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would u still love me if i was a shai-hulud

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For those who are not hard Sci-fi fans, to help you understand just how monumental of a triumph Dune Part 2 is,

This is the Lord of the Rings of Sci-fi. The Empire Strikes Back of sequels. I haven’t been this impacted by a cinematic experience since The Return of the King. Every Sci-fi film made after this will likely be compared to it. It will inspire a generation of filmmakers. I know someone is sitting in the theatre experiencing this movie who now realizes they have a passion for film and sci-fi, and that is a beautiful thing. This is what the experience of seeing a film should be. Movies can change you—long live cinema.

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Controversial opinion among Dune book fans maybe, but I loved the changes they made to Chani's character. Making her a fedaykin who is already an experienced fighter before Paul arrives was a brilliant choice. Dune Part Two is a war movie, and this puts her at the center of the action, side by side with Paul, and gives her a much more active role than she has in the book.

We got a hint of where things were going in the beginning of Dune Part One. The first thing we ever know about movie Chani is that she's a fighter. She serves as a voice for the Fremen, telling us the story of their struggle from her point of view. I wrote here about the difference this change makes compared to other adaptations of Dune, what a perspective shift it is to have the world of Arrakis introduced not by an outsider, describing it as a dangerous but valuable colonial prize, but by one of its native inhabitants, who tells us before all else that it's beautiful, her home that she's fighting to liberate. I am so, so glad that the second movie followed up on this characterization.

I never found Chani and Paul's love story in the book particularly convincing, because why would this woman, who already has a prominent and respected place in Fremen society, even give the time of day to her deposed would-be colonizer, let alone fall in love and have children with him? Without a compelling reason for Chani to love Paul, she ends up feeling like a prize to be won, and "indigenous culture personified as a woman to be wooed (or conquered) by the colonizing man" is a trope we've seen and don't need to repeat.

But as soon as you tell me it's a barricade romance I get it. Cool cool cool, I know exactly what this relationship is now and it makes sense. Movie Chani doesn't respect or even particularly like Paul when she first meets him, and she doesn't think he's the fulfillment of any prophecy. She comes to respect him, and eventually love him, through his actions. He's brave--sometimes recklessly so. He fights well. He's willing to stick his neck out on the front lines with the other Fremen fighters. He can (after a little help) hack surviving in the harsh desert environment. He's not too proud to learn from others. He seems to genuinely want to be her equal in a common political struggle. All these qualities make sense as things she values.

Fighting side by side as equals is just about the only way I can see movie Chani falling for Paul. And it fits perfectly with the film's pattern of reversals that Paul's capacity for violence would initially be one of the things Chani likes about him, only for her to be repelled later when she sees what he becomes.

And as for Paul, well, he's had people deferring to him his entire life. Someone who doesn't take any shit from him is probably refreshing. He seems to like people (Duncan, Gurney) who challenge him and engage in a little friendly teasing--and aren't afraid to go a few rounds in the sparring ring.

It's easy to speedrun a romance when you're spending all your time together in mortal danger fighting for a shared political cause. Especially if you then start winning in a war your people have been fighting for decades. Are you kidding me? That is the perfect environment for intense battle camaraderie to turn into romantic love, and lust.

It makes sense that this version of Chani never believes Paul is any kind of messiah. Of course a character like movie Chani wouldn't believe in or trust some outside savior to liberate them. She's been working to liberate her own people for years. The more Paul invokes the messianic myth, the more he starts sounding once again like someone who plans to rule over them, and the more uncomfortable Chani becomes. In this way she becomes a foil to Jessica, the two of them representing the choices Paul is pulled between. It's a great way of externalizing the political and philosophical debates that often happen within characters' heads in the book.

And of course this version of Chani would leave Paul at the end of the film. It's not just the personal, emotional betrayal--although that stings. What common cause does she have with someone who just declared himself emperor and is sending her own people off in a war of conquest against others? Given the important role she plays in Dune Messiah, I am super curious to see how they get her back into the story, but girl was so valid for being willing to just gtfo. Given that she has the last shot of the whole movie, I'm sure she'll be back somehow, and I can't wait to see what they do with her character in any future installments.

