Dune Yea, Avatar Nay

Dune vs. Avatar. Friend made an Avatar comparison I hadn’t heard, adding yet another facet to its derivation. (I haven’t seen it yet. I may wait for the DVD. I get vertigo from video games. This one may knock me out cold. But there’s plenty of information about it out there.) I’ve heard it’s similar to a few others (Pocohantas, Dances with Wolves, Fern Gully.)

But what about Dune? Does the Earthling guy become a messiah type? A god? Or just a leader of the opposition. If a god then was there a legend that an avatar would come and save the Na’avi? Dune splices that with Dune’s Bene Gesserit millenia-in-the-making genetic manipulation plans. A bit more meat there.

It may bear some similarities to the Dune movie and the miniseries, in that they were fairly simplied tick-tock interpretations, but those books were probably not destined to be good movies. I had excessively high, it turns out, hopes for the David Lynch attempt but was deeply disappointed. Besides phoning it in, with a production scale far beyond his ken, Lynch was lashed to a couple-three fatal casting choices: his own (Kyle McLachan?!) and the studio’s (Sting!?)

Scarce resource? Spice vs….whatever it is the evil humans want in Avatar? Yes, but House Atreides was given Dune to manage the spice in a diplomatic deal that turned out to be a trap. The Fremen indigenes may not have been happy about it but armed resistance didn’t start until the Harkonnens took over. So right there you have a more sophisticated set-up than just evil Americans swooping in to grab Na’avi land.

Also, from what I’ve heard, Cameron’s planet is elaborately imagined but maybe a bit OVERimagined. Whereas the environment of Dune was simpler and more integrated with the characters and the political motivations of the story. Why were the worms feared, yet worshiped? I’m sure you’re aware of the actual source of the spice. There again, a point probably intentionally not clearly laid out in the books, untouched in the movies, and pretty much out of Avatar’s league.

And oh yes, another point in common: Na’avi skin, blue. The Fremen whites-of-their-eyes? Blue.

Hadn’t thought of that Dune comparison though. Interesting, and worth considering.