Jessica in her Reverend Mother garb flanked by other Fremen

Dune: Part Two’s Treatment of Women is an Abomination

Criticism

Despite stated intentions to focus on women and expand their roles, the new Dune film adaptations disappointingly fall back on stereotypes for the Bene Gesserit and undermine the political, religious, and maternal agency of Jessica in particular. Cast and Crew Intentions Director Denis Villeneuve has discussed in numerous interviews that he wanted to focus on the women in his adaptation. Before Dune: Part One, he said: “For me, it was important to bring more femininity to the story. I am fascinated by the relationship of femininity and power, the place of women in society…. [Lady Jessica]’s a fascinating character, one

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Women Discuss Dune event banner

Women Discuss Dune Event

Academia, Criticism

⏺️ The recording of this panel is now available on Dune News Net’s YouTube channel. Join me for a virtual panel with women scholars who have written about Frank Herbert’s Dune as we discuss this science fiction classic and what we find interesting and relevant about its epic story. Each writer will bring their own angle of research to the table and explore what keeps fans and scholars alike coming back to this decades-old book and its adaptations. Just in time for the release of the new Dune: Part Two film! Meet the Panelists! Yosr Dridi, PhD (@YosrDridi8 on Twitter/X, @Dridi_Yosr

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Adaptations of Dune book

Adaptations of Dune available now

Criticism

My new book Adaptations of Dune: Frank Herbert’s Story on Screen has been released! Find it in paperback and ebook versions on Amazon. This book is all about the three screen adaptations of Dune — David Lynch’s 1984 film Dune, John Harrison’s 2000 television miniseries Frank Herbert’s Dune, and Denis Villeneuve’s 2021 Dune: Part One — and how faithful they are to Herbert’s source material. It is the first study of the miniseries and the first extended study of Dune: Part One, and provides the groundwork for understanding these adaptations and how closely they align to the book so beloved by people

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Adaptations of Dune: Frank Herbert's Story on Screen books on shelf

New Book Out Soon

Criticism

There’s just a month to go until the publication of my next book, Adaptations of Dune: Frank Herbert’s Story on Screen! Pre-order the Kindle ebook version on Amazon now, or wait until the paperback release on February 5. An audiobook version will hopefully follow soon after. While the world has awaited the Dune: Part Two film (now scheduled for a March release), I decided to study the three existing adaptations and how faithful they are to Frank Herbert’s book. All of the directors said publicly that they wanted to stay faithful to the source material, so I took a closer look at the evidence

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David Lynch holding infant son Austin during filming of Dune

David Lynch’s Infant Son and Other Personal Stressors in the Making of Dune the Film

Criticism

Director David Lynch’s infant son wasn’t mentioned in any of the dozens of sources for the chapter I wrote on his fateful Dune (1984) film. I only stumbled across this info in one of the last sources I looked at for a quick cross-check of a different fact. This source was Lynch’s autobiography, Room to Dream (2018), coauthored with Kristine McKenna and full of interviews with people in Lynch’s life (read more about it in Vice‘s article Women Are the Most Surprising Part of David Lynch’s New Memoir). It was here that I read about his then-spouse Mary Fisk giving birth

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