District 9 focuses on some of the problems associated with racism, particularly critiquing various types of dehumanization. Consider the different ways that the alien characters are dehumanized, including stereotypes, the slum refugee camp, and also the problems associated with point-of-view in the film. Consider the ways in which the film attempts to allegorize racism and to call for empathy with the experiences of those we deem different from us, but also consider the ways in which this call to empathy might be problematic.
Try a "strong response" model for your post--critique the rhetorical features of a particular part of the film, then move on to a more general critique of the ideas embedded in the film, and, if you are comfortable posting something personal in a public space, finish with a reflection.
The film District 9 has a documentary feel at first because of the main character who has his camera crew following him around. During his research while going through the Alien refugee camp lots of peculiar things are revealed about the aliens and the whole environment is portrayed very similar to the ghettos in urbanized areas and cities.
ReplyDeleteOne paticular scene in the movie that attempts to allegorize racism and a call for empathy is the scene where we see that African rebels also have inhabited district 9. These African men have an attitude similar to the one portrayed in the African rebel society today. They also make a mockery of the aliens because some of them are kind of dumb. This could be problematic because although they are seemingly "stupid", they do have a completely different technology that humans cant use. This puts them in a position of power because if the aliens do decide do revolt and try to take over or destroy the human race, they have better weapons, and stronger more advanced technology.
As I reflect back on other scenes and details in the movie I recognize that the film takes a realistic point of view at the main characters slow transformation into half human half alien. Society turns him into a threat and he's now wanted. He's being viewed as a monster and hunted because of his mutation. Ironically, the way he is being viewed and treated is the exact way the aliens are and to top it off, he needs their help.
I like what you said about society viewing him as a monster because of his mutation. I think the movie points out how people react in a negative way to differences in cultures and people. It is much more obvious to look at differences, than to see the similarities. For example, one Wikus’s arm became alien, the human part of him was erased. The people treated him like an alien and his humanity was completely removed. This really does point out how we see other people’s differences and then think less of them.
DeleteIn a sense the mutation of the main character could be applied to the Bakke reading as the previous version of the character needed to be erased before he could understand the struggle of the prawns. On a lighter note, I likened it to Ben Grimm's transformation into "the thing" in the comic "Fantastic Four".Grimm was an acomplished adventurer and astronaut, however after his transformation, he was immidiately rejected by society and his fiance despite his propensity to do good.
DeleteThe aliens are dehumanized in several ways. First, they are placed in concentration camps with no rights. The aliens also speak a sort of click language which diiferenciate them from humans. They are represented as creatures that cannot think for themselves and are considered very dangerous. They are even given new “Americanized” names. I believe a very obvious way the film is symbolic of racism is using the camp as a sort of ghetto area with African Americans. Those African Americans are portrayed in a negative way because they are seen as selling food to the aliens.
ReplyDeleteHowever, the relationship between Christopher and Wikus prove that the aliens have feelings and intelligence. When Christopher promises to come back for Wikus, it gives the alien a human quality and therefore, the viewer sees the aliens in a different light. Christopher and his relationship with his son is also important because it shows how alike aliens can be to humans. After reflecting on the importance of the alien/human relationship, I believe it is representing the mixing of cultures and how it was socially unacceptable. Even today, it is sometimes socially unacceptable to date someone of a different race.
I think you make a good point by using the example that Christopher promises to come back for Wilkis. I think that this scene shows that the aliens, that are supposed to be the evil things that people are supposed to shy away from, are really the ones who are the least biased against humans. Even though the humans have been less than nice to them, Christopher is still loyal to Wilkis. That shows that we should not judge based on differences in appearance because we do not know what they could be like inside.
DeleteI agree with what you said. I think it is interesting that you pointed out the relationship between Christopher and his son. I never came to that conclusion, but it makes total sense. The aliens are being viewed as monsters, so when this relationship between father and son is thrown into the mix, we can see how they do have some of the same human qualities. The viewers don't see the aliens as being able to have those emotional relationships, because like you said, they are seen as not being able to think for themselves let alone be able to have an emotional relationship. We see this this emotion relationship when the son is calling out for his father when he realizes that he is still above ground during the departure. We all see this emotional connection between Christopher and the alien that is on the operating table. Christopher is finally able to see what the humans have been doing to his kind. This is when Christopher realizes that he needs to take matters into his own hands and free his kind so no more will be turned into 'scientific experiments'.
DeleteI agree with you that the movie is like a metaphor for racism. When you talked about Christopher and Wikus I agreed that it showed the aliens had feelings all along. Its just a matter of getting into those deep feelings with the aliens. The point you make about interracial dating is true. In the world today many people look down upon you for dating out of your race. I don't understand why people look down upon it. Just because there skin is a different color doesn't mean there a different person. Love is love and if two people fall in love it doesn't matter their race or ethnicity.
