Dune 2018 (19,20,21...)
- Thread starter wayoung
- Start date
Why would it be a swipe?
Spice is its own thing in Star Wars and is no more a swipe at Dune or even connected to it than your grocery store having a spice aisle is.
Even if it was a conscious reference to Dune, so what? It has nothing whatsoever to do with the plot, nor is it a core concept of the movie's world building.
Hell, just the mere context of that one single line fundamentally alters the concept of spice mining in Star Wars from spice mining in Dune. There are no "spice mines" on Arrakis: it's harvested right off the surface like a crop while on Kessel, it's dug out of the ground like an ore, in actual mines and presumably, not deposited there by giant sandworms.
So it's not even stealing the idea, just borrowing a term. I'm sure Star Wars also wasn't the first use of terms like "star cruiser", "hyperdrive", "teleport" or even "blaster" either.
Hell, just the mere context of that one single line fundamentally alters the concept of spice mining in Star Wars from spice mining in Dune. There are no "spice mines" on Arrakis: it's harvested right off the surface like a crop while on Kessel, it's dug out of the ground like an ore, in actual mines and presumably, not deposited there by giant sandworms.
So it's not even stealing the idea, just borrowing a term. I'm sure Star Wars also wasn't the first use of terms like "star cruiser", "hyperdrive", "teleport" or even "blaster" either.
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Lucas obviously cribbed terminology from Dune, Foundation, and Star Trek, with allusions to Flash Gordon abounding, no doubt to appeal to SF fans. Big fucking deal.
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Brief reference by Lucas, and that's about it.
Brief explanation-when you say
"a swipe at" is generally a negative phrase, as in "to take a punch or poke at"
It's your comment. Who else is there?
Denis should watch Lawrence of Arabia. Star Wars will dumb Dune down. But I guess that's what it takes to get people into theatres.
I really don't think he was making the comparison pejoratively, just that both Dune and Star Wars have certain superficial overlap (huge space empires, rebels and sand. Lots and lots of sand...) but the subject matters are wildly different. Star Wars is by design a fantasy fairy tale, aimed primarily at children, but still suitable and enjoyable for all ages.
There's plenty of mature and more cerebral subtext, but it's just that. With Dune the more cerebral concepts are front and centre with the "adventurous" plot of great houses and betrayal being mostly a mechanism to explore and even deconstruct the many themes and concepts. And it is definitely not aimed at children. So yes, I'd say "Star Wars for adults" is not an unreasonable comparison to make.
