@Kyle_MacLachlan can you explain Dune to me please

August 16, 2016 3:03 PM

Kyle MacLachlan gives a summation of Dune in one tweet using only emojis. (twitter)

Articles: Inverse. Slate.

posted by cwest (66 comments total)

Um, is that Black Stone of Mecca?

Kind of fits I guess, but hmmmm.
posted by Artw at 3:05 PM on August 16, 2016

Well, it's the Kaaba, yes. And yes, I think it would probably have been better avoided (along with crucifixes, stars of David and so on), although obviously he's just using whatever he can find on the keyboard.
posted by howfar at 3:11 PM on August 16, 2016 [1 favorite]

Which one was the emoji for "fear is the mind-killer"? Because I will use that on every tweet from now on.
posted by Metro Gnome at 3:13 PM on August 16, 2016 [3 favorites]

😱
posted by Foci for Analysis at 3:14 PM on August 16, 2016 [12 favorites]

The third emoji is Paul's hand, fourth emoji is the box into which Paul inserts his hand when being tested by the Reverend Mother, fifth emoji represents the gom jabbar. Is that right?
posted by cwest at 3:21 PM on August 16, 2016 [1 favorite]

Which is the emoji for sting in black leather underpants?
posted by biffa at 3:22 PM on August 16, 2016 [13 favorites]

biffa, it's 🌶
posted by teponaztli at 3:24 PM on August 16, 2016 [2 favorites]

🐭 Is a killing word.
posted by Artw at 3:26 PM on August 16, 2016 [25 favorites]

The best reply below the original tweet is one requesting him to explain season 2 of Twin Peaks. 😝
posted by oneswellfoop at 3:34 PM on August 16, 2016 [6 favorites]

I'm holding out for Emoji Blue Velvet
posted by prize bull octorok at 3:36 PM on August 16, 2016 [3 favorites]

Woo Sandworm emoji's!
posted by sammyo at 3:40 PM on August 16, 2016

I'm holding out for Emoji Blue Velvet

🍺? 💕🍆💩, 🐾🏅!
posted by Artw at 3:46 PM on August 16, 2016 [8 favorites]

Well, it's the Kaaba, yes. And yes, I think it would probably have been better avoided (along with crucifixes, stars of David and so on), although obviously he's just using whatever he can find on the keyboard.

Maybe he was referring to the Fremen being Zensunni adherents?
posted by zombieflanders at 3:57 PM on August 16, 2016 [6 favorites]

I think more that it's a thing that looks like a box, but sure, that works.
posted by Artw at 3:59 PM on August 16, 2016 [2 favorites]

No mention of the pug bjorn, but he had a finite amount of space.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 4:00 PM on August 16, 2016 [2 favorites]

It is rare for a post to be both very thin and Best of the Web. Bravo.
posted by Mr.Encyclopedia at 4:01 PM on August 16, 2016 [3 favorites]

As a former child hieroglyphics nerd, I'm more than a little excited that a contemporary hieroglyph system has become so widespread. (And it cracks me up when people are like NOOOOO EMOJIS RUIN LITERACY as if computers have somehow put an end to human civilization in one fell swoop.)
posted by rorgy at 4:03 PM on August 16, 2016 [9 favorites]

I liked the walk without rhythm to avoid the sandworm part. Better than I had expected.
posted by irisclara at 4:04 PM on August 16, 2016 [2 favorites]

This man is deserving of our love and adoration.
posted by leotrotsky at 4:06 PM on August 16, 2016 [5 favorites]

“Polish comes from the cities snapchat; wisdom from the desert twitter.”
posted by Fizz at 4:09 PM on August 16, 2016 [1 favorite]

👩🏼✋🎁🍫🐰
posted by KHAAAN! at 4:14 PM on August 16, 2016

⛰⛰🌲💦👸💀🎁💳
posted by leotrotsky at 4:17 PM on August 16, 2016 [4 favorites]

