Saving Schrödinger's Cat

It must flow.

I've always had a fascination with Frank Herbert's Dune series of books. I found his universe strange, yet captivating, with people in it who have fired my imagination and even inspired my own attempts at speculative fiction. The different aristocratic houses, the bizarre cultures and weird races have made Dune a universe I have wanted to explore again and again. Though I was less impressed with Brian Herbert's continuation of the series, they are still entertaining.

While I've been thirsting for a look at the new movie, it won't hit theaters until October, where it was pushed due to the pandemic. I've missed movies this past year, and I was looking forward to this one, especially given that it was directed by Denis Villeneuve. Villeneuve is fast becoming one of my favorite directors, eclipsing even Ridley Scott and Christopher Nolan, though he's still relatively new on the scene. I expect great things from him.

Which brings me to the central thing in the story, that which everyone seeks, the thing which must flow for the world to work. I'm talking about the vaccine, of course. I can't see this movie without it! I know it sounds puerile to complain about the distribution of a life-saving vaccine over a film when actual lives are at stake all over the world, but sometimes I grasp for normality in a world turned upside-down, and going to the movies is one way to feel normal.

In a way, the spice is an allegory for the vaccine itself: a substance that everyone needs to the extent that the world stops without it. Frank Herbert perhaps meant it as an allegory for oil, but it works for many of the things we need. I just hope we don't end up going to war over vaccines; we seem to be fighting over just about everything else.

Are you looking forward to Dune? Have you read the series' books? Fan of Villeneuve?

The spice must flow.