#the lady helen

[therealelrondhubbard]

[thephantomcasebook]

It's crazy to me the depths of the characterization that is quietly under the surface in "Dune".

Like the Reverend Mother Gaisu Helen Mohiam in the movie Dune - Part I going above and beyond to save Paul and Jessica's lives because Jessica is her favorite child and Paul is her grandson.

Just the quiet humanity of her rigging the fix against the Atrieides just enough to save her daughter and grandchild when she isn't supposed too.

I'm disappointed that in the movie they didn't get more into Mohiam and Jessica's backstory, about how much she loves Jessica and went out of her way to raise her own child against the Sisterhood's mandates. Or the fact that she is forever bitter against the Atreides for taking her little girl away from her, whether its the plan or not.

And how, at least in the movies, Jessica is raising Paul in the same manner that Mohiam raised her. With the cold and detached relationship of a mentor and bodyguard but with a love so powerful and darkly obsessive that it can destroy nearly 1,000 years of planning.

Fuck, dude, Paul even looks like Mohiam in the movies. Like Timothee and Charlotte Rampling look so much alike it's kind of scary. Which, for years, casual fans of the movies were like "Paul doesn't look anything like his parents" and I didn't want to spoil anything by saying "No, but if you look behind her veil, Paul looks like his grandma."

Just a thought as I'm listening to the audio book again while watching clips of Part I again.

[illustratinghan]

Helenium ~ Tears 💧

- a recreation of Helen Blackthorn’s flower card -

characters by @cassandraclare 🫶

follow me on instagram! @/illustratinghan

[thespicemustflowgirls]

" kneel. "

[sleepy-sham]

I've been out of the game bc I was sick but to celebrate my return to health I bring you more dune memes ((Big Post 2))

more dune memes

[princessanneftw]

Queen Elizabeth II, Princess Margaret, Princess Alexandra and The Duchess of Kent holding their new babies - Edward, Sarah, James and Helen - in 1964

📸 Lord Snowdon

[ragsforless]

Dune crack!au (1)

Paul: May thy knife chip and shatter-

Feyd: *starts singing* 🎶In another life, I would be your girl🎶

Paul: What?

Feyd: 🎶We keep all our promises, be us against the world🎶

Paul: I’m so confused right now.

Irulan: And I’m recording this.

Feyd: 🎶In another life, I would make you stay🎶

Chani: NGL, he has a great voice.

Stilgar: True.

Irulan: *is still recording* You’re doing great, Feyd!

Paul: Shouldn’t we be fighting-

Chani: Shush, Paul! Let him finish.

Paul: But-

Feyd: 🎶So I don't have to say you were the one that got away, The one that got away🎶

Paul:. . .

Jessica:. . .

Feyd: So how’s my singing?😀

Chani: I approve! You’re going to be our concubine number 2!

Feyd: Nice.

Irulan: Oh, great. A new roommate.

Stilgar: As written.

Paul: What?!

Jessica: I did not see that coming.

Mohiam: I did.

[intersquared]

allow me to drop these doodles and once again run off into the woods from which i came

[sand-realtor]

[mashbrainrot]

St. Sebastian by Peter Paul Rubens, c. 1614 // Alan Alda as Hawkeye Pierce, Mash Episode "Deluge", 1976

[specialagentartemis]

Did Penelope talk to Odysseus about it? When Odysseus was told that Helen had been abducted by a Trojan prince and all the kings of Greece were being summoned to go to war against Troy and bring her back, Odysseus didn’t think that was any of his concern and didn’t want to go, but what did Penelope think? Helen is her cousin. Penelope was raised alongside her like a sister. Did Penelope think of her beloved cousin kidnapped and taken to foreign lands? Was she afraid for her? Did she encourage her husband to go, to give the war his all, to rescue Helen and bring her home, because Helen is her family? Not for Menelaus’s sake, or even for Helen’s, but for hers. For Penelope. For Odysseus’s love for her, for him to go and join the rescue attempt for her cousin.

