holbrookism

[holbrookism]

There are so many places in the Villeneuve Dune adaptations where he just...takes all the narrative pieces that Frank Herbert laid out and subtly rearranges them into something that tells the story better--that creates dramatic tension where you need it, communicates the themes and message of the book more clearly, or corrects something in the text that contradicts or undermines what Herbert said he was trying to say.

The fedaykin are probably my favorite example of this. I just re-read a little part of the book and got smacked in the face with how different they are.

(under the cut for book spoilers and length)

The fedaykin in the book are Paul's personal followers, sort of his personal guard. They show up after his legend has already started growing (the word doesn't appear in the book until chapter 40) and they are people who have specifically dedicated themselves to fighting for him, and right from the moment they're introduced there is a kind of implied fanaticism to their militancy that's a bit uncomfortable to read. They're the most ardent believers in Paul's messianic status and willing to die for him. (They are also, as far as you can tell from the text, all men.)

In the book, as far as I can remember (I could be forgetting some small detail but I don't think so) there is no mention of armed resistance to colonialism on Arrakis before Paul shows up. As far as we know, he created it. ETA: Okay I actually went back and checked on this and while we hear about the Fremen being "a thorn in the side" of the Harkonnens and we know that they are good fighters, we don't see anything other than possibly one bit of industrial sabotage. The book is very clear that the organized military force we see in the second half was armed and trained by Paul. This is exacerbated by the two-year time jump in the book, which means we never see how Paul goes from being a newly deposed ex-colonial overlord running for his life to someone who has his own private militia of people ready to give their lives for him.

The movie completely flips all these dynamics on their head in ways that add up to a radical change in meaning.

The fedaykin in the movie are an already-existing guerrilla resistance movement on Arrakis that formed long before Paul showed up. Literally the first thing we learn about the Fremen, less that two minutes into the first movie, is that they are fighting back against the colonization and exploitation of their home and have been for decades.

The movie fedaykin also start out being the most skeptical of the prophecy about Paul, which is a great choice from both a political and a character standpoint. Of course they're skeptical. If you're part of a small guerrilla force repeatedly going up against a much bigger and stronger imperial army...you have to believe in your own agency. You have to believe that it is possible to win, and that this tiny little chip in the armor of a giant terrifying military machine that you are making right now will make a difference in the end. These are the people who are directly on the front lines of resisting oppression. They are doing it with their own sweat, blood and ingenuity, and they are not about to wait around for some messiah who may never come.

From a character standpoint, this is really the best possible environment you could put Paul Atreides in if you want to keep him humble. He doesn't get any automatic respect handed to him due to title or birthright or religious belief. He has to prove himself--not as any kind of savior but as a good fighter and a reliable member of a collective political project. And he does. This is an environment that really draws out his best qualities. He's a skilled fighter; he's brave (sometimes recklessly so); he's intensely loyal to and protective of people he cares about. He is not too proud to learn from others and work hard in an egalitarian environment where he gets no special treatment or extra glory. The longer he spends with the fedaykin the more his allegiance shifts from Atreides to Fremen, and the more skeptical he himself becomes about the prophecy. This sets up the conflict with Jessica, which comes to a head before she leaves for the south. And his political sincerity--that he genuinely comes to believe that these people deserve liberation from all colonial forces and his only role should be to help where he can--is what makes the tragedy work. Because in the end we know he will betray all these values and become the exact thing he said he didn't want to be.

There's another layer of meaning to all this that I don't know if the filmmakers were even aware of. ETA: rescinding my doubt cause based on some of Villeneuve's other projects I'm pretty sure he could work it out. Given the time period (1960s) and Herbert's propensity for using Arabic or Arabic-inspired words for aspects of Fremen culture, it seems very likely that the made-up word fedaykin was taken from fedayeen, a real Arabic word that was frequently used untranslated in American news media at the time, usually to refer to Palestinian armed resistance groups.

Fedayeen is usually translated into English as fighter, guerrilla, militant or something similar. The translation of fedaykin that Herbert provides in Dune is "death commando"...which is a whole bucket of yikes in my opinion, but it's not entirely absurd if we're assuming that this fake word and the real word fedayeen function in the same way. A more literal translation of fedayeen is "self-sacrificer," as in willing, intentional self-sacrifice for a political cause, up to and including sacrificing your life.

If you apply this logic to Dune, it means that Villeneuve has actually shifted the meaning of this word in-universe, from fighters who are willing to sacrifice themselves for Paul to fighters who are willing to sacrifice themselves for their people. And the fedaykin are no longer a group created for Paul but a group that Paul counts himself as part of, one member among equals. Which is just WILDLY different from what's in the book. And so much better in my opinion.

#dune #paul atreides #meta #fedaykin #ive always found this change really peculiar (in a good way) but this helped put the pieces together!

[holbrookism]

It's still hard for me to accept that Villeneuve won't direct "Children of Dune", especially considering that Anya is 100% Alia. In "Dune Messiah", she will probably outshine everyone.

#dune #alia atreides #oh shes STUNNING (passes out) #my tormented girlqueen

[holbrookism]

One aspect of the story of Dune that the movies don't make super clear is that, before Paul, the Fremen already had a central leader figure in Liet Kynes. In the book, Kynes has a generations-long plan to gather enough water to transform the environment of Dune (this is why the Fremen have those big pools, they never get super clear about that), then retake the planet for the Fremen and create paradise. Paul showing up and then leaning into the whole Lisan al-Gaib bit pretty much directly gets Kynes killed, creating a power vacuum into which he assumes himself with the aid of his previously-unheard-of levels of white privilege. While Kynes was an ecologist, however, Paul comes from a family of colonial military aristocrats. All Paul can offer the Fremen is all he understands: revenge. Bloody revenge for everything they've endured in centuries of oppression by the Imperium, temporarily in line with the revenge he craves for the Imperium's attempts to control him and his family, and spiritually in line with the resentment built up all across this socially stagnant feudal space empire.