🐟♨️☕
posted by leotrotsky at 4:19 PM on August 16, 2016 [4 favorites]

As one of the few fans of what was once the most expensive movie ever made, I approve of this.
posted by Jessica Savitch's Coke Spoon at 4:20 PM on August 16, 2016 [4 favorites]

👿😇☕!
posted by leotrotsky at 4:22 PM on August 16, 2016 [2 favorites]

🦉!🦉
posted by leotrotsky at 4:24 PM on August 16, 2016

It seems he has a pretty good sense of the movie even after all these years. He must be a fan.
Also, the rest of his twitter TL is him interacting with people. What a cool guy!
posted by hot_monster at 4:29 PM on August 16, 2016

🕵💭🇳🇵🇨🇳( °□°)╯🗿
posted by leotrotsky at 4:29 PM on August 16, 2016

Jessica Savitch's Coke Spoon: As one of the few fans of what was once the most expensive movie ever made, I approve of this.

I saw the film only once, when I was sixteen and had a fever of over 40 Celsius (104 fahrenheit), and my dad picked up for me at the videostore. The movie made perfect sense to me, and it was a wonderful film-watching experience, but I've resisted rewatching it because I doubt it'll live up to the memory (or indeed be anything like my fever-addled perception of it). Anyway, so if your SF-loving teen is stuck at home with a high fever, you can do a lot worse than show them Lynch's Dune. If nothing else, it'll make for an interesting conversation once the fever breaks ("did I watch a movie with a flying man covered in pustules or was that a fever dream?")
posted by Kattullus at 4:34 PM on August 16, 2016 [8 favorites]

When the film first came out, I was so eager to see it, having loved the book. I was horribly disappointed by the deviations from what I expected, but listened to the soundtrack for years.

I've since gone back and developed a definite affection for it. It is its own thing, and I appreciate it for that.
posted by Four Ds at 4:58 PM on August 16, 2016

As one of the few fans of what was once the most expensive movie ever made, I approve of this.

There are many of us. You are not alone.
posted by Fizz at 5:00 PM on August 16, 2016 [1 favorite]

I saw it back in the day. I don't think it really held up, but I think that scene with Sting in the flying underpants actually kick-started my puberty.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 5:01 PM on August 16, 2016 [4 favorites]

I like the the walk-without-rhythm emoji.

(Finally I have an alternative to use for myself, other than extremely-white-person.)
posted by rokusan at 5:24 PM on August 16, 2016

> You are not alone.

"Long live the fighters!"
posted by porpoise at 5:35 PM on August 16, 2016 [5 favorites]

I like how he explains how the sleeper has awakened.
posted by RobotVoodooPower at 5:40 PM on August 16, 2016 [1 favorite]

Disney has been sticking these little emoji stories in between shows on their channel.

I hear this clicking in the background and I think it's the TV, but it's just my generation gap getting wider and wider...
posted by JoeZydeco at 5:50 PM on August 16, 2016 [2 favorites]

It seems he has a pretty good sense of the movie even after all these years. He must be a fan.

It doesn't surprise me. I went to the same high school as him. Had the same drama teacher, too. She was a big Dune fan, and actually talked the administration into letting her have a Science Fiction elective where we did stuff like watch Blade Runner, (instead of waivers, she just asked if we were all 'okay with the boob shot' of Priss), and the director's cut of Dune.

Not only do I assume he read it, but I like to think it was discussed in class at some point.
posted by mordax at 6:26 PM on August 16, 2016 [5 favorites]

His twitter feed is adorable. He spends a lot of time wishing people happy birthday in funny ways.
posted by RustyBrooks at 6:29 PM on August 16, 2016 [2 favorites]

director's cut of Dune.

That's probably an extended cut - Lynch wasn't happy with it.
posted by Artw at 6:44 PM on August 16, 2016 [1 favorite]

That's probably an extended cut - Lynch wasn't happy with it.

