I shed a tear watching the trailer for DUNE. I adore the Frank Herbert novel. I have read almost all the books, prequels and sequels and seen the original film and mini-series. If I must wear a still suit and space helmet, I want to see this new vision by director Denis Villeneuve.
I could not get the ironic real-life circumstances out of my mind. Watching a trailer for a story about a planet with an environment so hostile humans must wear special suits to go out in the deep desert. The film is based on a novel that is a classic with so many levels: a space soap opera of good versus evil, an environmental message about the impact of trying to manipulate a planet’s ecosystem and the stagnation of humanity needing to be awakened like the central hero of the novel.
On Dune, you must wear a still suit to survive in the desert then watch for sandworms and sandstorms.
Here on Earth we have been warned to stay inside for months unless we wear a mask. This ask is more to protect others from the hidden danger that could be inside us. Some of us have embraced. Others refuse. Some defy.
As I write this, I have watched the Dune trailer multiple times in part because I have been hunkered down inside not just from the virus but from a visible health threat. Smoke from fires in all directions have turned my adopted hometown into a hostile environment. Savage fires and smokes are creating strange glows over west coast cities and towns. We are seeing eerie orange clouds dominate the skies. Waves of smoke from eastern Washington, Oregon and California have been drifting into the Seattle area creating dangerous air quality and strange skies. After months of urging to not go out without a mask, we are now warned to not go out at all.
As I wait inside for a change in wind direction to move the dangerous smoke, I cannot help but think of the messages in Dune written decades ago. A dangerous combination of climate change and human error set the stage in our forests and ignited infernos sending dangerous smoke across the land forcing us to hide inside watching a beautiful home transformed into a seemingly alien and hostile environment.
The signs, warnings and messages have been in our fiction and from our science. When will we listen and take collective action? In a year about the effectiveness of masks, when will we take off the mask of denial.
We are living in a science fiction novel turned harsh reality because we do not listen to science.
DUNE is expected to be released December 18, 2020 in the U.S.
By Editor