"Dune" More Than a Sci-Fi Epic

Image via Warner Bros. Pictures

Dune (2021), directed by Denis Villeneuve, is a cinematic masterpiece which shows an excellent theme of modern Middle Eastern politics.

Dune in all its adaptations has never been subtle about its political arguments. Though its political message has changed through the decades. All adaptations have had some new opinions on Iraq and oil.

This was setup by the original book where House Atreides and House Harkonnen have a proxy war over the planet of Arrakis and its incredibly important resource of spice, which is needed to power spaceships for long distance space trade. This is a not so subtle analogy to the country of Iraq that has an incredibly important resource of oil; which is needed to power ships and planes and is needed for long distance trade.

The original book talks about colonial exploitation combining analogies from Colonial America with analogies about Iraq. David Lynch's 1984 film adaptation compares the proxy wars of the book to the proxy wars of the Cold War; House Atreides stands in for American and House Harkonnen represents the USSR.

The most recent film adaptation, Dune (2021), shows a more modernistic take. This being the only adaptation to take place after the Iraq War, Dune (2021) has hardened analogies to post 9/11 America’s idea of retributive justice. Villeneuve's version shows all three main factions related to retributive justice, the first being House Harkonnen's hyper retributive society, always wanting revenge on any faction which challenges it. This is similar to Republican views on the War on Terror. House Harkonnen is shown to be emotional and violent but strong and powerful. Conversely, House Atreides seems to be more for Utilitarianism, not wanting to go to war with anyone even though they may have disagreements or past transgressions. This is more similar to Liberal views on the War on Terror. House Atreides is shown as forgiving and diplomatic but weak and unprepared. And finally the Freman, who are native to Arrakis, are analogous to the Middle Eastern response to invasion. Dune (2021) appears to takes a central left view to Retributive Justice. The Freman need to rebel but not so much where it is a massacre.

Villeneuve's Dune is an intriguing film which shows a unique perspective on Middle Eastern politics compared to its predecessor and source material. Dune (2021) is a reminder of how modern films can be used to represent social messages. I would recommend anyone who wants to see a great fictional world with real social messages go see this movie.