DeleteI like how you brought up the point of where the aliens are forced to live and being given "Americanized" names. It really sheds light on how blacks used to be treated. Although that "phase" of racism has passed, prejudices like that are still very obvious in our society and I think that's what one of the main themes of District 9 was.
DeleteWhen you said that "Christopher and his relationship with his son is also important because it shows how alike aliens can be to humans" I would just add on to say that it took Wikus to realize that they are no different than humans. It took Wikus turning into one of them to see that they care and have feelings to.
DeleteI agree with what Danielle is saying that there is still hints of racism today. I know people that are afraid to date someone of a different race because they are afraid of what their parents and friends will say and think. Maybe the creators of the film were trying to get the audience to not only think about racism that used to be but racism that exists today.
DeleteChristopher and his relationship with his son shows Robert that the aliens or some of the aliens are civilized in some ways and aren't as dangerous as the media makes them seem. Roberts friendship with Christopher presents evidence that the way the Aliens are treated is similar to genocide. Society is racist towards the prawns and as Robert goes through his transformation,he realizes the fault in societies ways.
DeleteWhile watching District 9 the aliens are obviously not treated like they are humans. They are placed in to concentration camps and are called prawns, which is not a compliment towards them. This treatment of the aliens being handled in a negative way is very much like racism. They live with Africans and in some ways work with them since they are both outcasts from society. Much like some cities today, you see ghettos that are similar to the area where the aliens are put referencing back to how Africans were not treated fairly in the past. In this film they are trying to get the viewer to think of the aliens in a different way. When the very anti-alien, Wikus, starts to become one of them himself the film shifts in the way that the aliens do not seem as bad as before. Since Wikus sees that he is becoming one, he starts to realize that he was harsh before in the way he felt about them. His racism changes and he strikes up a friendship with Christopher. This friendship shows that judging others is not always accurate, you need to get to know them. The treatment of the aliens in a negative and oppressing way like in District 9 is risky on the part of the humans because the aliens have technology that will only work for other aliens. If the humans pushed them too far they could rise up and fight back.
ReplyDeleteI like how you brought up shift in the point of view for Wilkus. Like you said, the aliens really do seem to be like the "bad guy" in the film at first. This is because the audience, like Wilkus, is highly influenced by racial ideas and misinterpretations of the aliens being presented by the humans. A viewer has no other point of view to see through, and therefore, it is easy to assume that the aliens are up to no good. However, once the chemical enters Wilkus's body, he starts to become one of the aliens. He now has the chance to look into the lives of the aliens and what they are truly about. He begins to see the humans' racism and treatment toward the aliens, and he experiences it on a firsthand basis. It is clear that the true monsters are the humans and their abilities to outcast things that are completely different and foreign to them.
DeleteOne thing that I liked about your post Lindsey was that you brought up the idea that Christopher showed Wikus that they were conscience beings too. This film is a great example of the saying "dong judge someone until you walk a mile in their shows." Hopefully the people watching this movie also picked up on this message and will start to be more accepting of others too.
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ReplyDeleteIn 'District 9', the aliens are viewed as the monsters. They are the ones that invaded earth and it may seem like the government is trying to make life equal for them, but there are several scenes in the movie that prove this wrong. For starters, during the beginning of the film it shows that instead of demolishing the aliens, they have allowed them to reside in District 9 and they are trying their best to keep humans and aliens separate, and we can see this by the signs that say 'Human's Only'. What we do not see are signs that say 'Aliens Only'. This is restricting the aliens to the 'ghetto' that they are currently residing in, which is far from acceptable conditions. The humans get the rest of the land.
ReplyDeleteAnother example is how the MNU treats the aliens when they come into their territory to force an evacuation, moving all the aliens to District 10. As Christopher points out, it is illegal to force an evacuation, yet the humans think that they have the right to do that to the aliens. Later in the film, when we see Wilkus being transformed, he tells Christopher that District 10 was a downgrade. Wilkus described District 10 as having smaller houses and has the feel of a concentration camp.
When Wilkus starts his transformation, we see how he becomes empathetic to the aliens, because he now knows how if feels to be deemed ‘the monster’. At first, Wilkus only seeks help in Christopher when he needs to seek cover from those after him and when he finds out that Christopher can transform him back to being human. As the film progresses we see how Wilkus becomes more empathetic and risks his life in order for Christopher and his kid to save their kind and get to the ship, even if it meant risking his life. We also see Christopher becoming empathetic to Wilkus when he promises to come back in three years to save him, even after Wilkus knocks him unconscious in order to save himself. This empathy towards the aliens might be problematic because of the strength of these aliens. They have the power to destroy the human race, and if they are given to mush trust they might turn around and rebel in order to save their kind by wiping out the human race. To give the aliens equal right might put the humans in danger, therefore, keeping the aliens on a tight leash might help them keep the power and protect the human race.
