?" 😂
You mean the sexual act right?
At first I was like "where's Lindsay?" And by the end I was like "more of this excellent Princess, please!"
I am SUPER HYPED for this movie! I've read almost the entire franchise (all originals and almost all of the expanded series) and I've never been more hyped for a movie!
One quibble: spice isn't sandworm poop exactly.
Interesting comments about the white Savior concept. However, how does it compute that this savior was created by generations of selective breeding. He had little choice in his fate.Also, his path to savior-hood was paved by centuries of indoctrination of the fremen via the "Missionaria Protectiva project"
Well, I see it as reflective of the methods through which historical leaders have come to power. Thought political machinations, through myth and religion, and through selective breeding (nobility and kings). Just because leaders are installed using these methods rather than springing fully formed from the ether of happenstance doesn't make them any less legitimately kings or Presidents.
Paul is a white teenager, who is dropped into a very Arabic coded culture and through one way or another ends up being better at all the traditional things they do, is accepted as the leader, and leads them to take back their planet (something they were unable to do without him). In other words no matter the circumstances that led to it he is a white savior of people who couldn't do for themselves. Why should it matter whether the reason he becomes the savior is human meddling as opposed to random chance or actual divine selection?
@@LC-sc3en But then why does it matter hes white? Also, race is never even implied in any form in the books?(yes coding is real I get that but then it seems a leap to go to the "white Saviour" when the story has nothing to do with race but rather culture and those are not the same thing.)
@@nathanprime2434 If the coding were any stronger Frank would have to write it directly onto Paul's forehead. Paul is a rich boy from a culture that considers the Dune natives inferior and savage. But in actuality they live in a careful and respectful religious balance with the natural habitats of Arrakis. The Fremen have language and names directly pulled from Arabic while the Bene Gesserit are strongly Catholic coded.
Paul proceeds to come in as an outsider to a "savage land", outdoes all the natives, becomes leader of the people in short order, and leads them in a fight against the "bad colonizing power". Which they had been attempting somewhat and failing before he arrived.
The history and mass popularity of the white savior trope in undeniable in western literature and media. It showed up in one of the first American novels and *continues to be a popular story today*. These stories follow the same basic pattern as Paul's story every single time. I can't think of a single story which follows this pattern where the savior is not white. But there are some variations on the theme. Sometimes the white savior just ends up inspiring rather than leading a rebellion or sometimes there is a tragic ending and the rebellion fails (though even in failure the story is about how much such failure hurts the savior character). But variations on a theme does not mean that the stories are not part of the white savior tropes.
Herbert was a very well read and intelligent man. It would be an insult to say that he didn't know or intend his work to evoke the popular trope. Especially since he spends so much time deconstructing it and emphasizing how much manipulation of not only Paul but also the culture he plays savior to in order for such a scenario to play out.
When the 1984 Dune came out that is one movie I never could wrap my head around I know I was young but I did like the sandworms.
Too be fair though even having read the book I can barely follow the movie half the time
To be fair, the 1984 version was not accurate to the books in the first place. But the 2000 miniseries on the other hand was pretty good!
Every 20 years or so society feels the need to make a Dune movie. I can't wait to see Dune 2040!
Dune was the only representation I (as the only Arab kid in my school) had in sci fi! Love books criticizing colonialism in ME/NA.
Great video. Only small note: Fremen is pronounced “Freh-men” not “Freemen.” Thanks for all you do!
Just one of many mispronunciations in this video.
@@dhindaravrel8712 Actually, the etymology of the Fremen originates from 'Free-Men', since some of the Zensunnis Wanderers were slaves originally. They're explored in the Legends of Dune trilogy.
@@toh786 Etymology does not equal pronunciation, though.
I’ve heard from an avid dune fan and academic archeologist that it’s pronounced freh-men and is derive from an arabic word unrelated to the words free and men
Denis Villeneuve hasn't released a bad movie yet. He will deliver and I can´t wait
Something that occurred to me after seeing the mini-series version of Dune was how much Paul had become like the Harconins who had killed his father.
