Thread by @SpectrumPulse

Okay, I'm going to have to get this out before I lose it and the discourse turns into a nightmare: DUNE THREAD.

Central point: there are more reasons than you think that this franchise was considered unfilmable.

Let's start with the source material...

So the original novel is considered foundational to so many other works in sci-fi - including Star Wars - but in truth Dune (and I'm speaking ONLY about the first book, purists, hold tight) isn't just out there in its content and themes and coding, it's DENSE.

On the broadest surface, it's a Greek tragedy about warring families and conservation of resources, with heavy themes on predestination.

And it's not a book that eases you into it. This is hard, layered, adult sci-fi... until it becomes pseudo-spiritual fantasy. Or both.

Factor in a hefty supporting cast, a lot of high concept ideas that the book takes time to dwell on, and an internal journey that could be deflected except for how heavily it drives the narrative, all with ridiculous amounts of detail that becomes important...

It's a lot.

And I've already been RTed by someone saying I'm 'gatekeeping' here. No, there's a level of complexity in the text here that sure, you can brush over, but a whole shit-ton of insufferable fans will never forgive you. Again, immersion in detail is what drives the narrative.

So you can make the argument that adaptation can change or blunt a lot of this. The average audience won't care about all that detail - look what Jackson did adapting LotR. And that's absolutely true...

And here's where we have to talk about coding and themes.

So you know Tolkien had some dicey viewpoints about birthright monarchy that underpinned the Numenor and drove Aragorn's assuption of kingship in Gondor, and how the invaders from the south and east were framed in both the text and movie?

Dune says hold my gom jabbar.

As has been pointed out in other threads, Herbert intended the arc of Dune to extend over three books (which is nuts considering how much plot he packed into the first one), but it's relevant when discussing themes and especially the arc of the "main" character Paul Atreides.

And that means how the first Dune novel ends doesn't quite capture the horror and consequences of what Paul chooses to do, and who had to die to get there.

Most adaptations will never go that far and then frame him as a hero... despite his genocidal plans.

That leads us to the explicit Middle Eastern and Muslim coding of the Fremen on Arrakis, and how Paul mobilizes them, both in battle and in religion.

If I was a producer who read the text, let alone the subtext, I would run SCREAMING from this!

Then we have the Harkonnens, and how their "deviancy" was framed in the books.

Some of this made the translation through Lynch's adaptation, but trust me when I say it gets WAY worse. So much sexual assault and ugly queer-coding...

So you run into what I like to call the Watchmen problem: you have a narrative loaded with detailed and sure-to-be-controversial elements even removed from context that even with the right explanation can look iffy...

But if you take out that detail, the fans and purists RIOT.

But Dune is a foundational piece in sci-fi/fantasy. I've already seen people look at the aesthetic and say, 'meh, we've seen it done before'. Its stylism has been embraced too often, so you kind of need the weird, insane detail to make it seem unique to the unknowing audience.

But so much of that detail is alienating and dense and not easily approachable, and that's before you question what stylism is needed to show the spiritual journeys on screen, especially with such complex and easy-to-misunderstand characters.

Keep in mind the average person is not a fan and if they've heard of Dune, they've heard is a weird sci-fi novel or they've seen memed clips from David Lynch's attempted adaptation.

And yet for a story of this scope, you need a big budget. See the massive quandary here?

Now despite all of this, I'm optimistic. Villeneuve is an excellent director, I loved what he did with Blade Runner 2049, and I have high hopes.

Just warning you all this will be thinkpieced to death by the first trailer. It's already starting.

(yes, I see the irony here) /end