District 9 dehumanizes the aliens in many ways. First we see the aliens being placed in concentration camps. While this makes them seem like animals to begin with but then the humans begin to force them out of their camps. They go about this relocation as sort of a cattle drive. They run in with guns and papers to be signed. They do not care about the aliens rights to ownership, the humans even say "they don't understand ownership". The humans do not care about the aliens rights. They treat them as animals, killing them whenever they want. We see the humans treat them as animals even when the aliens have superior weapons and a considerable stronger. The humans have higher intellect which makes them the stronger and more dominant group.
ReplyDeleteThe "concentration camp" placement of the aliens absolutely dehumanizes them. It reminds us of the Nazi camps we have seen during the Holocaust. This unfair treatment of the aliens continues throughout the whole movie. I find it interesting that you say the human have a "higher intellect which makes them the stronger and more dominant group." After finishing the film, it can be hard to distinguish who honestly IS the more dominant group. The aliens did end up escaping and returning to their own planet, leaving the humans to their "peace on earth." The aliens scavenged for years to find the serum to insert into their ship to go home. We see throughout the movie all the advanced technology they use - at one point they make a reference to the "useless human technology." I believe that at the end of the film, we cannot be completely sure as to who is the "stronger and more dominant" group.
DeleteThe alien characters are dehumanized in many ways over the course of District 9. Initially, not only are the humans treating the aliens horribly, they even go so far as to attempt to take their children, because “they are not in good care.” Stereotypically, they refer to these aliens as “spawns” who are not capable of sustaining their own lives. The aliens are seen by the humans stereotypically as scavengers – they root through trash and do not care about the messes they make. The humans even poke fun at their love of cat food, and what they will do to acquire it.
ReplyDeleteIn the film, the aliens are taken to an experimentation lab where humans perform tests on them – they want to find out what they are capable of. This inhumane lab is similar to the experiments that German Nazis ran on Jews who were trapped in concentration camps. When Vikus becomes an alien, the humans take him into the lab to be tested. They are referring to him as a “specimen,” just like the other aliens, completely dehumanizing him (especially because he IS still half-human at this point). Not only do they completely disrespect his body, the humans refuse to let him see his wife, and also make him use weapons to kill other aliens (whom he has grown fond of, since they are “his kind” now).
The film attempts to allegorize racism by presenting stark differences between the humans and aliens. Racism is portrayed outright when the film shows signs that are put up in town restricting the entrance of aliens into buildings, restaurants, on playgrounds, etc. No one wants to get near the aliens, and humans take pleasure in killing them. I believe the use of the child alien was a director’s attempt at gaining empathy from the viewer – we are likely to feel sorry for a child who “just wants to go home.” We feel sorry for these aliens because they are in a non-native place, and viewers understand their “out-of-place” emotions because we can relate to it in our own lives. This empathy is problematic because the rational side of human dogma requires us to understand that these creatures are something we have never dealt with before – we do not know what they are capable of or what they are planning. We naturally assume the worst – that they are here to take over Earth and kill humankind. While we feel empathetic towards the creatures, we do so with a restrictive attitude because of our fear of what they COULD do.
I like how you compared the situations of District 9 to a concentration camp, in some ways it is almost of modern day represesentation, because we fear what is unknown so we dehumanize them. Instead of handling the real probelm going on, the problems were simply "pushed" aside and put somewhere where it seemed out of societies way, so therefore they would no longer worry. This made things alot worse.
DeleteI also like how you touched on child alien, because he serves as a stock character meant to sway the audience in a different way and look at things from another point of view.
After watching District 9, it really made me think more about the ghettos and project areas that currently exsist. The aliens were an unknown species to the humans, and that is what scared them the most. Instead of trying to assimilate, the commmunity simply pushed the aliens to a different area (a slum). The slum has similar living situations as a ghetto: it is dirty, not well maintained, and full of crime.
ReplyDeleteIn the documentary, the aliens are introduced as theives, scavengers, and "prawns", which has a negative connotation, very comparable to a racial slur. The people of SOuth Africa really just want them to leave, and the resistance and attitudes of the humans made the crimes of the aliens increase because their needs were not met. In addition, the aliens could not own anything and even had to have permits to have children (very similar to America's history of "owning land").
I think the main aspect of this movie is it teaches that we cannot just simply "push" issues away and put it somewhere else, it needs to be addressed. Also that we need to see things from more perspectives.
I agree with you when you said the movie teaches us not to just put away issues. Society should address these issues so that we can solve them.I also agree when you said that the people in South Africa are like the Americans with owning land. The Native Americans were forced out of their land and put in reservations like the aliens were put in camps.