Because he is one. His thirst of avenging the death of his father is all consuming, he guilt his mother, who he knew was pregnant, to aid him in converting the Frehmen to his cause. Jessica does as her child wishes, condemning her unborn daughter to a life of tragedy. The whole first book is about high jacking the Frehmen's culture for their aims, and once they obtain their revenge, the 2nd book is about the socio-political disaster cascade Paul started with that revenge, and his unwillingness to take responsibility and reign in the aftermath of his coup, due to his cowardice; he didn't want Channi (his love) and his family to pay the price. He supports whatever political maneuvering keeps his family safest, and then Channi gives birth to the expected heir Ghamina, and the surprise twin brother, Leto II, he realizes he is off the hook, he abandons his newborns and everything to become a walking crazy man in the desert. He could not see Leto II in his visions, his son was beyond the genetic capacity to be scryed, guessed and be manipulated. Paul had been a genetic mistake, he was conceived against the will of the Bene Geserit, Jessica was told never to have boys, so Paul's parents went against the religious order and protected him, a KH born a generation too early, a ticking bomb, a man not reafy for his destiny, too much power, too little sense. Jessica was engineered and educated to be the maternal grandmother of the KH. Paul stole his sister Aria's future, the moment he was conceived, because his mother is also a coward who was swayed by her love and devotion for Duke Leto. Jessica, like Paul her son, are Harkonnen, people who are swayed and controlled by their passions. Jessica's grandson Leo II became the KH, not the expected one, the perfect male Bene Geserit, but nevertheless the one to bring forth The Golden Path, that the female Bene Geserit wanted, but could not see. Afterwards, both Leto II and the Bene Geserit worked hard never to allow the genetic combination that gave rise to Paul ever to happen again. Leto II instead takes over the breeding program to recreate in mass, the one genetic trait he found in himself to be useful to ensure the Golden Path, the ability to never be predicted, or being seen in the future, like he was, and his assassin was.
@@Cutieyum4beautiful comment
YOOO , Weekes covering Dune??!! LET'S GOOOOOO!!!!!!!
I've only ever read the first book and now I'm like 😮😮😮
this explenation isnt the best. i mean its kind of insultingly wrong that she said the fremen are black coded when its blatantly obvious they are based on arabic peoples and calling them "black coded" comes across as either personal bias or the complete lack of remembering that Arabic people exist..i mean Jihad? that is an Arabic word.
@@vrinnmetagen it's to be expected Lindsay Ellis not only dislikes Dune she actively disrespects it.
This was a fantastic video! I saw the David Lynch film years ago and enjoyed the spectacle, but I think it's time for a re-watch with a new perspective...
Yes. It is the most important sci-fi ever. It influenced everything that came after.
Appreciation for the star wars shade
12:49 i wish someone would have said that to Chris Chibnall...
I read the first book recently and it feels... unfinished. For example: Thufir Hawat, there are multiple chapters that focus on him still being alive as something important, for what ? "We have no idea where Thufir is !" at the start of the battle, nothing happened, "oh he just manifested out of nowhere to die". Btw: The first thing i think of when i hear something Dune related is "The Spice must flow", which IS NOT IN THE BOOKS.
There are a lot of quotable lines that come exclusively from the film adaptations. Like "THE SLEEPER HAS AWAKENED" When that was a passing reference to something else in the books.
Paul is ultimately killed by a member of the Jakarutu Sietch, Cast Out Fremen water thieves who bear no loyalty to the Atredies, not one of his own followers.
I'm always puzzled when talking about Dune, more people don't talk about how Herbert was inspired to make Dune a desert planet by living near the Oregon Dunes, a beautiful place on the coast of Oregon and does, in fact, look like an alien world. I should know, I live here!
It was his first experience with teraforming, watching them replant the dunes to prevent them from being eroded. We owe everything to those dunes, lol!
You said there were 5 books of Dune.
Consisting of Messiah,Chapterhouse, Heretics,and Children
There is also God Emperor of Dune. You missed that
Poor work on the part of the producers, writers and actress. No one seemed to do their homework on the topic.
@@crgvino1 thank you, they pry haven’t even read the book
@@eclipse7968 I agree, heartbreaking that PBS allowed this.
@@crgvino1 exactly
They even got the order of the books wrong
the alleged delay of dune gives me time to read that copy i bought earlier this year
I bought a copy of God emperor that I continue to lose that I'm just about to start over again.
You are in for a treat!
When the books were shown out of order my brain short circuited
Well Lindsay has no love or respect for Dune so dont be surprised
I like Lynch's version for the fever dream that it is.
