Science Fiction, Melodrama and Western Intersect in David...

Science Fiction, Melodrama and Western Intersect in David Lynch’s Dune A genre is a grouping of works, in this context a grouping of films, that are somehow similar or related in content or style. Genres are not strictly uniform over a period of time and do allow for growth and adaptation of their definitive characteristics. As the film industry has developed through the past century, various genres of films have emerged and are still evolving. Aspects of genres have been redefined and intermingled through the history of film. There have also been, throughout the progression of filmmaking, films which do not strictly fall into one genre or which combine elements of several genres. David Lynch’s 1984 film Dune is a fascinating case†¦show more content†¦Melodrama, as a film genre, is deeply rooted in the institution of the family and various incarnations and evolved states of the family unit. Familial issues arise more often in science fiction than has been widely acknowledged. The futuristic universe of Dune and all of the action of the f ilm is motivated by inter- and intra familial conflicts and resolutions. Science fiction, at times, appears to be merely a scientific or futuristic setting for the same kind of melodrama film that has been made for years. However, according to Westfahl, â€Å"science fiction reconstructed melodrama in a manner which complicated and undermined its traditional clarity† (193). Thus whereas in a melodrama such as The Cobweb, the initial conflict of the narrative is merely left unresolved (but on an optimistic beat), in the science fiction melodrama, the film is ended with â€Å"a hopelessly compromised happy ending† (Westfahl, 203). Such is the case with Dune: as the film closes, rain pours down on the desert planet. The rain is meant to represent a positive miracle and something that is desirable, but the fact that rain would turn the desert sand to mud, potentially drowning and killing the giant worms and thus ending all spice production is ignored. The ending leaves the film on a happy note, but the ending has not resolved the film: it had added more conflict to be resolved. Dune is