DeleteIn the movie District 9, the aliens are put into camps because of the humans not wanting to coexist with them. These camps are similar to what Americans put the Japanese in during World War II and what the Americans put Cuban Americans in during the 1980s. Just like those races of people, the aliens were forced to live in these slums or camps where they were not treated well.
ReplyDeleteReflecting on the movie District 9, it has a lot of subliminal messages about dealing with race. That people should treat others with the same amount of dignity and respect no matter what.
After watching this movie I think most of it was a metaphor for racism. The aliens represented someone from another race like whites or Indians. I think that the movie was showing that hatred and prejudices are still around in the world today. The aliens are also dehumanized in many ways. They are placed in a concentration camp when the humans first discover them and they have no rights at all. This makes it look like the humans are treating these aliens as animals. The humans don’t think of them as real people because they speak a weird language and they aliens don’t think for themselves at all. Another way the aliens are dehumanized is by the way the humans call them spawns. This could be offensive to the aliens. During the movie the humans were taking the aliens into the lab to run experiments on them. They treat the aliens as if they were just lab rats by doing many scientifical things on them. The main topic you can get from this movies is that prejudices and stereotypes still exist in the world today.
ReplyDeleteI agree that there is hatred and prejudices still present today. This is something that will never completely disappear. There will always be people who do not like a particular group. I also agree that they are dehumanized in many ways. They are discriminating in so many different ways, including the name they have given the aliens. There is no way to escape the racism and discrimination in this movie.
DeleteWhen I first saw the movie "District 9" on the reading list I was relieved mainly because, as a "Halo" fan, this was a film I was familiar with. Most fans of the "Halo" series know that the movie "District 9" was a result of the "Halo" movie being cancelled due to creative differences. However, I digress, back to D9. After watching the film with the aid of our readings on culture and the context in which monsters are handeled in the horror/ sci-fi genres the most striking part of the film, for me, became the location. I found it interesting that of all places the film took place in South Africa given the obvious apartheid feel of discrimination and indifference. Furthermore, the treatment of the native africans in the film was similar to either a servant or lesser role (also keeping with the apartheid theme). The main difference between the two was that in this case the prawns were the visiters. Despite the obvious contributions the prawns could offer (e.g. technology that only they could operate) they were ignored and mistreated while at the same time exploted by both sides.If zombie films represent our distrust and aprehention of the other then this film points to an air of unrest for South Africans who remember how life was just 15 years before this film was made.
ReplyDeleteThe film can be viewed as racist toward the aliens. There are many ways in which they are dehumanized and degraded. For instance, they do not have what is considered a "real" language. They are exiled to “District 9”, then the government attempts to kick them out of there as well. The signs all over the town remind me of the ones put up to bar blacks from different places. Once taken to the lab, the aliens are basically lab rats. The humans perform test after test to determine what they aliens can really do.
ReplyDeleteI agree with your statement of how the film portrays racism in various ways. I also believe that, in a way, in the character Wilkus's case, the film also portrays a bit of interracialism, since he came into contact with some kind of alien mutagen.
DeleteDistrict 9 really captures that essence of racism, discrimination, and abuse towards the Prawns. When I started watching this film, I found it a bit obscure because it appeared as a part documentary part Sci-Fi film. The way how MNU was abusing Wilkus's mutated arm to test the Prawn weapons on pigs and a Prawn was really monstrous to me. The Prawns were just innocent creatures that didn't deserve any of what the humans have done to them. The Prawns may have come from another planet, they may not be physically human but they retain that humanly state of mind. They have more humanity in them then the humans that have abused them. That's what is monstrous about it. How the humans have abused their bodies for scientific research, where others feed off their bodies to gain stability in their health. All they cared about was themselves rather than the Prawns. The Prawns didn't really pose much of a threat to the humans, but ethically they would only kill in self-defense (like humans). To me the film shows that even though the humans are physically human, most of them don't retain that human state of mind when they are face-to-face with the Prawns.
