I went and saw District 9 when Calvin showed it last Friday. The movie is based in Johannesburg and tells of a space craft that hovers in the sky over Johannesburg. The aliens or “prawns” as they are called are confined to a government camp called District 9 after various criminal activities. When the camp becomes a slum, a military corporation tries to move the aliens to a new camp, District 10. During the mission the leader, Wikus van de Merwe, is accidentally sprayed with a liquid from one of the aliens that starts to mutate his DNA. The government sees the value in this and want to study van de Merwe, but he runs away to District 9. Even after close encounters van de Merwe is never caught, but turns into an alien and the space craft finally leaves.
This sci-fi thriller is a representation of society and xenophobia. Xenophobia is the fear of the unknown and all humans, no matter of race or group, join together in the hate. This hate is carried out to a new level, with aliens from another planet. The aliens are confined to a camp after humans complained of the aliens because of criminal activity and violence that had erupted. Humans were scared of these aliens because they were different. The difference led to segregation of the aliens where they were kept in shanty-town conditions. This movie shows how capable humans are to hate others that are not like us. Many people also feel that this film is inspired by the South African apartheid. During the apartheid, black South Africans were forced to be contained into districts by white Afrikaners. This is similar to the movie.
As Christians we are called to love everyone and to treat everyone equally and with respect. Throughout history many events have occurred that goes against what God commands of us. District 9 is another example of the hate we have for others. Humans can only hope we learn from history to better ourselves.
What are other ways the government could have handled the aliens? Why did this movie choose aliens to be the different group? Does the end of the film show any hope of the world?
Good job on making the apartheid/xenophobia connection, Lindsay. To extend it even further into our class theme of empire, it's interesting to see how who's "in" and who's "out" gets manipulated in the interest of power, violence and money. Wikus is an insider as the son-in-law of a power-grabber, but as soon as he becomes more valuable as a science experiment, he's an outsider and a commodity.
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