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How Denis Villeneuve Made Dune's Stilgar Tragically Meme-Worthy

Dune: Part 2, Stilgar Warner Bros.
By Michael Boyle

In Frank Herbert's 1965 novel "Dune," one of the most tragic character arcs was that of Stilgar, the leader of a Fremen tribe who starts off as a reluctant ally to Paul and Jessica. Although seemingly stern and hard to please at first, he quickly becomes seduced by Paul's apparent messiah qualities. By the end of the book he is a devoted worshipper of Paul, declaring him the Lisan al Gaib (messiah) and obeying him blindly and passionately. 

Even Paul, who needs Stilgar's support to gain control, is saddened by the way Stilgar's fanaticism has lowered him in Paul's eyes. "I have seen a friend become a worshipper," he laments in the book. It's just one of the many prices he has to pay to become emperor of the universe, and one of the clearest indications of the book's anti-messiah themes. We can see that Paul's ascent is making the people around him worse, but there's nothing anyone can do to stop it, not even Paul himself. 

Movie Stilgar (played by Javier Bardem) is still a tragic character with the same basic arc, but he's also a funny character. Screenshots of him fervently declaring Paul to be the Lisan Al Gaib have become a viral meme, often used to portray an easily-impressed person reacting to a fairly mundane accomplishment. The online reaction has moved director Denis Villeneuve, who's always intended for Stilgar to be a funny character, at least to some extent. "I find Stilgar very funny," he told The New York Times in a recent interview, "And when people laugh, I'm happy because that was the intention."

Stilgar is both funny and sad

Dune, Stilgar Warner Bros.

Stilgar's funniest moment in "Dune: Part Two" is probably an early one where Paul declares he's not the messiah they're looking for. Instead of this shutting down the rumors, Stilgar excitedly concludes to his followers that this is actually further proof that Paul's the messiah, because it was prophesized that the messiah would be too humble to declare himself their savior at first. It's a silly moment, and a welcome reprieve from what is otherwise an incredibly dark, dry movie, but it also causes a deadly serious chain of events. Stilgar's faith in Paul snowballs into a galaxy-spanning holy war that leads to billions of deaths, which admittedly puts a bit of a damper on the comedy here. 

"For me, [Stilgar] is the most tragic figure of all," Villeneuve explained. "The idea to bring humor to Stilgar was to make him lovable, to feel the humanity in that character. He's not an austere figure, he has a big heart. But his beliefs, his faith, his reactions bring humor." 

It's an approach that doesn't just make for a more well-rounded (and meme-worthy) character, but which emphasizes the idea that anyone can be swept up in a dangerous, populist fever. We know from the first movie that Stilgar is a perfectly smart and reasonable person, but that doesn't stop him from losing himself completely in his devotion to Paul and Jessica. You don't have to be a bad guy to be convinced to do bad things, and that's an important lesson for any film to impart. It's also, as the memes show, kind of a funny one. 

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