ReplyDeleteI agree with the ties you make when stating that the prawns appear to posses more humanity than that of the humans. I agree with your clause that the humans don't appear humanly to the prawns which in turn flips the idea that these humans carry. The ways in which the humans treat the aliens like animals is really how they are perceived when face to face. Supporting your previous claim
DeleteAfter watching District 9, it is evident that the film could stand as an allegory for racism and segregation. Right within the first few minutes, the film depicts signs and buildings read "No Non-Human Loitering" and "For Use by Humans Only". These are definitely similar to signs found back in the early 1960s period of segregation where even bathrooms and drinking fountains had signs separating them into "Whites Only" and "Colored Only". These signs were found in the poor, run-down refugee camps at which the humans chose to place the foreign species. They did not know what else to with them. After twenty years, it was clear to the humans that the aliens were not going away, and so they chose to move their district out even further away from the city. This can be compared to the 1960s segregation because, although white people tried to completely oust black people. Realizing that the blacks were there to stay, the whites chose to "punish" them, in a sense, by giving them the older, beat up facilities, such as the aforementioned bathrooms and drinking fountains. The aliens were given the name "prawns", which can be seen as a racial slur as well, very degrading and not at all respectable. These types of "punishments" for the aliens tend to draw a sense of sympathy for the aliens rather than the humans. At first, it appears that we are brought to believe that the aliens were in fact the enemy, when in reality, we see that they are seemingly the victims of inferiority due to racial ideas from the humans. Though the aliens had a lot to offer through their technology and weaponry, the humans chose to dehumanize them instead.
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ReplyDeleteDistrict 9 embracing the aliens as ourselves takes on the aspect of racial discrimination allowing the audience to connect. The aliens first presented in the movie are coined with the term "prawn". When the MNU refer to these characters they use this derogatory term to classify them. Everyone can connect with the use of derogatory language and can probably name a few off of the top of their heads when trying to classify another ethnic group. These terms being used to show the inequality within society and a person's personal character. Yet, this doesn't stop the aliens. Even when given a negative connotation the aliens still help their oppressors. The help given in many ways resembles that of those enslaved because no matter what the predicament slaves still acted out what was expected of them. The audience is called to empathize the aliens because of their differences(living conditions,treatment). Although the aliens and humans carry some resemblances they are looked down upon just like the ways in which we ourselves judge and look down on others. This movie causes us to look at ourselves as well as society and evaluate our character. I feel as though this questioning is what proves to be problematic because although we know it isn't right it's a hard tactic to stray from. This presents conflict with trying to justify the unjustifiable within ourselves.
ReplyDeleteWhile Watching District 9 It Was Quite Apparent That The Prawns (The Aliens) Were Treated Unfairly Compared To Humans. The Prawns Were Treated As How African Americans Were Treated During The Segregation Times Between The African American Race And The Caucasian Race. During The Segregation Times, Africans Had Separate Drinking Fountains And Restrooms. In The Film, The Prawns Were Restricted From Various Areas Around The City. The Prawns Were Forced to Stay And Live In Captivity, Like How You'd See A Wild Animal Locked In A Cage At A Zoo. Much Like Racism, The Prawns Were Treated Negatively And Unfairly. The Prawns Were Placed In The Slum Refugee Camp, Similar To The Slums Of Lower Class Areas Of, For Example, Over The Rhine. All Theses Negative Actions Towards The Prawns Will Become Problematic Once The Prawns Revolt Against The Humans. The Prawns Have Technologies That Humans Are Not Capable Of Producing And Engineering. The Continuation Of This Negative Segregation And Dehumanization May Lead To An Ultimate Death Of The Human Race.
ReplyDeleteYour comparison to the prawns are African Americans is extremely accurate. The prawns are victims are harsh prejudice and racial banishment, very similar to that of many groups of people over time. The citizens in the movie treat the aliens in the worst way imaginable. The aliens aren't viewed as a species with thoughts or feelings, they're in a category more similar to that of animals- maybe even worse. The aliens are solely viewed for what they can provide for society. The government conducts merciless experiments and destructive raids, all in the hope of harvesting the ability to use their weaponry. The government hopes to use the aliens' own weapons against them, all the while keeping them locked up in the poorest of slums. What the government doesn't understand, what they grossly underestimate, is the aliens' intelligence. The aliens posses technology far superior to that of humans, and like you said, once they revolt, the humans will see the consequences of their actions.
DeleteWhen I watched this film one of the first things that was said, very clearly, was that the humans were holding the aliens here against their will. They did nothing wrong, their ship just stopped. All through out this film, especially in the beginning, there were strong sub text about how people were treated in the civil rights movement. In reaction to this the MNU broke into their ship and escorted all the aliens out and put them into a camp below where their ship was floating. In this camp they were treated like animals. the government pretended that they had rights just so the humans would stop rioting, but in reality they were prisoners. Over the rest of the movie we see that the humans did not respect the Prawns and they only kept them around for their technology. there are many examples of this through out the film. When they were being evicted they were beaten up, abused, held at gun point, and had their homes searched. Another huge example of this was when Wikus was in the lab and was testing the aliens' guns, he shot at a pig target for three then for the fourth he was made to shoot at a live Prawn. This just says that the scientists just looked at the Prawns as test subjects. this scene hit home extra hard because this scene was just an execution am a perfectly innocent Prawn. He just stood there acting confused and with a t-shirt on with a red "x" on it just seemed too much was a little over the top.
