“Denis Villeneuve and his collaborators do not call [or otherwise identify the Dune desert culture as] Islam, nor Arab or any other MENA culture. Part One presents the Fremen as generic ‘people of color.’
“For all the inclusivity of its 2021 ensemble — which includes Jason Momoa, Dave Bautista, Oscar Isaac, Stephen McKinley Henderson, Chang Chen and frequent Villeneuve collaborator and half-Iranian actor David Dastmalchian (under white makeup and a bald cap) as representatives of Houses Atreides and Harkonnen — not a single MENA actor was chosen to play Fremen.”
HE comment: I say cancel Dune right now. Villenueve and the other anti-MENA racists messed up, and they have to pay the piper. Cue Timothee Chalamet reaction: “I had nothing to do with the casting of Dune, but if you guys want Villeneuve cancelled or demoted, I’ll go along with it.”
“Instead, they are played by actors like Sharon Duncan-Brewster, Zendaya, Javier Bardem and Babs Olusanmokun. (As Dune super fan John Hodgman recently said, ‘I’m very conflicted about Javier Bardem. I don’t know what accent he’s doing. What’s that supposed to be?’)” — from Roxana Hadadi‘s “Dune Has a Desert Problem,” Vulture-posted on 10.29.21.
