“All governments undergo a recurring drawback: Energy attracts pathological personalities. It’s not that energy corrupts however that it’s magnetic to the corruptible.” –Chapterhouse: Dune

Denis Villeneuve’s adaptation of Dune understands one thing in regards to the character of Paul Atreides that the 1984 Dune adaptation by David Lynch didn’t: Paul is just not a hero. Paul, as envisioned by Frank Herbert, the writer of the Dune novels, was meant to be a warning towards messianic figures. In a well-known quote, Herbert mentioned that charismatic leaders ought to include the warning label, “could also be harmful to your well being.” 

Frank Herbert’s Framing of Paul Atreides vs. David Lynch’s Dune Portrayal

Nevertheless, Herbert’s intention of Paul being a warning towards the kind of one who is ready to bend populations and nations to their will by power of persona was usually misplaced to these studying the e-book. And, because it seems, within the first try and adapt the e-book to movie. David Lynch’s Dune (1984) is a cult traditional and beloved by many followers of the e-book. Nevertheless, the best way that Lynch selected to interpret Paul in his movie goes straight towards Herbert’s intentions.

After the climactic duel with Sting’s Feyd-Rautha, Paul causes the bottom to interrupt and crack underneath the physique of his slain opponent. Paul assumes the mantle of Emperor, and the music swells because the narrator triumphantly states, “The place there was conflict, Muad’dib would carry peace. The place there was hatred, Muad’dib would carry love.” Paul then makes it rain on Arrakis. 

There isn’t a precedent for this. Paul’s powers are spectacular, however they don’t seem to be supernatural. He can’t crack the bottom with the facility of his voice. And he actually can’t management the climate by will alone. (A slight e-book nerd word: water kills sandworms. Whereas Paul does start the method of terraforming and greening Arrakis in subsequent novels, an unmanaged rain storm would probably consequence within the mass loss of life of the worms, ending the manufacturing of spice and grinding area journey to a halt.) 

This tells the viewer that Paul actually is a supernatural Messiah determine who’s worthy of the facility he assumes. It means that it’s a optimistic growth to switch the corrupt secular ruler with what is actually a God-Emperor (shoutout to e-book 4 of the sequence).

Paul Atreides’ Characterization in Denis Villeneuve’s Dune: Half Two

In Villeneuve’s Dune: Half Two, the framing for the rise of Paul is vastly completely different. Following the defeat of Austin Butler’s Feyd-Rautha, this model of Paul calls for that he be wed to Emperor Shaddam Corrino’s daughter Irulan, claiming the throne for himself. The opposite Nice Homes of the Imperium don’t acknowledge Paul’s ascendancy, which is when Paul tells the Fremen, “Convey them to paradise.” 

One of many closing scenes of the movie are legions of fanatical Fremen warriors boarding transports to carry holy conflict to the galaxy within the title of their Mahdi. Whereas not talked about within the movie (although it is likely to be in Villeneuve’s anticipated adaptation of Dune: Messiah) this holy conflict in Paul’s title kills over sixty billion folks. 

Whereas some particulars are smoothed over, that is roughly what occurs within the books. Nevertheless, one massive change is in how Chani reacts to Paul’s marriage to Irulan. Within the books, Chani is knowing of the necessity for a political marriage. She is aware of that she can be Paul’s real love as his unofficial concubine. The movie modified her function to be the voice of opposition to the non secular fervor that has gripped her folks. 

She storms off into the desert, and the movie ends on her face as she calls a worm. Anger and sorrow dominate her options. She feels each feelings for a pair causes. First, it’s for the person that she loves abandoning who he was. And, it’s additionally for her folks abandoning their lifestyle on the behest of a non secular chief. It is a far cry from bringing peace the place there may be conflict and love the place there may be hatred. 

The faith that Stilgar and the opposite Fremen so fanatically observe was not native to Arrakis. Relatively, the Bene Gesserit sisterhood (mainly the area Illuminati) seeded myths and prophecies throughout the galaxy to help themselves and their plans. The manufactured nature of the prophecies that Paul fulfills in an effort to change into the Messiah of the Fremen is completely absent from Lynch’s movie. In 1984’s Dune, Paul merely is a supernatural determine who was the destined Mahdi of the Fremen folks. It doesn’t painting him as an opportunistic foreigner who manipulated folks into believing that he was greater than a person. 

Paul’s corruption of the Fremen tradition via exploitation of their faith is seen in Dune: Half Two via Javier Bardem’s Stilgar. Stilgar acts as considerably of a comic book aid via the primary half of the movie. In a scene considerably harking back to Monty Python’s The Lifetime of Brian, Stilgar is impressed when Paul says he isn’t the Mahdi that Stilgar believes him to be as solely the Mahdi can be so humble as to not say that he’s the Mahdi. 

However, because the movie continues, the comedic undertone of Stilgar’s non secular devotion is stripped away. He goes from a nicely which means chief with an air of humor to a wild eyed fanatic gleeful on the prospect of bringing loss of life to the enemies of Muad’dib. Although Paul’s story is framed within the traditional “Hero’s Journey” format, there was at all times a sinister undertone to his actions. 

Paul Atreides Is Not a Hero However He’s Additionally Not a Villain

All of this isn’t to say that Paul is the villain of Dune. He does have good qualities, and is actually not sadistically evil in the best way that the Harkonnens are. Regardless of his manipulation, he does actually fall in love with the Fremen tradition. He’s horrified by the visions of the longer term that he sees of a future drowning in blood. However, in the end, he selected the trail that led to that consequence. 

When push got here to shove, Paul needed revenge towards Home Harkonnen for killing his household. To get his revenge, he was keen to control the indigenous folks of Arrakis utilizing the faith that was implanted into the tradition by the Bene Gesserit. He was keen to trigger the loss of life of billions, claiming that he had no alternative and did the whole lot he may to restrict the variety of folks slaughtered on account of his rise to energy. He says that the opposite paths have been worse. However have been they worse for the galaxy or simply worse for him and people he cared about? 

In the end, Paul Atreides was meant to function a warning that scores of individuals die and whole cultures are destroyed when males change into Messiahs. We must always by no means put out belief and religion in leaders to avoid wasting us, as they’re simply as fallible as these they lead.

If you wish to perceive that side of the character and the Dune sequence as an entire, then you need to look to Dune: Half Two.