Conservatives who complain about liberal Hollywood may have a new film to champion: Dune: Part Two. The new science fiction epic is directed by Denis Villeneuve and adapted from the famous book by author Frank Herbert.
Herbert was a brilliant thinker who could juggle several complex ideas at one time. Dune has themes of environmentalism, empire, religion, war, prophesy, and political conflict.
At its heart, however, Dune, and especially its book sequels, form a massive argument against big government, high taxes, and superhero leaders and political messiahs who promise to save the world.
The world and politics of Dune have been expertly analyzed by Daniel Immerwahr, a bestselling author and professor at Northwestern University. Immerwahr charts the two sides of Herbert, the conservative Republican and the environmentalist who grew up in Washington state, hung out with hippies and did drugs in the 1970s, and whose mentor was an American Indian.
Although raised by socialist parents, Herbert’s experience with commune living and Native Americans filled him with a hostility toward the federal government. Herbert rejected “any kind of public charity system” because he “learned early on that our society’s institutions often weaken people’s self-reliance.” Herbert worked for four Republican candidates, including very conservative Guy Cordon, a U.S. senator from Oregon. Cordon was pro-logging, pro-business, pro-military, anti-labor, anti-regulation, and a supporter of Joseph McCarthy. A book Herbert wrote before Dune calls Soviet agents “the sinister embodiment of everything evil.”
Yet, Herbert was also an environmentalist. In the 1960s, a countercultural activist gave him a book to read about log mining. Herbert was shocked and agreed in that hysterical time that humans were going to strip the Earth of all its resources. All that would be left, he said, “is one big dune.” Herbert also had knowledge of Islam before it was widely known in the West.
Combine these elements, and you get Dune. The story is set in a galaxy in the far future. Noble families war for control over planets and resources. The most valuable resource is the spice melange, a substance that gives long life, heightened awareness, mesmerizing blue eyes, and the ability for interstellar travel. The source of the spice is Arrakis, a desert planet.
Dune the novel tells the story of Paul Atreides, a teenage boy who comes to Arrakis, leads a revolt against the empire, and fulfills a religious prophecy. In the recent Dune films, Paul is played by Timothee Chalamet, who is perfectly cast.
What many critics get wrong is that Dune is not an argument for a messianic leader to come and save us. It’s about resisting the lure of such a figure — a Barack Obama who is deified as the answer to our spiritual desires and is the fulfillment of “the arc of history.” In Dune Messiah, the sequel to Dune, Paul becomes a tyrant who doubts his so-called destiny and is responsible for millions of deaths.
After supporting Richard Nixon and then seeing the president resign, Herbert had an epiphany. “Nixon taught us one hell of a lesson,” he said, “and I thank him for it. He made us distrust government leaders.”
One sequel to Dune offers the story of Leto II, a politician who becomes a tyrant in order to teach people a “lesson their bones would remember.” Leto abused the people, then offered this lesson: “I expect you to be exceedingly careful about the powers you delegate to any government.”
The last Dune novels Frank Herbert wrote would be welcome at CPAC. A couple were written while the IRS hounded Herbert for unpaid taxes. In Heretics of Dune, the mere mention of the word “liberal” elicits rage from the main character. She lives 25,000 years in the future, yet just hearing someone say “liberal” reminds her “how much viciousness lay concealed in that word” and the “secret ego demanding to feel superior.” She concludes, “Liberal bigots are the ones to trouble me the most.” Another character argues that “liberal governments always develop into aristocracies.”
Dune: Part Two has been getting rave reviews. Many of the critics appreciate that the film is not a typical hero’s journey — that in the end, it asks questions about the wisdom of hero worship and political messiahs at all. “The underlying question is not whether Paul wins or loses,” critic Michael Whittaker observed in his review. “It’s about whether he remains a hero or becomes the morally murky protagonist. Dune: Part Two is both horrifying and romantic, presenting a far, far future that is recognizable because people never change. While the war may be portrayed as a jaw-dropping spectacle, the answers to all those political and moral questions may leave the audience deeply uncomfortable. Herbert would be proud.”
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Mark Judge is an award-winning journalist and the author of The Devil’s Triangle: Mark Judge vs. the New American Stasi. He is also the author of God and Man at Georgetown Prep, Damn Senators, and A Tremor of Bliss.
