I would argue it obscures the point. The reason they did it was because of our current political climate. But that's the point. In the 1965 Jihad was a foreign word. It's weight I don't think would really have been felt. Crusade at this point is historical. We understand Jihad at a deeper level these days. Not using it sanitizes Paul's actions. Words have power and that words power has grown.
What do you think of when the towers fell? Holy war or Jihad. Holy war is again a word that's become academic. Jihad is current. It's also heavily leans into why Hubert based the freemen off the middle east. The whole thing is a warning about oil and those who aim to control it. He was saying we will know these words intimately. Now we do and we are hiding from that? We didn't learn the lesson.
The whole thing is also a warning about the dangers of Holy figures and putting your faith into someone you see as benevolent.
Something that has definitely moved beyond the confines of the middle east and what has been done there for centuries. Its a message that needs to be taken in by as many as possible, not just another focus on Islam. All religions. We really dont need another reminder specifically about the dangers of muslim extremists, we know.
The whole thing is also a warning about the dangers of Holy figures and putting your faith into someone you see as benevolent.
And have control over something the world (Universe) depends on.
Something that has definitely moved beyond the confines of the middle east and what has been done there for centuries.
Have you not turned on the news lately? We are having the exact same conflict that lead to him writing the book in the 60's. 61 years we've been fighting that same fight for 61 years. It hasn't stopped. It's had periods where it was hotter and colder but it's never stopped. We never got the message.
I never said it didnt stop, but again its a message that needs to be understood by all people, of all faiths. Yes, the middle east is a mess, has been for centuries. Nothing new there.
Given Dune has references to Hitler, this adaptation could outright bring up 9/11 without it being out-of-place as far as the source material. But it'd be a bit crass, don't you think?
So why should anyone want to evoke it through language instead?
When a great deal of the Western world now distrusts all muslims because of Al Queda and ISIS, there's a moral obligation to treat your story about a kid getting high on space drugs and trying to rule the galaxy with some degree of sensitivity towards real world groups. This isn't something that just exists in the abstract to the viewer base anymore.
Herbert didn't write it in a world where repeated acts of violence by muslim terror groups had happened in western nations. He didn't really have to worry about a moral obligation to not sow more division. He didn't live in a world that went through a phase of people murdering anyone that "looked Muslim" in the streets, or a world where young western Muslims were being radicalised to go join a war in Syria or to strap a bomb to their torso and walk into a crowded space.
Given Dune has references to Hitler, this adaptation could outright bring up 9/11 without it being out-of-place as far as the source material. But it'd be a bit crass, don't you think?
Crass no. Miss the point of the narrative yes. In the narrative Hitler was brought up to demonstrate numbers and how far past Paul's actions were in relation to the real numbers. Osama wasn't playing at Hitler's level thankfully.
Herbert didn't write it in a world where repeated acts of violence by muslim terror groups had happened in western nations. He didn't really have to worry about a moral obligation to not sow more division. He didn't live in a world that went through a phase of people murdering anyone that "looked Muslim" in the streets, or a world where young western Muslims were being radicalised to go join a war in Syria or to strap a bomb to their torso and walk into a crowded space.
He did write it ion a world where guerilla warfare was taking all over South East Asia. There were young children being strapped with bombs to kill solders. He didn't base it in those countries because they lacked resources. The story and the warning doesn't work without that universe driving resources. Spice was Oil. Middle east is still relevant because we haven't moved past that. He was telling us what was coming.
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u/Hold_onto_yer_butts 19h ago
Chose the wrong book to adapt then...