A young man who used to work in my office had claimed to be a nerd, but when I said something about Dune he was clueless. He was VERY young.

I'm pretty damn nerdy, but there's a lot of stuff out there to be nerdy about, and it would be pretty hard to be familiar with it all. Like, I never read LotR and don't plan on it, and although I saw the David Lynch movie of Dune, I really don't remember much about it. I'm still a nerd; my brain is just finite.

All that said, the cast of this Dune move is really fucking pretty, which I appreciate.

But you've heard of LotR and Dune. But you are right, there is a *lot* out there to be nerdy about. I read an opinion piece a couple of decades ago that was not complaining exactly but noting that it had been possible and even common for science fiction fans to just read all the science fiction that was available and now (which is to say, then) there was just too much material to keep up. And nerdy stuff is even more than that, and everything has exploded since then anyway.

Anyway, I would guess that having a familiarity with Dune for people my age and younger would be helped by being a second generation (at least) nerd, as my dad was who introduced me to the series (something to do with looking around at White Sands and saying they could film Dune there sparking it IIRC)

Although also I would think that at this point The Pumpkin Spice Must Flow would at least sound familiar to most people

He knew about - and was a fan of - LotR ... but he had no idea of what Dune even was. However, I have to admit I'm old ... a lot of the new science fiction authors I haven't heard of ... sigh ...

And, yes The Pumpkin Spice Must Flow.

I am both a fan of spreading Dune fandom far and wide, and also not gatekeeping who gets to call themself a nerd.

Agreed, Dune and nerd-dom should welcome all

I was so surprised he'd never heard of Dune I couldn't respond ... so I sent him a link to something about it. Not gatekeeping - I hope - but he was young and missed out on some things I took for granted (I later sent him a link to a book with a cover that he could have modeled for ... and he ALSO wasn't aware there were m/m romances (he's gay) and seemingly it sent him down a rabbithole on Amazon that took up quite some time.)

Aw, I feel like Lisa Rose just smiled for no apparent reason, filled with a sudden swelling of warmth and well being

and he ALSO wasn't aware there were m/m romances (he's gay) and seemingly it sent him down a rabbithole on Amazon that took up quite some time.)

Well, I hope you guys don't need him for anything anytime soon.

He'd left for another job, but I was sending him info I thought would interest him ... and a book cover with a model who could almost have been him? I didn't even try to resist.

I wasn't a huge fan of Dune when I read it as a kid, and all I remember from the previous movie is Sting. But this movie, I'll probably break two of my own rules and go see it in IMAX.