Talking sci-fi in a Megan Thee Stallion shirt we HAVE to stan
Paul being a teenager doesn’t really matter because he has the minds of eons worth of humans in his head. That collective knowledge unfortunately robs him of any childhood he may have been able to enjoy. =(
You're confusing him with Leto II and Ghanima
Beautiful breakdown. But I think you missed on the subtle text throughout the first novel, just a hair. Its also interpretation to play into it as well.
The original Dune has the underlining of something much darker on the horizon if Paul kept going on this path. He can see the universe burning in his name, but he feels powerless to stop it. He is fully aware of his exploiting of religion, but justifies it in the name of survival and revenge. Every savior trope he embodies is giving a ticking reminder to the audience that he knows this won't end well. The book even has a bit of a downer ending.
Herbert went to great lengths to tear down the hero of a thousand faces, charismatic leaders, and saviors, but only really planted the seeds. All the possible bad is laid before us but we sympathize with his plight. After the key event towards the back of the novel, Paul gives in to his emotions and dives headlong in despite the dangers he sees coming.
I think it's a poor breakdown when the person doing it clearly didnt read the books. The tone and way she spoke about things displayed her ignorance and it made(to me) the whole video ridiculous. She must have just read a synopsis and reviews and cobbled together her own version.
@@nathanprime2434 I haven't read them yet myself, gonna be starting on the 1st book probably today, but I get the sense from the video that she is is projecting a bit of her own ideas and beliefs onto what was written. I got the sense more that the book is about the corrupting influence of absolute power and less about Imperialism
And everything change when an alien weapon took over Eros station called protomolecule.
who's the dude behind paul that looks like all the villians from star wars and star trek in the past 15 years?
Don't forget to do Ghost in the shell Stand Alone Complex
Before I watch this can I just say Children Of Dune Scifi Mini was just ...James McAvoy
He's what hooked me when I was 19...
From Irulan to Weekes, very nice!
"Controversial" is a nice way of saying haht gahbage. Also known as cashing out on dad's rep. Friggin Brian Herbert
My introduction to Brian Herbert and K.J. Andersons' work was buying a signed book (both signatures) at a used book store for 4$. In hindsight I payed too much for the book.
It's was a SPECTACULAR example of generosity.
“I will bend like a reed in the wind.” -Paul Atreides Muad’Dib
That star wars reference on sand *chefs kiss*
I actually like the 1984 movie. I mean, if you think of the sheer sweeping scope of the book and give consideration for when the movie was made, it is amazing that it came out as well as it did.
Try to find the nearly 3 hour cut as it shows that David Lynch actually had a good adaptation, but the producers and studios forced him to cut half his movie out for the theatrical release.
@@DemitriVladMaximov thanx for the heads up! I'll have to hunt it down.
@@coolnegative Best of luck. I found it uploaded online last year and even then they site got taken down. There is an extended cut on DVD but is missing a lot of scenes that were never polished. Still good hunting.
Oh my word, I remember subscribing when you guys had 3k or so 😲 good job on growing the channel
I've been waiting for Princess Weekes to talk about Dune.
This was a really great video. You’re interpretation is spot on
Lol I was wondering who would be leading this video because Lindsay famously hates the book
It would be interesting to see her take on it now that she's finally published her own scifi novel. She distanced herself from that review, for good reason.
@@devildham well her book is literal trash.
The impression I get from Princess Weekes reaction to some of the story details and plot revelations is that maybe she didn’t read the book and instead either read or watched some kind of summation or something. The revelation that Vlademeer Harkonan is Paul’s grandfather makes sense in the story and ties into a lot of stuff. Paul’s mom was supposed to have a daughter so that she could be married to the Harkonans who only had sons to further unite all families under one lineage and eventually that would lead to a later descendent to become the messiah for the Bene Geserate. Jessica instead had Paul because Leto wanted a son and Jessica so loved Leto she would use her training with controlling her body to give him one which, of course, changed centeries and millennia long planning. Just one example.
agreed felt like this was a project they -had- to do more than one they were -qualified- to do
I just watched the 2021 movie and came back to rewatch this- thank you for this video!
wait, didn't Paul have a first son with chani that died who was also called Leto II??
Yes
😳 that moment when you realize why your 90s-highschool-white-boy-nerd friends told you, “everything past the first book is trash, don’t bother”
Which is funny cause Paul is described as having olive skin & black hair
Fun fact: Frank Herbert is cousins to Joe Mccarthy
Please do another video breaking down the next portion of the Dune Series😁😁😁
👏🏼PLEASE👏🏼
I would recommend she actually read the books first. From the way she talked about the subject matter, it strongly implied she got all the info from reading synopsis and reviews and cobbled together he own version.
