for the record, like almost all big classic sci-fi, these books (dune) are remarkably bigoted and reductive. i still like space stories and political intrigue tho.

alt text: Trade Offer from Sand Worm Leto Atreides. You receive: 4000 years of planet bound subjugation. Spice, eventually. Famine. Sex ninjas from outer space. Golden Path… I recieve: Like 70 something Duncan Idahos. Gentle Hwi.

  • frezik
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    3 months ago

    It gets overlooked today, but Barron Harkonnen is a gay stereotype. Overlooked because gay men being hyperviolent is a stereotype that’s long died out, but it was a thing.

    Dune starts in a weird place and it gets weirder as it goes.

    • L3mmyW1nks@lemmy.world
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      3 months ago

      IIRC, Frank Herbert very explicitly described how Leto II was applying homosexuality to his Fish Speakers in order to keep control over the violent traits common for any army. Luckily, it was just a few pages of it.
      Then in the last book he started writing about Space Jews and I got a little frightened where that might end up…