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dune part two plot summary

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Dune: Part Two (2024) + reddit text posts

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jessica really said “god forbid women do anything” and doomed an entire people to war by installing her twink son as a false prophet by stealing her cult’s 10,000 year old breeding program propaganda

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there's another fascinating thing.

a word "Sietch" comes from the toponym Siq (Arabic: ‎السيق), the Arabic name for a narrow canyon bordering the entrance to the desert city of Petra in Jordan.

in this scene Paul walks a narrow path through the desert, leading by Stilgar. he is not welcomed here, and he fully understands that.

inside the Sietch Tabr also a narrow path, he carries a dead warrior, Jamis.

later he speaks with Gurney about the benefits of being a Messiah. Chani hears them and she is not pleased. they’re also walking a narrow path in the rocky desert.

Paul in the South, he walks towards his death and rebirth, finishing the cycle of transformation.

later he speaks of his visions, as a “narrow way through” to defeat Harkonnens and gain victory.

he was walking narrow paths all along, from the moment he started his way. his destiny was inevitable. the very moment he carried a body of Jamis into Sietch, also Jamis in his vision led him to the South. he was marching towards his death and resurrection since he took his first steps in the desert. and he did walked a narrow way through

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chani saying she hates her name sihaya because it's part of the prophecy... the prophecy being planted/a means to control the fremen but also tragically and horrifically being real because chani's tear did bring paul back. paul saying he prefers chani to sihaya because he loves her for who she is and not anything to do with the prophecy. chani hating her name because it's the part of the prophecy that took away what she had with the real paul, before the water of life

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Something I really love in dune part 2, is the juxtaposition of chani's reaction during the war council scene and the ending scene.

In the war council scene everyone is on their knees but when Paul declares himself the mahdi and says he'll lead them to paradise, they all jump to their feet and shout lisan al gaib, chani however is the only one to stay on her knees, kept there by her disbelief and devastation along with her refusal to exalt him like everyone else.

Then you have the end scene where paul becomes Emperor which both compliments and contrasts with the council scene, here everyone was standing and they all sink to their knees, but this time chani stays on her feet, she's all anger and defiance, paul promised to be her equal and she'll never willingly bow to him.

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one of the “turning point-scenes” is this scene, where Paul rides Shai-Hulud for the first time: it’s his test. you win and become a rider or you die.

see how the entire narrative changes? from a group of Fremen, Fedaykins, who came to watch and support Paul, they turn into followers one by one. we see this via gaze of Chani, and her emotions are shock, disbelief, confusion, even. to watch friends, warriors, kneeling before Paul.

in this scene also changes the view at Stilgar. before this his scenes with “as written” were comedic, sounding with humor and detachment. everyone realized it was his beliefs due to his origins from the South. now? his words are filled with devotion, absolute faith in Mahdi, in Lisan al Gaib.

now this is where everything went wrong.

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Leto Atreides I and Lady Jessica

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I need veiled Emperor Paul so much. Like a nod to Bene Gesserit and his birtright from Jessica. Like a subversion of gendered attire. Like a metaphor of his separation from the mortal world as an entity. I am writing my emperor Paul veiled.

And you know what! Give Feyd-Rautha a veil. Let him take the privilege to look at him from everyone. That’s his face and body now. Only his. Not to be looked at by anyone, unless he wants them to. Give him a veil as a protection.

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do u ever speak and hear ur own accent come out really strong and have a moment like “oh fuck, i really sound like that”

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ALAN RITCHSON as Arthur Blood Drive 1.13 "Finish Line"

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Alan Ritchson and Alex Pettyfer behind the scenes The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare (2024)

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Henry Cavill and Alan Ritchson behind the scenes The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare (2024)

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what U guys need to understand about me is that i think with my clit and also i have a poet’s soul