One of the most fascinating and unappreciated ideas in Frank Herbert’s *Dune* is the “Missionaria Protectiva.” This is, essentially, a myth or (self-fulfilling) prophecy that the Bene Gesserit Sisterhood plants in cultures throughout the galaxy.
These myths might “brew” for centuries, influencing cultures and peoples, before coming to fruition and serving the Bene Gesserit Sisterhood and their vision of the future. It is a “protective” mission, after all.
“Gesserit” sounds a lot like “Jesuit,” of course—and there is strong Roman Catholic costuming for the Imperium in Villeneuve’s version—but “Gesserit” has stronger commonalities with Judaism.
Though it is the Freman who really believe in the Messiah, they are ultimately just acting out a script written for them by the Bene Gesserit. IOW, they believe in someone else’s Messiah. Fascinatingly, Paul will turn the Gesserit’s own myth against the Sisterhood in the end.
David Lynch leaves the “Missionaria Protectiva” out of his notorious (though, imho, really enjoyable) 1984 film. In this way, Paul isn’t turning the Bene Gesserit’s sinister myth against them; Paul *is* the Messiah, and we, the audience, are in the same position as the Freman.
Villeneuve brings the Missionaria Protectiva back into the story in his latest version, though subtly.
Intriguingly, Frank Herbert’s understanding of myth and the “collective unconscious”—as *consciously* created, often for sinister and diabolical aims—is very similar to @MarkBrahmin’s.
Brahmin claims not to have read *Dune*, as he’s demonstrated that in his latest commentary (😂). But the pair actually have a lot in common. As they say, “great minds think alike.”
We should ask what Herbert is trying to tell us with all this. *Dune* is, superficially, a “White Savior” narrative, in which the chosen son of the elite “goes native” and leads an oppressed, non-White people to freedom, literally becoming their “Space Jesus” in the process.
That said, what makes *Dune* not just a “White Savior” narrative is that Herbert looks at the flip side of the oppressed people’s myth. Be careful becoming a Messiah, young man, you might just be following the script and mouthing the lines of a coven of witches!
Additionally, Paul foresees that becoming Messiah will launch an insane, blood-soaked, puritanical galactic Jihad, done in his and his father’s name. So, again, be careful what you wish for…
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