ReplyDeleteThe problems addressed in District 9 correlate very well with the dehumanizing ways and racism that has happened throughout history. The ways the aliens were treated in the film is very similar to the way other groups of people were singled out in different time periods. In the beginning of the film, we see signs that ban aliens from using certain things, the derogatory term "prawn" is used to describe them, and there is even wrongful propaganda. This could be compared to when African Americans were discriminated against and how they held the derogatory term "nigger" and also had minimal privileges. It is no secret that these aliens are treated poorly in the city of South Africa but people aren't willing to connect with the aliens to find that out.
ReplyDeleteVikus was apart of the torment that happened to the aliens, and ask viewers of the movie we dislike the aliens at first until his mishap of a transformation into an alien. He then realizes from their point of view what is happening. The relationship between Vikus and Christopher really brings in an emotional aspect of the aliens. Maybe they aren't so bad after all. I think that was a main point in District 9, that you can judge and assume all you want from the outside, but once the shoe is on the other foot it becomes all whole different picture. It may be cliche, but it definitely fits with the story in this film.
In the movie “District 9” really captures racism and discrimination. The aliens had been there for 20 years and they still haven’t made any progress on their living conditions or any means of making any type of money to support their families. The humans didn’t want to help the aliens out any; all they wanted was to cage them like animals. They had the aliens living in what looks like a ghetto with their shack type houses and if the aliens had anything that looked like any type of machinery they would confiscate it. The humans looked down on them as if they couldn’t do anything but it seems like they looked over the fact that the aliens had a humongous ship that they made that was just stationary for 20 years. The humans treat them like they are worthless but they can’t even figure out anything about the alien’s ship or that their weapons only work with alien’s DNA. Lastly I would say that it took Wikus to turn into one of them to see that they have feelings and priorities too. I don’t people call fully understand the aliens unless they was one, then they would see that they are the same but just look a whole lot different and like cat food.
ReplyDeleteExactly, the humans are so prejudice towards the aliens but they can't figure out how to work any of their technology. I feel like this plays into the many stereotypes that the movie highlights. Wikus is extremely prejudice towards the aliens in the beginning and middle of the movie. When MNU is handing out the eviction notices he claims that a symbol on the shack of Christopher is a gang sign even though as the movie progresses we find out that he is a very intelligent scientist.
DeleteThe aliens in District 9 represent more than just another Hollywood interpretation of extraterrestrial life. These aliens are fenced in, forced to live in slums, they have to scavenge and barter for food and nourishment, military powers patrol their every move, they are ridiculed, abused, and viewed as the lowest of scum. This brutal behavior and injustice acted against them is inhumane. The government corporation in charge of controlling the species has no sympathy; they use the aliens for their weapons and for scientific experimentation. Unfortunately, behavior similar to this has been seen throughout history. This treatment of the aliens is almost identical to that of the Jewish population during the Holocaust, of slavery of African Americans, and of many other ostracized groups of people. While watching this compelling science fiction movie, most viewers won’t look past the special affects and see the underlying themes portrayed; they won’t see that behind the scale-like armor, these creatures are victims are racism.
ReplyDeleteThe movie, even though some may not notice, makes numerous references of prejudice and racism. The most commonly used one is the derogatory name that people have come up with for the aliens- prawns. The humans use the term prawn to demean the aliens. By calling an alien this term, the person is implying that the alien is a lowly bottom feeder more similar to a tiny crustacean than an intelligent being. Coming up with politically incorrect and hurtful names for those people that society finds unworthy is a very common habit and one that has been used for centuries. There is also the fact that the government in the movie is spending an enormous effort to move the aliens from their already dilapidated cage to an even smaller and inadequate one. This reference can be alluded to when Hitler rounded up the Jews into ghettos and then caged them further into concentration camps. Wilkus actually directly calls this new alien environment a concentration camp. To try to hit the message more at home, the movie is filmed in a way to make it seem more real. There are news reports and documentary styled filmography, all to make it more authentic. The most frightening part of it is, that if you take out the alien aspect, all of the events that take place have already happened in real life an are continuing to do so.
You're right, it really is scary that all these thing (minus the aliens) actually happened. I think that is what makes it so relatable. We've talked a lot in class about how monsters represent our fears. This movie definitely represents our fears--the fears of the most horrid things that have already happened. If all monster movies were created with this is mind they would be much scarier. I'm not so much affraid that I'm going to be the last person on earth, surrounded by vampires but having history repeat itself is a completely frightening thought.
