Postcolonial theory in Dune

The 1984 movie version of the 1965 novel Dune by Frank Herbert is one of the most ridiculous and entertaining films I have seen, in some weird way. The movie is filled to the brim with just generally weird stuff but one of the central conflicts in the story does definitely has some postcolonial aspects to it. The story is set in the future and revolves around a battle for the planet Arrakis, due to it being the only place in the universe that “the spice” can be mined From. The spice is shrouded in somewhat of an air of mystery but it allows users to gain some form of psychic ability as well as being used to ‘fold space in on itself’ which is used for space travel. The spice is being warred over by two great houses: Atreides and Harkonen. The native population of Arrakis are called the Fremen and are lost in this conflict. Many Fremen are caught up in the service of either house. The Fremen are also referred to as “backwards savages” and their culture is generally seen as ‘inferior’ by most other groups in the story. There are also examples of Fremen being forced to work on the mining rigs that collect the spice. These are incredibly dangerous working conditions as colossal worms are attracted to the noise they create and can destroy them easily. The Fremen’s land is being taken and abused so that the houses may have the resource they want so badly. Although not 100% analogous this situation reminds me of what Tyson writes about colonial exploitation on page 413 “Unfortunately, it is often the case that local peoples are denied access to their ancestral forests, jungles, and pasturelands to make way for paying tourists”. The Fremen culture has been severely disrupted simply due to greed and exposure to global(universal?) society. Tyson also notes that “there is big money to be made in this game, and the major players are too powerful to be bound by any rules of fair play” (412). The houses Atreides and Harkonen are too large and apathetic to the Fremen to care about them, no matter how they would say it would benefit their ‘inferior culture’. These houses can be read as analogous to real-world corporations who enter a country with the facade of “‘developing’ poor regions by modernizing them”(Tyson 412) all while basically just doing anything they can to the land and through the people to gain a profit. This all changes when Paul Atreides(the son of the head of house Atreides) becomes involved. Basically Paul is your standard “chosen one” however not of his own culture. Paul is part of a Fremen prophecy. This is shown in the infamous scene in which a Fremen loudly thinks “He shall know your ways, as if born to them. I see this as almost a kind of reverse or anti mimicry, Paul conforms to Fremen culture by choice, and in doing so allows some of the oppressed Fremen to end aspects their own mimicry to the dominating cultures. The Fremen and Atreides culture’s end up intertwining, and the Fremen’s society becomes forever marked by the events that happen on Arrakis.

A Powdered Pocahontas: Pocahontas II and Postcolonialism

Pocahontas II: Journey to a New World is an untimely straight to DVD sequel of Disney’s Pocahontas. And, in all honesty it’s a wreck. It stays true to what actually happened to Pocahontas in real life (kind of) by sending her to London with John Rolf after news of John Smith’s death. However, in real life she did not willingly go and willingly give in to being “civilized” like the Disney movie portrays. In real life, she died three years after arriving in England. But, anyhow, this movie did terrible in the box office, and is riddled with opportunities for Postcolonial Criticism.

For example, she is shown off to the King, but only after a huge makeover in which a character named Mrs. Jenkins sings a song entitled “Wait ‘till he sees you!” During this makeover, Mrs. Jenkins actually puts white powder on her face (changing her skin color to a lighter shade) and sings “He’ll [John Rolf] be so pleased you came down from the trees!” Implying that Pocahontas is a savage, as she and the people of England see her and is finally coming down from “the trees” to be civilized. Before her makeover, she is portrayed as incompetent and uncultured, as she attempts to wear a girdle as a hat etc. There’s a lot wrong with that song, but this part is pretty straightforward.

Yes, that is Pocahontas!

In the cartoon, Pocahontas comes to the England, and is promptly informed that she will be attending a ball during which she will be shown off to the King of England to show hi
m that the people of the New World “can be civilized.” She’s lied to and she thinks she is doing everything for peace between her people and John Rolf’s, but she is only being colonized and forced into a culture she really does not want. She

 After her makeover, both Mrs. Jenkins and John Rolf treat Pocahontas as a different person. She appears to be more “European” and hence, she is better, more civilized. This is a prime example of Eurocentrism, because it is clear that whoever wrote this movie, wanted England’s cultural practices to seem like the ultimate “culture standard to which other cultures are negatively contrasted” (Tyson 401). The King would not even see her until she was powdered up and strapped into a fancy ballgown, hence the Eurocentric way seems to win out.

All the English characters show blunt colonizer ideology too, as they all seem to think that their way is better, especially since they are “civilizing” this “savage Indian.” They just assume their way is better, especially John Rolf and Mrs. Jenkins who give her the makeover in the first place, and always treat her as if she were an ignorant child. Not to mention the way her body guard is portrayed, a Native American Character who does nothing but grunt, and follow Pocahontas around while wearing buffalo hide clothing. Obviously, he is meant to be seen as less than civilized. However, Pocahontas even gives in to these ideas of the colonizers by exhibiting mimicry in her willingness to be changed to a lighter skinned, strangely dressed Native American source of amusement (for much of the movie, she does eventually stand up. Not for herself though but for a bear who has been held captive.) She allows this to happen, and for the first part of the ball, (before saving the bear) she acts and talks just like John Rolf; truly becoming a colonial subject in England and making Mrs. Jenkins shed tears of joy. Furthermore, when John Rolff meets sees her for the first time in her new clothes, she explains to him that what is on her face is “called powder” and he exclaims how beautiful she is. For the first time in the movie, Pocahontas is told she looks beautiful by a man she loves, and in order for that to happen, her face has to be powdered lighter. Again, the colonizers and their ways are obviously portrayed as superior here.

Overall, the film is riddled with colonizer ideology, mimicry on Pocahontas’ part, and Eurocentrism through the way Pocahontas is portrayed and treated, and how she reacts