I grew up on David Lynch's Dune and am shattered by what the books meant for Paul to be.
I will preface this by saying I'm going to discuss a lot of spoilers. If you haven't watched the films or read the books, you may want to stop reading now.
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When I saw the 2021 film, I complained to a friend that Paul would never have spoken to Jessica in the ways he did. My friend asked if I had read the whole book series. I had only read the first book.
He explained to me that Paul was meant to be awful from the get-go. The idea I had of Paul as someone who used his power for good was a total misunderstanding. Apparently, there were a lot of people who made the same mistake I did, which is part of why Frank Herbert continued writing the series.
I don't know how many times I watched David Lynch's Dune as a kid. At least enough times to *think* I had understood the world building and overall glory of the story. I was enraptured. Fast forward thirty years and I'm so effing bummed.
Some of my other friends playfully laughed about my friend "breaking my childhood." I struggle with it so much. I'm trying to get through the second film, but couldn't finish the second book. I was broken-hearted.
I'm not sure what I'm looking for other than wondering if I was Prime A Stupid for essentially missing the entire point of the series. Paul was a hero to me, and David Lynch hating his film so much that he refused to talk about it has me so sad. The film felt formative to me.
Thoughts? Reprimands? Anything?
Edit: Based on feedback so far, I'm gathering that my friend saying "Paul was awful" is a gross oversimplification. I appreciate people's takes, and feel better about coming back to the books.