DeleteThere are multiple ways in which the aliens are dehumanized. They are segregated completely from humans, they are subjects of experiments and even family is taken away from them. All these things and more are parallels to racism and the Holocaust. The signs saying "humans only" are just like the signs that separated the blacks and whites long ago. Personally I think much of racism and prejudice comes from a lack of knowledge. This movie does a good job of showing that. When on human man is turned alien, he gets to see the world from their eyes. He realizes that the aliens aren't all monsters like the humans thought. Without knowing people we tend to judge them based on our differences. I think if many racist people today got to experience being the other race for one day they would realize just how wrong their stereotypes are.
ReplyDeleteI agree that the awful treatment shown in the film parallels to racism and the Holocaust. This prejudice comes from our fears and assumptions and leads people to harm the innocent. We only realize our mistakes when it is too late. I think this film was so blatantly made like this to send a message to people that we need to inform ourselves before we act so violently and disrespectfully. If we don't, then we have become the monsters.
DeleteAfter watching the racism and discrimination the aliens received in "District 9", I noticed a connection to many past events in our history that involve such discrimination. For example, the treatment of Native Americans, the internment camps of Asian Americans during WWII, and the Holocaust are very similar to the situation the aliens are in. All of these resulted from the majority being afraid of the unknown and not having any idea what to do with the strange minority, so they just force them all together so they don't have to fix the situation. However, once Wilkus started turning into an alien himself he started to get to know the aliens and realized they are not so scary after all. They are very much like humans. Maybe the Johannesburg officials shouldn't have jumped the gun in creating District 9 and learned from similar events in our planet's history.
ReplyDeletevery good inferences and connections to the past, strong points!
DeleteA big part of why the humans could not relate to the aliens is because they could not understand them. Only when Wilkus metamorphosized did he begin to understand. If you think about it, the aliens are just as civilized, if not more than, the humans. The two are civilized in such different ways that it is impossible for the two to live together. Ironically, the exception to this is the Africa American group who interacts with the aliens and can somehow understand them. I think this really makes us see that racism is playing a huge role in the plot of the movie.
DeleteThey were called prawns, put in shanty towns, and everyone viewed them as something that just shouldn’t be there even though they didn’t do anything wrong. The film was from the point of b=view generally of the news or of MNU but followed vicus. He starts hating them and serving them eviction papers but sees their struggle as he is turning into one and the struggle of one named Johnson in particular. This is bad because as he empathises with the prawns he is killing other humans, and going against his friends and co-workers
ReplyDeleteI think that you make a good point here. It isnt until Wikus becomes one, that he begins to understand them.
DeleteAs Atticus from To Kill a Mockingbird Once Put it: "You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view -- until you climb into his skin and walk around in it" (30).
I'm sure Buffalo Bill felt the same way.
The film District 9 mirrors alien degradation to the discrimination of human beings and the racism towards groups of people throughout history. These people include African Americans, the Japanese, and Jews. It is obvious that the film is a parallel to the events of racism towards blacks in the fifties and sixties when Jim Crow Laws were still in effect with the segregation of blacks and whites. The film opens with people across the world voicing their opinions on the alien intrusion. They echo the feelings white people felt towards blacks from the fifties and sixties, these opinions being, “We don’t want them here, get them out!” and “they aren’t like us”. The people in the film feel threatened by the invasion of these strange creatures and see them as a threat. Because they believe they are a threat, they decide to cattle them into slums and keep them in one spot where they can keep their eyes on them. A man in the introduction to the film expresses his fears to this threat saying, “They will not be able to go home” therefore, people will feel more comfortable keeping them contained and walled off from the rest of society. However, large populations of creatures, as well as human beings, cannot be contained without repercussions. The restraint of the aliens into slums resembles the droving of Japanese into camps in the United States during WWII and Jews into concentration camps during the Holocaust. Slurs are also used in the film, using the word “pawn” for the aliens because of their noticeable “savagery”, hinting to the racial slurs that were and still are used against minorities in the world today.
ReplyDeleteIn the beginning of District 9, the film makes it appear as if the aliens are violent and impatient, framing them as monsters. The aliens are seen cursing, throwing down the eviction notices, pulling off the arm of a man, and eating cat food like wild animals. Their side is not seen or cared to be understood, only the majority view is shown, not the minority view. Halfway through the film, we see the affection the aliens are capable of when the large alien pats the small alien on the head for finding the right piece of technology and says, “Good little one”. It is this part in the film where the audience witnesses the alien capability of being caring with human-like characteristics. At one point in the film, an alien says to the other, “be polite” showing they are willing to cooperate and want to be civil. We see other hints of human characteristics when one of the aliens says, “I must return to my son”, demonstrating family is of an importance to them. When the humans rummage through the slums picking things up and throwing them around, and kill the father alien and scare the small child-like alien, it is at this point in the film that humans, not the aliens, appear to be the aliens and that we are truly the ones to fear and are the dangerous ones.
