The recent movie adaptation of the book “Dune” by Frank Herbert has been applauded as a visually magnificent film filled with a compelling plot, excellent soundtrack and more on-screen diversity than Hollywood is typically capable of. The movie follows Paul, the son of Duke Atreides who has been sent to “rule” the desert planet of Arrakis and its people. Paul struggles to find a balance between the expectations of his family and the call he feels from the desert and his visions. Conflict ensues over who controls Arrakis and Paul’s personal journey.
While I agree that the movie is complex, stunning, and absolutely worth watching, there is a key element of the story it seems Director Denis Villeneuve has altogether missed. Somehow in a film meant to be a commentary on colonialism and exploitation in the Middle East, there is zero inclusion of Middle Eastern perspectives on-screen or off.
Filmmaker Lexi Alexander tweeted, “A film about Middle East culture, shot in the Middle East, without a single Middle Eastern actor insight. Can’t wait.”
Alexander is one of many critics of the movie’s exploitation of Middle Eastern culture and struggles for profit seen in the film and while the positive inclusion of Middle Eastern culture in a modernized sci-fi movie is acceptable—if not appreciated—the fact that no Middle Eastern actors or writers were included in the project seems to directly contradict the anti-colonial message of the film. It is hypocritical to take a concept based on a criticism of how regions are exploited for their resources and include no representation for the real people being exploited. In the movie, this resource is Spice, which correlates directly with oil in our world.
The majority of the movie is set on the planet Arrakis, a desert planet inhabited by people called “the Fremen” who live in a vast desert largely inhabitable by their colonizers. The author of the book behind the movie deliberately drew from Middle Eastern culture as inspiration for many aspects of his book, but especially the Fremen people. They are inspired by the Bedouin people of the Middle East and North Africa, from the way they dress to their language and especially in their religion.
Herbert was upfront about the Islamic origins of the common religion in his futuristic world, just one example of this lies early on in the movie when “the Fremen” women cry out about a “lisan al gaib,” which they explain in the movie can be translated to mean “messiah” in the colonizers and House Atreides language. This corresponds directly to the prophetic Islamic belief in the coming of the Mahdi, a similar concept to a “messiah,” that rests in the Islamic origins Herbert drew from as inspiration.
Despite all of this conceptual representation and obvious Middle Eastern roots, there is no representation of actors of Middle Eastern or North African descent.
During an interview with NBC, Arab-American casting director Serena Rasoul showed her displeasure with this kind of false representation in Hollywood.
“You don’t cast MENA (Middle Eastern, North African) or Muslim actors, yet you profit off their culture,” she said. “That’s where it’s painful for us as creatives. It means that we are not good enough to be part of the film.”
Middle Eastern representation in Hollywood has been a persistent problem in the film industry, with a majority of Middle Eastern or North African actors being unable to escape the stereotypical typecasting as terrorists and villains. Recently some actors of MENA descent like Rami Malek and Salma Hayek have been able to break through these barriers to play more broad roles, but “Dune” takes a step backward.
The movie portrays the Fremen people as “the good guys” but in a film world where positive roles for Middle Eastern actors are so few and far between, “Dune” misses a golden opportunity to showcase the skills of underrated Middle Eastern actors.
Instead, they cast a variety of white, Spanish and African or African-American actors as the fremen. While the on-screen diversity is admirable in comparison to many Hollywood movies, it still engages in the rampant erasure of Middle Eastern representation in a story entirely based on their culture.
Although these actors are incredibly talented and perform their roles beautifully, the casting fell short when it comes to true representation. One casting decision I take a particular issue with is Zendaya Coleman, a popular young Ghanian-American actress, in her role in the film. As talented as Zendaya is, she was a poor choice for a role that could have gone to a new young woman of MENA descent and been accurate to the cultural inspiration for the story.
Instead, they picked a popular actress who they knew was a safe bet for diversity because she fits conventional Hollywood beauty standards, she’s a tried and true talent and she’s already well known. There is no doubt that Zendaya is talented and plays the role well, but her casting is another clear example of Hollywood’s commitment to profit over true representation.
Overall the movie is enjoyable and in many ways, the cultural aspects of the film seem to fall under “appreciation” rather than “appropriation”, but that farce ends as soon as you stop and think about the misrepresentation in the people on screen. “Dune” is a majorly missed opportunity to make an impact in Hollywood’s long-overdue transition towards cultural respect, but chooses a profit-safe path instead.
