Why Dune: Part Two Hits So Hard

Most Dune: Part Two reviews are something like: “crappy plot recap, bland technique talk, big good.”

Although it is big good indeed, let’s take this from a different angle.

It’s common in our culture for “subversion” to be seen as inherently good. So much so; that the other day a Ram ad came on the TV saying: “defies everything you expect in a truck.” which is patently false, For if true; it would have cheese slices for wheels and be shaped like a triangle.

That said, Dune: Part Two truly is subversive and in a way which is both sophisticated; and highly unusual. It subverts exactly the aspects of our culture which are trendy but hollow, towards something more eternal, more real.

You end up feeling both invigoration and calm, the thrill of subversion and the healing of stability; in a space one might call awe.

The following is my attempt to illuminate why.

1: It subverts materialism.

Religion is central to the story of Dune and characters discuss whether it’s nothing more than a way to control the masses. But unlike lesser films, the teenage cynic is not correct by default. The movie is full of things which slip through the rational mind’s mask of sovereignty and the cosmos is left a place of marvels.

2: It subverts mindless egalitarianism.

Ok, before we continue you should know; I’m not of these internet monarchists who believes Christianity is dead and cringe and all our problems would go away if only emperor Curtis Yarvin ruled the world.

I believe in democracy as C.S. Lewis said, “not because men are so good that everyone should be a part of ruling, but because men are so bad that none of them can be trusted with unfettered power over his fellows.^”

However, we are getting to the end of egalitarianism. We’re pushing “We should remove legal barriers to success” all the way to, “Life should be equal.” This is one of those things that only works if you don’t think about it. For as Thomas Sowell once said, “Nobody is equal to anybody. Even the same man is not equal to himself on different days.”

There’s a small scene where Dune (again) demonstrates it’s sophistication. In the scene, Chani is talking about her culture and how communal and close it is. But she mentions “Here, we don’t have The Great Houses or anything like that.” (paraphrased) Even though the main narrative is about the corrupting nature of power, it’s never overly utopian towards nomadic life either. It’s more layered, more true. It’s heart is kind but not infantilized.

3: It subverts nihilism.

If my (extremely limited) knowledge of where the story goes next is correct, we’re going to see the other extreme. The opposite of egalitarianism. A world of power but no love. All dominance, no tolerance. If safety-ism is a shield of unreality we’ve constructed to protect ourselves, cruelty is that which we protect against. (a fact my post-democracy friends should keep in mind.) But however this story ends, one thing is clear. Dune: Part Two is a masterpiece. It speaks to things which are deep and real… To man’s essential nature, and the evils he must continually fight. It re-enchants the soul and shakes us from our materialist nihilism; leaving us again, in the fresh air of an open sky.

“Mysticism keeps men sane. As long as you have mystery you have health; when you destroy mystery you create morbidity. The ordinary man has always been sane because the ordinary man has always been a mystic.” -G. K. Chesterton