@@nathanprime2434 Yeah, I noticed that too. Especially when she started saying that it's not a subversive story until the sequel, which just isn't accurate. Along with it being a white guy power fantasy, which also isn't what the book is. It seems like 80% of the people who talk about what Dune was about didn't actually read it.
Im glad you we're given a chance to host a PBS episode
As someone currently reading through the original Dune Chronicles (on Heretics at the moment), I am surprised you managed to make such an amazing summary of the series and its themes without once mentioning the Bene Gesserit by name, considering how big a role they play in the series. Admittedly that would just be opening up a whole 'nother can of worms, especially once you get to Heretics and (presumably) Chapterhouse, where the reader gets a deeper look into how they operate, but I'm still impressed.
Leaving out the Bene Gesserit was a choice. Their machinations were crucial.
Each reader can take something different from a book. Issac Asimov spoke of a conversation he had with a fan about Foundation, the fan explained his interpretations of the book and when Dr Asimov told him that he had not intended to convey any of the meaning the young man had gotten, the fan said that Dr Asimov didn’t know what he was talking about.
I couldn't pinpoint why I found myself becoming a fan of this show; I knew I was enjoying it but it was more then that. I just couldnt figure it out. Then just now, it dawned on me. The host!! She makes me feel like I'm a kid again in the mid 90s watching cable T.V. lol. She has a HUGE 90s vibe (and let me be clear, coming from me that's about the dopest comment I could ever give someone since I loved growing up in and everything about the 90s). The way the segments are done and the way she explains things just triggers some part of me and makes me feel really nostalgic.
Your analysis and discussions are always rich and thoughtful, and this one is no exception, even though I’m not a fan of the Dune series. Read Dune decades ago (yeah, I’m old) and liked it well enough-though I was already uncomfortable with some stuff that would be termed “dated” now-so I moved on to book 2. Yikes. Couldn’t get even a quarter of the way in; hard noped out of the series at that point.
I prefer Sheri S. Tepper’s novel Grass, and the two extremely loosely linked novels that came after that featured some of the same characters and universe. She manages to acknowledge (and criticize) the same failings of humanity while managing to find a decidedly more revolutionary path to change. Interestingly, the setting of Grass is, in my view, more brutal than Dune, but there are definitely structural and thematic similarities which is why the two are often compared. I also appreciate far more of the colonized POV in Grass, rather than it being so heavily from the colonizer/imperialist side.
"Yeet into the stars and beyond 🚀" LOL great video 🙏🏻
I actually like the stuff is son did lol. It’s not Frank Herbert’s Dune but I found it to be pretty fun. I love the books about the thinking machines.
I love the Attack of the Clones reference at the beginning.
Dune has long been my favorite novel, and you brought up so many points in ways I'd not considered before! This was an excellent video essay - thank you.
Wonderful take on my favorite literary SF series of all time 🏜
Great video! It captures the series so well. Also I’m now have some reading ahead of me, I want to read what those critics wrote as those quotes were amazing. If you all have time I would be very interested in hearing your critical review of of chapter-house and Heretic of dune.
Pedantic part of me is raising its head, aren’t there 6 books in the original series?
Yes: Dune, Messiah, Children, God Emperor, Heretics & Chapterhouse. I think God Emperor would require an entire video of its own to parse out.
I love the movie, I’ve even sat through the 4 hour version. Me and my dad would watch it anytime we saw it on tv. When I was a kid I tried reading the book, but couldn’t. I don’t know if I just didn’t grasp it or I got bored because I knew most of the story from the movie. I’d like to see more videos about the Dune series. And you’re right, Dune did influence sci-fi for years after it was written. The story sounds a lot like Star Wars, but then again so does everything else. I hope the new movie does it justice and when those giant sandworms bust onto the screen, the music is just as loud and iconic as the original! “THE SLEEPER HAS AWAKENED!!” ✊
Really good stuff. Dune is one of my favorite series. You should review the rest of the books.
I love that Lindsay didn't touch this one with a ten foot pole.
I really hope that Warner Bros gets Denis to create the next two books so that most people get to see Paul change from the hero to the monster
Good stuff!
