Why It’s Important to Consider Whether Dune Is a White Savior Narrative

You can read the entire article by going HERE.

 

 

I am going to go back to read this article again and the comments before I come to my own opinion on this. Dune was written in 1965 so maybe that fact alone makes it immune to the current critique of WHITE SAVIORS in movies. I could see that accusation if the Fremen were Black but they are more Arab and race is never really an issue in the book. Paul become Muah'Dib more based on the Fremen myth that he was able to co-opt than the color of his skin. The 'voice from the outer world' just happens to be a young white boy.

 

 

Now that the cast is coming together, Denis Villeneuve’s upcoming adaptation of Dune is getting more attention than ever. And with that attention an interesting question has started cropping up with more frequency, one that bears further examination: Is Dune a “white savior” narrative?

It’s important to note that this is not a new question. Dune has been around for over half a century, and with every adaptation or popular revival, fans and critics take the time to interrogate how it plays into (or rebels against) certain story tropes and popular concepts, the white savior complex being central among them. While there are no blunt answers to that question—in part because Dune rests on a foundation of intense and layered worldbuilding—it is still an important one to engage and reengage with for one simple reason: All works of art, especially ones that we hold in high esteem, should be so carefully considered. Not because we need to tear them down or, conversely, enshrine them, but because we should all want to be more knowledgeable and thoughtful about how the stories we love contribute to our world, and the ways in which they choose to reflect it.