[tys-kitty]

It‘s literally them

[ellestra]

Paul Muad'Dib Usul

Dune Part 2 had more changes to the story than Part 1. It's not just omitting stuff for the sake of time but also changing the roles of many prominent characters. On one hand I understand why it feels like changing the story and characters. I felt it too watching - especially with Jessica and Chani becoming so different.

But on the other I feel it makes final message clearer. There are so many people who mistake this for a hero's story. This is why the white saviour phrase is so often thrown around. I feel like this version of the ending makes it very clear that is in not what Paul becomes.

It makes it sadder too since we see him try to avoid this and just be part of his new home. But the weight of expectations of so many people leave very limited options - from the believers and Jessica to his old life and Gurney Halleck - they all push for what they want him to be so they can get their fight and their revenge. And none of them is interested in the cost. Just like Stilgar they see the opportunities to get what they want and ignore everything else (which really is so common in wars it's not surprising even 20 000 more years in the future nothing changes). So Paul is left with only two options - it's either swim with the current and keep some control over where it takes him or go against it and drown.

It is of course magnified by the other side doing all they can to stack the deck for themselves so it's either victory or annihilation. And trying to pull the rains out of the hands of forces controlling the universe is never not bloody.

Reverend Mother Mohiam admits here directly that Bene Gesserit didn't just want a Kwisatz Haderach. They wanted one they could control. Just like they planted religions to control the populaces of countless worlds. But this kind of manipulation is easy to get out of hand when infighting happens and in the end not even chosen one can chose how it ends.

Even knowing the truth doesn't stop it. Even knowing what will happen doesn't stop it. Avalanche of history only stops at the bottom and you can only hope not to be one buried by it. But you can still judge those who started it.

The parts under the cut are bit more spoilery (about spice and controlling the universe)

So I don't necessarily disagree with the changes. Like I understand why Alia the way she is in books wouldn't really work. And I certainly get why they cut Count Fenrig. But there is one thing I wish they did leave - the Space Guild confrontation. Because this is missing important part of the message - the person who rules the Empire isn't the Emperor but the one who controls spice. Paul taking the title is just a formality.

Spice has always been the clear metaphor for oil. Spice is what allows for space travel and without it world become stranded alone. People are literally addicted to it and its life prolonging properties. Who controls the Spice controls the universe. And the person who can destroy something controls it. And this means there is no stopping the jihad. No bombing Arrakis from space. No travel ban on Fremen from Spacing Guild.

This allows Paul to destroy the old balance of power. He controls it all but he only does it through fulfilling other people expectations of who he is. And that means he becomes figurehead of a holy war. Those who helped him win now awaiting their rewards in blood for all that was done to them.

[hotvintagepoll]

Propaganda

Natalie Wood (West Side Story, The Great Race)—She went through so much shit which I know can be said for all these women but Natalie really was a star and her death often overshadows her career and life. She could make you cry, but she also had the capacity to be incredibly funny which I think is lost on people.

Helen (Howrah Bridge, China Town, Teesri Manzil)— Helen might be stretching the definition of "star" a little bit as she was a dancer rather than a leading lady, but her Hotness is absolutely unassailable. She choreographed her own dances, designed her own costumes, overall has a mind-bogglingly wild life story, and survived it all to turn 85 in November. I ADORE her.

This is round 2 of the tournament. All other polls in this bracket can be found here. Please reblog with further support of your beloved hot sexy vintage woman.

[additional propaganda submitted under the cut.]

Natalie Wood:

Helen propaganda:

"Was not technically a leading lady, but played the sexy roles good girls couldn't play, before dying so the hero could marry the good girl. BOLLYWOOD ICON also survived the Japanese invasion of Burma by walking from Rangoon to Assam aged four or five but this is less related to her hotness"

[fetalabduction]

the gangs all here

[diioonysus]

hair + art