Naofumi
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Amazon Prime.Where did you watch the film because it's out of the cinemas ?
As I told, I already know the finer details of the story. Lol, I have that much attention to details. The problem with Dune is not that it does not have "non-Christian and non-Western narratives" but that it have them in a very twisted and outdated way - like an 17th century white orientalist would have. Fremen are shown as superstitious, incapable of having finer technology and overall a weaker people in their social organisation itself. Not only that, Fremen are shown as weird savages who have inhuman customs like murdering each other in duel like while Paul is an honourable white prince who gives Jamis chances to surrender but Jamis being the coloured savage he is, is hellbent on murder or say when Stilgar comes to Leto, he spits on the table - that is how Fremen supposedly greet each other. As much I understand, in no human culture spitting in a stranger's direction is considered a greeting then why this disgusting thing is shown as a part of Fremen culture if not to create a ground that shows Fremen as savages? All the ceremonial stuff feels like mysterious magical stuff of savages as some orientalist would have seen the East in 16th-19th centuries. Terms like Mahdi/Lisan Al Ghaib/Sayyidna and God knows what, are thrown around without very little context what they mean in real Muslim/Arabian historiography.And Paul actually believes in himself as the Mahdi, or at least someone to precede the Mahdi, and believes in the mysticism of the Fremen. The Kwisatz Haderach is actually a lengthy genetic program of the Bene Gesserit sisterhood to create a superhuman and Paul arrives before the time the sisterhood expects. I must point to the dreams that Paul has. These dreams are prescience, he can look into the future and this is enhanced when he ingests or breathes Spice. I haven't watched the film but if the second part of the film comes out in 2023 as is said, it will cover the remainder of the first book in the series and you will see Paul's mother, Jessica, becoming the Reverend Mother of the Fremen after ingesting the Water of Life. The Fremen's previous Reverend Mother was a Fremen and she dies of age during the ceremony that Jessica becomes. Paul and Jessica become part of the religion of the Fremen. When I started reading the books many years ago I didn't feel Eurocentrism in them. The writer, Frank Herbert, included non-Christian and non-Western narratives. And you should look at how simple, sophisticated and empathetic the language of the books is. Please read the first book and then decide.
On the dream and prescience, this was the most immersion breaking part. There is no "science stuff" in this. That's simply impossible according to our current physical understanding - this dictates a physical determinism akin to Laplace's demon (closest thing I can think of in real science), see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laplace's_demon#Arguments_against_Laplace's_demon . Also, 'spice' thing is so stupid to be put in a sci-fi movie - first of all there is no way that space travel can be made easier by some drug, it is a magical fantasy not sci-fi. Also, Why don't the humans have figured out the chemical structure of spice and began producing it artificially? Given the overwhelming importance of spice, this should be the very first step of the human civilisation. We have interstellar travel in the plot but not enough chemists to deconstruct a single compound.
Regarding "Kwisatz Haderach is actually a lengthy genetic program of the Bene Gesserit" - this is again magical stuff. There is literally ZERO scientific stuff. If this sounds good to you then sorry you know very little real biology. This is just magical stuff again and bullshit at that too. Still, let us assume that this is possible in an alternate universe then why the **** Bene Gesserit don't fund genetic engineering and get their goal accomplished in seconds in a lab (of course after the research is complete)?! Why is every science is so outdated in Dune universe?!
Overall as a sci-fi work, it is pretty outdated and stupid containing very meagre science. I would rather recommend Solaris by Stanisław Lem, Cosmos by Carl Sagan or even Arthur C. Clarke's works.
No, I tried to immerse in the plot but it just throws me away. Sorry, can not waste my time on it.Please read the first book and then decide.