I will say this, for whatever reason the David Lynch version of Dune remains closest to my heart. I can enumerate all the things that I liked about it, I can point to the fact that I was about 10 years old when it came out, and so on, and I'm betting there's a LOT of folks who would have many many things to say about all of it. But even acknowledging its problems, I still love it.
And I hadn't read the book yet.
Going back to watch it after finishing out the first 3 books - still loved it.
As to the "not delivering" on all the questions it brings up...to me that IS what makes a good, impactful look into philosophical questions. I felt Herbert was simply exploring the questions, showing people fumbling towards some kind of answer, and not always- or even often! - finding any answers. I came away from God-Emperor thinking really hard about a lot of this, and wondering. I still wonder. And I feel like that's the point: we are not handed a nice neat pat answer in the end, all tied up with a ribbon. We're given a look at the many facets of the questions asked, the problems presented, we're shown a few different ways that various peoples try to answer those questions - and how those solutions play out, and maybe don't work very well, or work but in a way that maybe isn't worth the pain caused.
So in the end, each individual must find their own path: which in a way, was just exactly what Paul and Leto were hoping for. A return to individualism, I mean.
I don't think even the first Dune novel can be called a 'White boy power fantasy' - even in that book, it is made very clear that Paul is a prisoner of circumstance and his own precognitive abilities. If Paul and Jessica refuse to use the religious system seeded into the Fremen by the Missionaria Protectiva then they would both inevitably die in the desert and the Harkonnen and Imperial plot would succeed. But by using that religion in order to survive, Paul sets in train a sequence of events that leads inevitably to the Fremen Jihad and the deaths of tens of billions of innocent people. Paul's abilities swiftly make him aware of this consequence of his decision, and he repeatedly struggles throughout the rest of the book with trying to work out how to avert that outcome, but for all his efforts he fails, and he knows full well what that failure will mean. He seriously considers his own death as an option, but he realises that all that will do is make him a martyr in the eyes of the Fremen and worsen the carnage. Not many power fantasies have at their core the fundamental powerlessness of their protagonists to avert disaster.
Paul also never asked to be made different and to have these responsibilities foisted upon him, seeing himself as a freak at least at the beginning. His creation was a combination of the work of the Bene Gesserit and their breeding program on the one hand, and his mother's choice to defy orders from the Bene Gesserit and give Duke Leto a son instead of the daughter she was 'supposed' to bear on the other. The shape of Paul's life is not of his own choosing; again, as much as he is superhuman, he is also the victim of the decisions and priorities of others, ensnared in the machinations of various power brokers in the Imperium before he even took his first breath. It is all much more complex than a 'white saviour' narrative even in the first book.
This isn't to rain on the parade but the pronunciations I'm this video needed some work. Also some of the points/ideas presented in this video were contrary to the novels themselves. Trying to tackle a synopsis of these books is hard but I feel the sources they cited were of a bias nature that cloud the description.
Thank you for your post. I am heartbroken PBS allowed this trash to be posted.
My friend your intellect and sense of humor are a delight
I didn't think Fremen was pronounced Free-Men… I thought it was pronounced Fremm'n, like in the Lynch movie?
It is, this is reflective of the poor quality overall of this vid.
Just ine of the many errors if this video. Same with some of the interpretations they have presented, just flatout wrong
For me, something that made the dictatorships in Dune so uncomfortable (or rather, _more_ so) was the prescience of Paul and Leto II. It's fair game to criticize a conventional human dictator, but give them varying degrees of future-sight and suddenly you don't know what portion of their rule is unjust by way of error, and which is just for the sake of preventing some future cataclysm only they can glimpse. While I have a hard time reconciling this and other ideas in Herbert's work, at least it got me thinkin', which isn't so much the case with certain space fantasy franchises.
Cool. Thanks for this. I have never read, nor seen any of them, but I once had the PC game Dune.. which I never played because it never worked, but despite this, the world of Dune is such a part of the zeitgeist that the major features are quite familiar. It is a great (and necessary) thing to mask learning in storytelling, compelling philosophical conundrums in drama. Perhaps, one day, if humans last long enough, they will be reading Dune in those first year college seminars alongside Gilgamesh and other works of "fantasy".
Great video. I've been geeking on Dune lately. Movie,sci fi series and novels. I even have the Marvel comics adaption of the movie. I can't wait to see the new flick. Trailers are making me jones.