#dune #liet kynes #nodding furiously this is one of the greatest absences from the movie #and i mourn that every day #in the movie the fremen seem like they're made up of disparate tribes and sietches before paul steps in #but thats not the case!!!! kynes already had a slow plan towards green paradise!!!!!!! #they were already working towards a greater cause it just wasnt enough without millenia old prophecy

[holbrookism]

“My mother is my enemy. She does not know it, but she is. She is bringing the jihad. She bore me; she trained me. She is my enemy.” ― Frank Herbert, Dune

#dune #paul atreides #jessica atreides #ARRRRGGGHH #the holy mother and infant god

[holbrookism]

he would do this. you KNOW he would.

#dune #feyd rautha #mine

[holbrookism]

regarding Dune Part 2: i am obsessed with its consistent visual theme of self-destruction. the shot of paul surrounded by his new followers seems triumphant - until the viewer remembers that each crysknife is made from a tooth of shai-hulud, and paul is standing in a circle of them, in the allegorical mouth of the worm. he orders a missile strike, and the viewer sees them fly directly through his head. every victory for the prophecy is a blow to paul himself; he's killing himself with every step he takes towards his destiny, and we know that already, and the film is screaming it, but it's a hell of a thing to watch it happen, isn't it?..

#dune #going to be unwell #paul atreides #the atreides curse always walking towards their own death

[holbrookism]

Kwisatz Haderach

#dune #art

[holbrookism]

“Paul has never killed a man.”

Dune dir. Denis Villeneuve

The mother and the son, watch each other kill.

#dune #paul atreides #jessica atreides #holy fucking SHIT!!!!! #last gif makes me feel so unwell GODDDD #a mothers love

[holbrookism]

I know this is a long shot, and I have no idea how Messiah is even going to be handled onscreen in regards to the time jump, but I'd love a scene of Paul wrapping up his own wounds from the end of Part 2. Because one, you can't just injure your main character That Much and then never follow up on it in any way.

But more importantly I want that emphasis on how alone he is. I need the narrative to keep acknowledging that. Despite being so important *in theory*, he isn't protected, he isn't cared about. He's a thing to be in awe of and be terrified of. So having him alone, injured, taking care of himself in private with nobody watching him or following him...and then having him drag himself back to his feet to go commit more war crimes immediately after showing him in a deeply vulnerable and lonesome position would be. hm. something.

#dune #paul atreides #OHHH OP YOUR BRAIN #this is such a neat way of visualising it i cant lie #the ending with the camera angles such that we cant see his busted up face???? #hes not even a person anymore he is made up of his followers and religion!!!!! #eating this

[holbrookism]

On the set of "Dune: Part Two" in Jordan, photos taken by Jack Davidson for Le magazine du Monde

#dune #dune bts #archive

[holbrookism]

Timothée Chalamet behind the scenes of DUNE: PART 2 (2024)

#dune #paul atreides #timothée chalamet #archive

[holbrookism]

she is my enemy

#dune #paul atreides #jessica atreides

[holbrookism]

kind of shit at backgrounds, so i tried to practice.😭😭😭 anyways, dune video game concept

#dune #art #DUDEEE i need this to be real so bad. instead of fucking dune awakening ugggghhh PLEASE

[holbrookism]

Oh I realized a thing about the Paul/Feyd-Rautha fight. So usually if you have a big fight scene, but especially if you do something like have a character get injured in a way that would definitely be fatal if they weren't cursed with inescapable Main Character Energy, you follow up the fight scene with some moment of comfort or relief or something, which serves to release the tension for the audience and let them know whew, that was scary, but it's okay now. Your character is hurt but they're gonna survive. (Or alternately, if they're dying heroically, it was worth it and what the narrative demanded.)

But here there's nothing. Paul is surrounded by devoted followers; his mother; his lover; one of his oldest teachers and a loyal servant of House Atreides. No one steps forward to offer a shoulder to lean on or help him to his feet. He's left them all behind. He's not a person who got hurt in a fight anymore; he's a myth that people shrink back from. So he pulls the knife out by himself. He stands up by himself. Other than the emperor very begrudgingly touching his hand to kiss the ring, I don't think anyone touches him at all for the rest of the movie. He's completely alone. They never release that tension, because Paul's alive but it is very much not going to be okay.

#dune #paul atreides #no exactly!!!!! the last 20 minutes is a masterpiece of building up tension and then just HOLDING it at that peak. #never giving the audience a beat to relax or catch their breath because PAUL never gets to do so!!!!!! #since messiah is picking up after a time skip i really do love how the ending gives you a sense of the next 10 years #like this is IT for paul and his jihad. never letting up that tension and immense stress and struggle for control #never letting up on the intensity of the spectators either #so isolated at the top of the power chain

[holbrookism]

Fallout (2024—) 1.01 "The Beginning"

#fallout #the ghoul #was he thinking that line while inside the coffin or #<- PREV TAGS HELP #he was workshopping it okay hes BORED

[holbrookism]

I've been lying to you, Boyd... keeping up the fiction that I got all manner of things tying me to Kentucky, things that forestall my moving to Florida, but there is only the one thing- you.

Justified 6x08 'Dark as a Dungeon'

#justified #boyd crowder #raylanboyd #GIIIIRLLL i forgot how much their insane one liners hit #my loquacious queen tbh

[holbrookism]

Walton Goggins as Cooper Howard in Fallout (2024 -) Season 1 | Episode 6 "The Trap"

#fallout #walton goggins #haven't reached here in the show yet so this is literally just boyd crowder to me #SORRY! #not sorry