Leading up to the release of Deni Villneuve’s highly anticipated adaptation of Frank Herbert’s
Dune many actors involved in the production have been questioned regarding their part
in this sci-fi epic giving audiences a taste of what they can expect to see.
Rebecca Ferguson recently did an interview on 'Just the Facts with Alex Zane' where she
spoke about her role as Lady Jessica in the first film of Denis Villeneuve’s two part
adaptation of Dune.
While there were certainly some interesting insights that the actor gave regarding the
film, I was very disturbed to hear her comments that once again attributed the sexism of the
60’s to Frank Herbert’s first book.
I previously covered another interview that the actress did in 2019 where she shared remarks
similar to these praising the writers of the film script for updating it to serve modern
audiences.
Perhaps what bothered me the most about her comments then was while she was praising the
character of Lady Jessica and the significant part she plays among House Atreides she then
goes on to attribute the author’s work in crafting this character with these strong
qualities to the script writers who were actually adapting her character as she was written.
It’s strange that she doesn’t mention Frank Herbert by name but rather makes the
accusation that because this book was written in the sixties it was written in a way that
wasn’t respectful of women.
In this most recent interview, she again repeats these claims and even goes deeper into her
thoughts on the matter.
The discussion during this latest interview revolves mostly around Ferguson’s role as
Lady Jessica and specifically how the character has undergone a necessary evolution from how
she was written in Frank Herbert’s book.
So to Villeneuve’s credit right off the bat I don’t want to miss the fact that Ferguson
does say that the director stressed to her the need to be faithful to the book.
But then right after this, she again talks about needing to update what was in the source
material to suit a 2021 audience, especially considering how women were perceived and how
they were written in the 60’s.
Add to this the fact that in the early parts of this interview, which I’ll leave a link
to in the description below, the actress expresses her amazement that the interviewer would choose
to read the book again to prepare for the upcoming film.
So the fact that Rebecca Ferguson has not read the book is not news in of itself as
she has said in previous interviews, specifically in talking with Empire magazine that the book
was so difficult for her to understand that she likened it to a crossword puzzle and had
to call upon her co-star Oscar Isaac and Director Villeneuve who she asked to quote “explain
it to me as if I’m a child”.
While she states in this recent interview that she has by this point read most of it,
it’s clear that she’s not really a fan of Frank Herbert’s work and that she most
DEFINITELY will not be reading it again.
Now I want to be clear that I don’t fault Ferguson for not enjoying, understanding or
struggling to finish reading the book.
But I also think that it’s very irresponsible for an actress who is getting paid to portray
a central character in a big budget adaptation of a beloved series to, out of ignorance,
assume things about the source material that she admittedly does not understand.
I also want to be clear that I don’t expect the actresses’ performance to suffer because
of this misunderstanding of or lack of appreciation for the author’s work.
I think it’s important to separate the art from the artist in such cases and to not expect
actors to be fans of the properties in which they are cast.
However, with a series as storied and beloved as Frank Herbert’s Dune, I do expect those
working on the project to be respectful of the source material.
I also dispute the broader assertion from her comments that all writers in the 60’s,
because of the cultural and social environment that was present at the time, were forced
to write in a way that was disrespectful to women.
While I’m sure that many writers did, it’s an insult to those authors who took the time
to tell stories that gave respect to all characters regardless of their gender.
As far as what these comments mean about the content or possible changes to the source
material that we will see in Villeneuve’s film, I’m not too worried.
Again as Ferguson said, Villeneuve has only stressed to her the need to stay faithful
to the source.
And with what I’ve seen so far from the film, it seems that this will be perhaps the
most faithful adaptation we’ve gotten to date.
One area in which I would disagree the most with the actress is the fact that the women
presented in the pages of Frank Herbert’s Dune saga are not at all written in a way
that derides them.
Instead the women of Dune are formidable and strong, serving an essential role in the story
and are not to be underestimated.
And contrary to what Ferguson asserts, Jessica is flawed, she faces and overcomes challenges,
and she IS QUITE relatable as written.
It also seems that with the promotion of this film, there have been several articles praising
the expansion of Lady Jessica‘s role stating that there seems to have been an evolution
of her character in this adaptation to where she is featured more or has a more significant
part to play in the film.
From what I’ve seen so far of the film footage and my knowledge of the script it’s apparent
that any perceived expansion of Lady Jessica’s part or scenes featuring her character are
rooted in what the novel had already established although not expressly stated.
Also her comments about needing to update Dune to cater to a 2021 audience are even
more puzzling when considering the fact that this is a story set some 20,000 years into
our future.
It's an examination of how human society and its institutions could have evolved over time,
to look at what has changed and what hasn’t throughout the long passage of time.
So in my opinion, it's not a story that would ever need an update… at least not for the
next 20,000 years…
But I’m curious to know what you think of Rebecca Ferguson’s latest comments about
her role in Denis Villeneuve’s Dune?
Are you concerned about possible changes to the source material or do you trust Villeneuve
to produce a faithful adaptation?
Let me know your thoughts in the comments section below.
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Thank you all so much for your support and as always have a very nerdy day.