Oops, you're correct. It was the one with the lengthy Butlerian Jihad thing at the start.
posted by mordax at 6:47 PM on August 16, 2016

Yeah, that whole extended slideshow business doesn't do the movie any favours, IMHO.
posted by Artw at 6:48 PM on August 16, 2016 [2 favorites]

No, that sort of thing is basically the kiss of death in a movie that's already pretty weird. (I'm heavily biased against introductory exposition: I feel like you gotta make the audience care before dropping too much lore on them.)

Really, the emoji version is good to cut directly to the chase there.
posted by mordax at 7:10 PM on August 16, 2016

I appreciate that he left out the rain ending. ☔️☔️☔️
posted by gehenna_lion at 7:25 PM on August 16, 2016

Ante up, Jodorowsky.
posted by Jessica Savitch's Coke Spoon at 7:26 PM on August 16, 2016 [4 favorites]

I've been watching season 2 of Agents of Sheild, I have to say Insane Kyle McLachlan is the best Kyle McLachlan.
posted by Dr Dracator at 8:35 PM on August 16, 2016 [3 favorites]

I'm pretty sure I remember reading in an interview he gave way back when the movie was first released about being cast in 'Dune', saying it was his first major role and he was especially happy because 'Dune' was one of his favourite books of all time.
posted by h00py at 8:41 PM on August 16, 2016

I'm heavily biased against introductory exposition

Well, it's not like it doesn't go directly from the slideshow direct to the exposition the theatrical cut started with, and then to further exposition from space-Wikipedia. I like how those are handled a lot better though, being respectively just weird enough to be interesting and then a more naturalistic part of the movie.
posted by Artw at 9:03 PM on August 16, 2016 [1 favorite]

My VHS copy came with the glossary from the book, and apparently they handed it out for at least some theater showings. I can only imagine what people thought.
posted by Chrysostom at 9:24 PM on August 16, 2016

The other day I finished rereading Dune (spoiler: loved it!) and since then I've had so many Dune things come up in my media. Something weird is going on.
posted by OverlappingElvis at 9:26 PM on August 16, 2016

Seconding having read the interview where Maclachlan said it was one of his faves--maybe he re-read it every year? Certainly Dune holds up to re-reads in a way its sequels do not.

Prequels? What prequels?
posted by infinitewindow at 9:33 PM on August 16, 2016 [1 favorite]

The other day I finished rereading Dune (spoiler: loved it!) and since then I've had so many Dune things come up in my media. Something weird is going on.

That may be the Baader-Meinhof Phenomenon. Cognitive biases are the mind-killer...
posted by justsomebodythatyouusedtoknow at 9:39 PM on August 16, 2016 [1 favorite]

"Well, it's the Kaaba, yes. And yes, I think it would probably have been better avoided (along with crucifixes, stars of David and so on), although obviously he's just using whatever he can find on the keyboard."

I feel like you didn't really understand DUNE.
posted by jbenben at 11:39 PM on August 16, 2016 [1 favorite]

And not to be rude, but there are some interesting interviews with his son Brian Herbert you might find give the backstory you are missing there.

It's OK to express ideas non-local to wherever you start from.
posted by jbenben at 11:44 PM on August 16, 2016

Well, one thing is certain. Kyle MacLachlan is officially way cooler than me.
posted by sldownard at 11:46 PM on August 16, 2016

It's OK to express ideas non-local to wherever you start from.

It's just being used as a box, it's not a comment on the roots of Fremen religion. It's used by the Bene Gesserit, for goodness sake. It's not shrieking "political correctness" to recognise that using something with deep religious significance as just another emoji is likely to be confusing for some and unsettling to others. It has nothing to do with locality, as is obvious from the references to crucifixes and stars of David.

It's OK to like cool things and note where they are not ideal, right at the same time.
posted by howfar at 1:33 AM on August 17, 2016 [3 favorites]

I have a vague memory of Lynch saying that he would like to do a director's cut, but that it would probably go in the opposite direction, losing as much of the straight stuff as possible and just going for the surreal visuals.

