estellaestella

[estellaestella]

they're both bad options.

i'd like to say he chooses the one that liberates Arrakis for certain but I think its the timeline where he gets to spend more time with Chani i dunno.

#had he fought as Usul we'd ask: “how could he not free Dune and overthrow the Imperial House when it was in his power to do so?” #dune #dune part two #frank herbert #denis villeneuve #paul atreides #lisan al gaib #lady jessica #timothée chalamet #chani #timothee chalamet #zendaya #rebecca ferguson #tw: genocide #trolley problem #I think he chooses the path that gives him more time with Chani but i cant remember if i read that in the books or its analysis #it's not for ambition as some people say - he had already done a uturn from the whole revenge warpath and had put away the Atreides ring #but having his home bombed and his people massacred twice within a year makes him want to make certain his new home & his people are secure #the quickest way to get that security is to topple shaddam #to stop being hunted - and he has been hunted for a while by this point

[estellaestella]

Dune (the Book) and its semi-failure to subvert the White Savior Narrative

I’ve been reading Dune again, after seeing Part 2, and the movie has really opened my eyes to the ways Herbert attempted to subvert the white savior narrative, and I circle back to why it failed.

The fundamental reason? The book still centers Paul (and to a lesser extent, Jessica) as the POV and central character. The Fremen remain an OTHER. Aliens viewed through Paul’s eyes. The only Fremen POV chapter belongs to Chani, and it’s entirely about her personal emotional connection to Paul. You cannot subvert the White Savior narrative while other-ing his victims - making them voiceless.

And I think Herbert kind of knew this? One element not emphasized in the film about the Water of Life, is that Jessica literally experiences hundreds of generations of Fremen life and history. She shares the memories of all the Reverend Mothers before her:

Jessica recoiled, fearing she would become lost in an ocean of oneness. Still the corridor remained, revealing to Jessica that the Fremen culture was far older than she had suspected.

There had been Fremen on Poritrin … fair game for Imperial raiders to harvest and plant human colonies on Bela Tegeuse and Salusa Secundus

Oh the wailing Jessica sensed at that parting.

Far down the corridor, an image voice screamed, “They denied us the Hajj!”

Jessica saw the slave cribs on Bela Tegeuse … saw the weeding out and the selecting that spread men to Rossak and Harmonthep. Scenes of brutal ferocity opened to her like petals of a terrible flower. And she saw the thread of the past carried by Sayyadina after Sayyadina - first by word of mouth, hidden in the sand chanteys, then refined through their own Reverend Mothers with the discovery of the poison drug on Rossak … and now developed to subtle strength on Arrakis in the discovery of the Water of Life.

Far down the inner corridor, another voice screamed, “Never to forgive! Never to forget!”

On one level, this is truly radical empathy. Jessica, the privileged aristocrat: (1) learns the culture she unconsciously dismissed is in fact ancient, sophisticated, and rich; and (2) suffers with them for hundreds/thousands of years, experiences their oppression over thousands of years. Further, she learns that, far from being a culture created by the Bene Gesserit manipulation, the Fremen developed their own version of memory-sharing. The BG just parasitically attached themselves to the existing culture and technology, warping it for their own ends. The Fremen didn’t need the BG to “teach them” how to memory share. They figured it out on their own and used it for their own purposes.

But, on another level, this is also Jessica as the ultimate parasite! The Reverend Mother she “shares” with is dying. When the ritual is complete, Jessica carries the Fremen memories. I think about her leaving for Caladan at the end of the book, carrying the memories away with her and I shudder. Isn’t this truly an act of cultural destruction? The Aristocrat walking away with the whole cultural tradition trapped inside her head? The ultimate version of taking away culture artifacts and displaying them in a museum.

Aside: She does leave Alia behind for them. Though I feel like I struggle to unpack Alia. Perhaps she’s somehow “the Most Fremen”? Exposed to the whole of Fremen memory as a fetus? Yikes.

I think, if there had been more of a Fremen voice in the narrative, this would have created a fascinating dynamic. Jessica (and later Paul) would confusingly combine the memories and culture of oppressor and oppressed, carrying the rage of both. But, without that voice, we have Fremen culturally filtered through their eyes and voice only. And I’m back to saying that you can’t subvert the White Savior narrative if the only people who speak are the White Saviors.

[estellaestella]

i'm not rotting in my bedroom i'm a princess locked in a castle

[estellaestella]

what terrible things we do to those we love.

[estellaestella]

I know this is horrible but this comment was left on a true crime youtube video and I cannot stop laughing. 

[estellaestella]

Recited by the poet himself 🤭 (@ 1m 39sec)

new yaoi just dropped

#timothee chalamet #josh brolin #gurney halleck #paul atreides #timothée chalamet #Youtube

[estellaestella]

Every time I watch Dune I forget about it but I'm foaming at the mouth over how Paul has a vision of himself as a powerful, respected, divine figure with millions worshipping him and he just says "Somebody help me"

[estellaestella]

Timmy swinging on the chair from different angle

#his hair length makes SUCH A HUGE DIFFERENCE #timothée chalamet #timothee chalamet

[estellaestella]

Bless the Mucha and his watercolours...

#paul atreides #art #mucha adjacent

[estellaestella]

The Water of Life scene from DUNE, for the film fans who are curious. Background: Paul has been comatose for 3 weeks and Jessica has exhausted all sorts of tests and still cannot figure out what poison has caused this. She sends for Chani on a gut feeling that she'll be able to help. (She sends an ornithopter for her even though they arent supposed to be used in case they are spotted by Harkonnens) Chani arrives, hears that the message to come here from Paul was actually signed by Jessica. When she hears the truth she asks Jessica various questions and then she has an idea :

#dune #dune part two #Water of life #paul atreides #lisan al gaib #denis villeneuve #lady jessica #timothée chalamet #chani #hand of god #timothee chalamet #zendaya #rebecca ferguson #fair use #dune spoilers #dune 2 spoilers #dune 3 spoilers #dune spoiler

[estellaestella]

Chani: Paul, I'm m afraid you've gone mad with power

Paul: Of course I have, y'ever tried going mad without power? It's boring, no one listens to you

[estellaestella]

While I nodded, nearly napping, suddenly there came a slapping,

As of some one gently flapping, flapping at my chamber door.

“’Tis some fairy,” I muttered, “slapping at my chamber door—

            Only this and nothing more.”

[estellaestella]

Do you ever talk to your mutuals?

not really i just post things and hope they fall in love with me

[estellaestella]

Monkey Man. Love you Dev, but you tripped there. [Full marks for introducing people to 'sisterfucker' tho 😅. Underrated swear word. ]

#monkey man #dev patel #for people who dont know: india shares a border with China on one side and there are thousands of people in India who have Chinese ancestry #i mean its a country with a million different shades of skin so you wouldnt ever get colour-based slurs would you? #there's enough religion based segregation/ division anyway!

[estellaestella]

Messages of support and strength from Rafah, Palestine to the US student movement.

[estellaestella]

[estellaestella]

I could say I am the chosen one and it cd be one of a million films/tv series out there 😅

Emperor of the known universe, thank you very much.

#Dune Part Two #i was making gifs for a dune discourse post last night #funnily enough my mum used to say “women want to be queens only till they realise how much work it is - much better to be a princess!” #so yeah - emperor of the known universe probably means fuck tons of work....