{"id":76051,"date":"2024-03-27T16:27:58","date_gmt":"2024-03-27T16:27:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pakistaninewspaperlist.com\/news\/mena-critics-slam-lack-of-diversity-in-dune-2-the-express-tribune\/"},"modified":"2024-03-27T16:27:58","modified_gmt":"2024-03-27T16:27:58","slug":"mena-critics-slam-lack-of-diversity-in-dune-2-the-express-tribune","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/pakistaninewspaperlist.com\/news\/mena-critics-slam-lack-of-diversity-in-dune-2-the-express-tribune\/","title":{"rendered":"MENA critics slam lack of diversity in Dune 2 | The Express Tribune"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Despite receiving accolades for stunning cinematography and visual effects, Dune: Part 2, <\/em>director\u00a0Denis Villeneuve\u2019s\u00a0sequel to \u00a0Dune: Part One,<\/em>\u00a0has come under fire by critics for its lack of diversity and stereotypical depiction of Middle Eastern culture, reported Variety<\/em>.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The\u00a0Dune <\/em>films,\u00a0based on Frank Herbert\u2019s 1965 sci-fi classic about false idols, imperialism and religion,\u00a0take place on a distant planet, Arrakis, home to the Freman. In the sequel, starring Timoth\u00e9e Chalamet, Rebecca Ferguson and Zendaya, Villeneuve explores Arrakis at a deeper level. With the original novel\u00a0heavily rooted in Middle Eastern and North African (MENA) and Islamic culture, the film has been called out for misrepresenting\u00a0its source culture.<\/p>\n

Stark lack of MENA talent<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cFrom the use of beads and prostration in prayers by the Fremen, to the almost-Arabic language, phrases pulled from religious texts and the wearing of veils, it felt like Dune<\/em> takes a heavy amount of inspiration from Islam, Middle Eastern and North African cultures yet simultaneously erases us from screen,\u201d wrote Furvah Shah, a Muslim journalist, in a piece for Cosmopolitan UK<\/em> as she expressed her frustration with the lack of onscreen MENA talent in major roles in the film.\u00a0<\/p>\n

In a similar vein, Variety<\/em> reported that Amani Al-Khatahtbeh, founder of MuslimGirl.com, pointed out the lack of representation of MENA actors across Hollywood in general.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cOne of the big things we hear when it comes to Middle Eastern people getting cast or brown people getting cast is there is not enough talent, yet there is no hesitation and no challenge for the industry to cast those actors from those backgrounds in the stereotypical roles of being terrorists or the villains. Conveniently, we are at a surplus of Middle Eastern actors when it comes to negative portrayal,\u201d she noted.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Serena Rasoul, a casting director and founder of MA Casting, echoed similar sentiments and told Variety<\/em>, \u201cThis was a missed opportunity to honour the region\u2019s rich culture and heritage. Our stories are good enough, but our people are not.\u201d<\/p>\n

Conforming to tropes and simplifying culture<\/strong><\/p>\n

Whilst the film utilises Middle Eastern and North African imagery, the lack of diversity in the cast has also been picked up on by other critics. With Souheila Yacoub, a Swiss-born actor of Tunisian heritage being the only minority actor relegated to playing the role of the \u201cnoble savage\u201d or “native fixer” – whose main role in the trope is to help the hero and die – the stereotypical depiction left a sour impression on Thomas Simsarian Dolan, an academic advisor for the MENA Arts Advocacy Coalition and faculty in Middle Eastern and South Asian Studies at Emory.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cThe native fixer is in on the action, but definitely in a decidedly second-class position, subservient to the colonial power or hero,\u201d explained Dolan. \u00a0\u201cIf the novel is so undeniably anchored in this place, why is it so unpalatable to employ MENA performers and creatives?\u201d<\/p>\n

In addition to failing to utilise more MENA performers, Variety<\/em> reported that Dune: Part Two<\/em> has also been criticised for altering elements of language from its source novel, thereby drawing from marginalised cultures and people without centering them and ultimately weakening novelist Herbert\u2019s anti-colonial message. In a recent New Yorker<\/em> piece, Manvir Singh, an assistant professor of anthropology at the University of California, Davis, points out how Herbert\u2019s novel was filled with Arabic, yet the films\u2019 linguist David J. Peterson removed it for \u201cbelievability.\u201d<\/p>\n

Plea to Hollywood\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

Critics called on Hollywood to take a bigger responsibility to faithfully portray minority cultures, especially in the light of ongoing global devastation in Middle Eastern and North African territories. \u201cThe way we\u2019re portrayed in the media has a direct impact on the way people perceive our communities that are already facing unspeakable oppression and complacency,\u201d maintained Al-Khatahtbeh.<\/p>\n

Whilst director Villeneuve declined to speak to Variety<\/em>, he has previously defended his Dune: Part One<\/em> adaptation and gone on record to state that his goal was to be faithful to the novel. \u00a0\u201cI tried to be as faithful as possible to the images I had in my mind when I read the book when I was young,\u201d he said. \u201cAnd this idea that the world of the Fremen would be kind of inspired by culture from North Africa and the Middle East \u2014 culture that I deeply love by the way, because it\u2019s a very complex world \u2014 there was this idea that there was something powerful that will come out from Africa in Frank Herbert\u2019s mind. And I tried to respect his ideas. Which is why I did the casting the way I did. And I feel truly that I\u2019m right in doing it this way. It feels authentic, it feels honest, and true to the book.\u201d<\/p>\n

However, as per Variety<\/em>, critics have noted that in Dune: Part One<\/em>, the only actor representing a minority was David Dastmalchian, who is of Iranian descent, and played the role of a House Harkonnen, which colonised Arrakis and exploited its resources.<\/p>\n

With minority actors still forming only a fraction of Hollywood performers and being restricted largely to conforming to stereotypes, the shift to embracing culture and inclusion in a manner that satisfies critics and viewers alike appears to still be a long way away.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Have something to add to the story? Share it in the comments.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Despite receiving accolades for stunning cinematography and visual effects, Dune: Part 2, director\u00a0Denis Villeneuve\u2019s\u00a0sequel to \u00a0Dune: Part One,\u00a0has come under fire by critics for its lack of diversity and stereotypical depiction of Middle Eastern culture, reported Variety.\u00a0 The\u00a0Dune films,\u00a0based on Frank Herbert\u2019s 1965 sci-fi classic about false idols, imperialism and religion,\u00a0take place on a distant 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