(I'd very much like to see that film.)
posted by Grangousier at 3:48 AM on August 17, 2016 [2 favorites]

I'm holding out for Emoji Blue Velvet

🚫👀🙋! 🚫👀🙋!
posted by DirtyOldTown at 7:58 AM on August 17, 2016 [3 favorites]

The movie made perfect sense to me, and it was a wonderful film-watching experience, but I've resisted rewatching it because I doubt it'll live up to the memory (or indeed be anything like my fever-addled perception of it).

The last time I watched 2001 was when I was suffering from appendicitis. The pain and vomiting set in basically right when the Starchild sequence began.

I'm not recommending that everyone get appendicitis in the middle of watching 2001, but it does add an interesting new dimension to the experience.

Yeah, that whole extended slideshow business doesn't do the movie any favours, IMHO.

I like the Lynch movie just fine, even if I vastly prefer the book and hate the literalism of "Weirding Modules" in the film. But, yeah, I don't know who ever thought inserting slideshows of concept art into that film was a good idea. (I mean, obviously it was an executive who was thinking "I bet we can move a lot of copies of this turd", but still.)
posted by tobascodagama at 8:09 AM on August 17, 2016 [1 favorite]

Can someone explain what the mouse emoji 🐭 is? Been a while and I can't figure it out.
posted by picklenickle at 8:35 AM on August 17, 2016

MUAD'DIB: the adapted kangaroo mouse of Arrakis, a creature associated in the Fremen earth-spirit mythology with a design visible on the planet's second moon.

posted by mubba at 8:40 AM on August 17, 2016 [3 favorites]

"It's just being used as a box, it's not a comment on the roots of Fremen religion."

I'm pretty sure the emoji has several layered meanings since Frank Herbert was influenced by Arab culture and Islam and geopolitics in crafting the story of Dune.

It was a perfectly used symbol by MacLachlan! Many layers of meaning, sorta like plans within plans.

It's not a problematic usage in the least.
posted by jbenben at 11:20 AM on August 17, 2016 [2 favorites]

Well, as a non-Muslim, personally I wouldn't feel comfortable determining what is or is not a problematic usage of the Kaaba emoji. As far as I know, Kyle McLachlan is also non-Muslim.

It might be fine and totally not problematic at all! But it's worth stopping to think about, at least.
posted by tobascodagama at 11:45 AM on August 17, 2016 [2 favorites]

picklenickle: "Can someone explain what the mouse emoji 🐭 is? Been a while and I can't figure it out."

Paul:
What do you call the mouse shadow on the second moon?

Stilgar:
We call that one, Muad'Dib

Paul:
Could I be known as Paul Muad'Dib?

Stilgar:
You are Paul Muad'Dib.
posted by Chrysostom at 8:27 PM on August 17, 2016 [1 favorite]

"Well, as a non-Muslim, personally I wouldn't feel comfortable determining what is or is not a problematic usage of the Kaaba emoji. As far as I know, Kyle McLachlan is also non-Muslim."

Seriously? Even though it's already been explained to you how profoundly the original work was influenced by Arab culture and constructs?

Chrysostom: You are Paul Muad'Dib.
posted by uberchet at 9:00 AM on August 18, 2016 [1 favorite]

Frank Herbert is also not Muslim, to the best of my knowledge.

More importantly, as a non-Muslim, I don't know how Muslims feel about using a depiction of the Kaaba to represent a box which contains infinite pain and torment. I don't see any comments in this thread starting with "as a Muslim...", so presumably nobody else here claiming to know for a fact that it's all fine and dandy knows this either.
posted by tobascodagama at 9:06 AM on August 18, 2016 [1 favorite]

I am absolutely certain that we could find someone who would say "as a Muslim, I don't mind this." I'm also absolutely certain that we could find someone who would say "as a Muslim, this offends me."
posted by uberchet at 11:12 AM on August 18, 2016 [1 favorite]