While revealing new details about one of the most famed CIA operations of all times — the spiriting out of six American diplomats who escaped the 1979 U.S.
I can’t decide which is more about the whole situation – the US and patting themselves on the back for rescuing six imperialist spies, or that there’s a Ben fucking Affleck movie about it.
Edit: Also, the source material for the fictional-but-not-really sci-fi movie that the CIA used as a cover story sounds problematic as all hell: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lord_of_Light
It’s not really. It has its tropes but it also sorta invented those tropes so it feels a bit unfair to call them “tropes.”
I mean you kinda have the “white messiah” narrative but the books make it clear that it’s not really a good thing and leads to a holy war that kills billions. I suppose if you are a reactionary that is fine but to other people it sounds like a horrorshow.
Not necessarily reactionary, but it does reproduce some stereotypes and tropes that are a staple of an orientalist point of view, exoticizing the totally-not-muslim culture, painting them as backwards and animal-like.
I like Dune, but it Herbert’s white-dude understanding of other cultures shows a bit.
I can’t decide which is more
about the whole situation – the US and 
patting themselves on the back for rescuing six imperialist spies, or that there’s a Ben fucking Affleck movie about it.
Edit: Also, the source material for the fictional-but-not-really sci-fi movie that the CIA used as a cover story sounds problematic as all hell:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lord_of_Light
“What if turbo-orientalism… IN SPAAAAAAACE?”
But Dune already exists.
Not only racist but derivative
I haven’t watched the film, but what’s reactionary about Dune anyway specifically?
It’s not really. It has its tropes but it also sorta invented those tropes so it feels a bit unfair to call them “tropes.”
I mean you kinda have the “white messiah” narrative but the books make it clear that it’s not really a good thing and leads to a holy war that kills billions. I suppose if you are a reactionary that is fine but to other people it sounds like a horrorshow.
Not necessarily reactionary, but it does reproduce some stereotypes and tropes that are a staple of an orientalist point of view, exoticizing the totally-not-muslim culture, painting them as backwards and animal-like.
I like Dune, but it Herbert’s white-dude understanding of other cultures shows a bit.
Hmm, ok…