Dune Pain Box

Dune Pain Box

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Updated Mar 18, 2024 at 05:30PM EDT by Philipp.

Added Mar 18, 2024 at 11:40AM EDT by Philipp.

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About

Dune Pain Box refers to a box in the Dune novels and films that is used by Bene Gesserit as a part of their gom jabbar test. The box is capable of delivering unimaginable pain onto the person who places their hand inside of it. The box has been a subject of memes online, while the scene of Paul Atreides placing his hand inside the box spawned the "What's in the Box? Pain" meme format.

Origin

In the 1965 novel Dune by Frank Herbert, a gom jabbar test is a test performed by the sisters of Bene Gesserit to determine the humanity of certain individuals.[1] The test involves placing a poisonous needle (the Gom Jabbar) next to the neck of the test subject and forcing them to place their hand inside a box capable of delivering great physical pain. To pass the test, the subject had to remain aware of the deadly needle and overcome their pain, keeping their hand inside the box.

Scenes depicting Dune character Paul Atreides undergoing the test appeared both in the 1984 and 2021 adaptations of the novel (shown below, left and right).



- What's in the box?
- Pain.

On May 17th, 2015, Tumblr[2] user dunequotes posted the earliest discovered meme referencing the scene, a cat meme that received over 80 reblogs and 120 shares in nine years (authorship unconfirmed).


Put your hand in the box, Young Paul Atreides

Spread

Prior to the premiere of the 2021 film Dune: Part One, the scene from the 1984 adaptation had been used as a meme format. For example, on August 9th, 2017, Redditor dune_borta posted a meme referencing the film Seven that received 130 upvotes in the /r/dune[2] subreddit in seven years (shown below, left). On February 14th, an unknown Redditor posted a meme that received over 170 upvotes in the /r/dunememes[3] subreddit (shown below, right).


WHAT'S IN THE BOX PAIN qu'y a-t-il dans la boîte? pain

On September 9th, 2020, the first trailer for the 2021 film adaptation premiered,[4] featuring the scene. On September 13th, Redditor black_gallagher1 posted a meme template based on the scene to the /r/MemeTemplatesOfficial[5] subreddit. On the same day, Redditors black_gallagher1 and Xern posted two earliest memes based on the template in the /r/minnesotavikings[6] and /r/nflmemes[7] subreddits, where they gained over 160 upvotes and 11 upvotes, respectively (shown below, left and right).


What's in the box? Pain imgflip.com What's in the box? Pain

Following the premiere of the 2021 film, versions of the format saw more use online, while the scene has been humorously referenced. For example, on October 28th, 2021, X[8] user @MeganBitchell posted a joke about the pain box scene that garnered over 2,700 reposts and 28,000 likes on X / Twitter in three years (shown below).


meg "Yooper” bitchel @MeganBitchell Hey what's up I'm Johnny Knoxville and this is me putting my d--- in the box from Dune 3:14 AM Oct 28, 2021 •

Various Examples


REMOVE YOUR HAND FROM THE BOX AND YOU DIE. @FANCYMANCER WHAT'S IN THE BOX? PAIN. What's in the box? WAYNE W Open it. If it's a severed head, I'm going to be very upset Whats in the box? Pain Thank you. I needed.this
Josh @josh2saint When you survive the box from Dune Ahmed/The Ears/IG: BigBizTheGod DALLAS 77 6:08 PM Mar 17, 2024 580.9K Views @big_business_ • 22h Mr. Chau @Srirachachau I took the Gom Jabbar and it was easy for me, folks. The Bene Gesserit are saying I can take pain like nobody else. It's unbelievable • 2:41 PM Mar 15, 2024 514.1K Views The Man of Astoria @depechejoe Start-ups have invented the Gom Jabbar test 9:09 lifepro lifeprousa Sponsored VERSATILE TARGET JOINTS, MUSCLES & TENDONS Fingers Hand Wrist LTE O Say goodbye to hand... more Х

Template


What's in the box? Pain.

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