[Spoilers ahead]
Paul Atreides is the quintessential representation of a Chad. He swoons the hot indigenous girl he meets (Chani) effortlessly, yet is a complete douchebag towards her. He betrays her for the princess character (Irulan). Yet he can do what he wants and still be the hero at the end of the day.
On the other side, we have Feyd-Rautha, the Harkonnen son. He is a cold, lonely, unattractive figure who despite being royalty, is deeply unhappy. It is said in the narration at one point that his only weakness is women, hence why seduction was used in a plot against him. Unfortunately, the writers show him as being senselessly brutal, killing a servant for no reason. This is a deliberate attempt at smearing the character of the otherwise sympathetic incel figure. (In the gladiator scene, it is shown that Feyd-Rautha is quite honorable, disarming the body shield that was meant to give him an advantage.)
Finally, the rivalry comes to a head when Paul goes 1v1 against him in a knife duel. Paul wins after an intense struggle, and it is directly after this that he betrays Chani for princess Irulan. We see that Chad does as Chad wants: he kills the incel, and moves on to another woman as a reward.
Extra analysis: another interesting aspect of the films (unrelated to this dynamic) is a pervading theme of a mysterious female cult (the Bene Gesserit sisterhood) that controls events from behind the scenes to their advantage. I interpreted this as feminists wielding power over male characters in general. It was from one of them that one of the famous quotes comes (see image). Although it has been well over a year since I watched the films, so I don't remember exactly what happened.
Paul Atreides is the quintessential representation of a Chad. He swoons the hot indigenous girl he meets (Chani) effortlessly, yet is a complete douchebag towards her. He betrays her for the princess character (Irulan). Yet he can do what he wants and still be the hero at the end of the day.
On the other side, we have Feyd-Rautha, the Harkonnen son. He is a cold, lonely, unattractive figure who despite being royalty, is deeply unhappy. It is said in the narration at one point that his only weakness is women, hence why seduction was used in a plot against him. Unfortunately, the writers show him as being senselessly brutal, killing a servant for no reason. This is a deliberate attempt at smearing the character of the otherwise sympathetic incel figure. (In the gladiator scene, it is shown that Feyd-Rautha is quite honorable, disarming the body shield that was meant to give him an advantage.)
Finally, the rivalry comes to a head when Paul goes 1v1 against him in a knife duel. Paul wins after an intense struggle, and it is directly after this that he betrays Chani for princess Irulan. We see that Chad does as Chad wants: he kills the incel, and moves on to another woman as a reward.
Extra analysis: another interesting aspect of the films (unrelated to this dynamic) is a pervading theme of a mysterious female cult (the Bene Gesserit sisterhood) that controls events from behind the scenes to their advantage. I interpreted this as feminists wielding power over male characters in general. It was from one of them that one of the famous quotes comes (see image). Although it has been well over a year since I watched the films, so I don't remember exactly what happened.
