The Middle Geeks Episode 31: ‘Dune’ Review
Denis Villeneuve’s Dune adaptation, based on a book that was explicitly and heavily influenced by Middle East and North African (MENA) and Islamic cultures, is out, and we are joined by our friends and fellow MENA critics Hanna Flint and Roxana Hadadi to review it.
Why were there no direct MENA and Muslim creators or actors starring (barring our fave David Dastmalchian in a small villainous role) in the film? How well did this film work at adapting Herbert’s work? How did the original work and the film play into systemic Orientalism? We also discuss the news that Aladdin (2019) star Mena Massoud is opening his own production company, give our recommendations, and much more!
- Mae’s Dune Review for Screenrant
- Rocky’s Dune Review for Polygon
- Hanna’s Dune Review for The New Arab
- List of Arabic terms used in Dune
We are a proud member of the Hard NOC podcast family.
Follow Hanna on Twitter @HannaFlint
Follow Rocky on Twitter @roxana_hadadi
Follow us on Twitter: @TheMiddleGeeks, @MaeAbdu, @spiderswarz
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Paraphrasing: “Aladin and 1001 Nights are the only Middle Eastern fairytale the west knows.”
Did you forget about the Bible?