When humans are expected to show empathy for minorities it can cause problems because it appears as though they pity them, making them feel they are misfortunates due to their identity. Empathy is not necessary, but rather, equality is what minorities, and the aliens in the film, wish to have.
I had just typed three in depth paragraphs reflecting on "District 9" when my computer completely shut down and erased all of my work, so this will be brief.
ReplyDelete"District 9" portrays racism and dehumanization in many ways, and this is allegorized through the living conditions of the aliens, who the aliens associate with (another minority group), and how the humans treat the aliens (medical experimentation, invading their homes, and shooting them for entertainment). I was able to empathize with the aliens when I realized that they were equally as afraid of the humans and that they form very human-like relationships with eachother (father and son, and close companionship in adults).
The movie allowed me to reflect on how we treat those who are different than us. We tend to be ignorant to the fact that our beliefs are not always ethical or correct. The humans talked down to the aliens because they could not understand the aliens, and assumed that the aliens could not undersand them either. In reality, the aliens can easily pick up on human languages, and are a lot more technologically advanced.
There are various ways that aliens are dehumanized in District 9. First, they are sent to concentration camps and called derogatory names. The inhumane way they are treated can be compared to that of racism in the past. There were signs all over the city banning them from areas, warning people of the dangers of the aliens. This is what we do when we are afraid. We take advantage and put the aliens in a place where we feel is safer for all. After watching this film and reflecting on it, I can now see how racism is clearly the main topic. It shows how we still struggle with this issue today and probably always will. There will always be outsiders who are different and as history has shown, we will most likely segregate them, treat them poorly, and harm them in some way. An example of this in the movie is how they brought the aliens into the labs to run experiments on them as if they were nothing but a science project. They were not treated with respect and we need to learn to remember that though they are different, they still have the right to be treated, as we would want to be treated. I think they took it a little far when one of the men in charge of the camp, Wikus, shot one the prawns (aliens) without reason. It was a kill just to kill. They were put in camps just because they landed in the wrong place. They were abused solely because they were different and therefore feared. This is racism that we have all witnessed before.
ReplyDeleteDistrict 9 is a film that does allegorize racism. I’ve seen the movie many times before but this is the first time I saw the racism. I honestly feel as if I fell into the same racism towards the aliens as the people from the film. Not so much as to hate them but the fact that I didn’t even recognize the blatant racism and mistreatment of the aliens. Of course I saw what proceeded and thought that it was wrong but I didn’t go too much deeper into it past that. This movie doesn’t just focus on humans mistreating aliens but it also shows what can happen when a call to empathy becomes problematic. By that I mean the scene when MNU began handing out evection notices to the aliens. The humans felt that it was there duty and calling to help the aliens. This seems to be just a gesture of good intention but the help caused a lot of tension between the humans and aliens. By forcing them to move to District 9, the humans showed even though they were helping it would be on their terms. Helping the aliens was not like helping other humans and that’s a theme that the movie emphasized. When one of the aliens said that forcing him to be evicted was illegal, no one cared at all. Even the flow of the movie didn’t pause to recognize his statement but kept it going as a way to show how unimportant what he said really was. The aliens were not humans and they had to be reminded often. The humans did this through their treatment and disregard for the well-being of the aliens.
ReplyDeleteDistrict Nine (Alive in Joburg: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=le3y0QlLjJE) illustrates the seemingly natural and all to commonplace action of dehumanizing what we do not fully understand.
ReplyDeleteWhen the Aliens arrive in Johannesburg, they were immediately subjugated to the oppression of the majority, as they became the minority. Furthermore, it is safe to assert that this film serves as a microcosm, an allegory for apartheid.
It is easy to see the correlation between the labeling of "District Nine" where the Prawns are kept, and the all to real "District Six" a place located in cape town, an area that is best known for its forced removal of over 60,000 inhabitants by the Apartheid Regime.
This was the basis of District Nine, the forced relocation of the prawns into a glorified concentration camp, where the populace can then by systematically controlled, and hid away from society.
This action of removing what is not understood is not a foreign concept to humans, for throughout our history, Lepers were cast out, African Americans were subjugated, and even in our modern era, Hispanics are denied the liberties that the rest of our nation has "earned".
With that said, it is easy to link this film to South African Apartheid, when in reality, the events of this film, such as the forced relocation of Prawns into concentrated zones, is no different than what the Americans did to Japanese-Americans, and what the Germans did to the Jews. Americans isolated its Japanese populace because of a collective-cultural fear of the unknown, and by fearing the unknown, we fear what we do not have the capacity to understand.
History repeats itself, and now I feel like I'm just ranting. Thank you for reading.
The movie District 9 vividly portrays racism and discrimination in South Africa. The spin on this movie, however,is that racism is directed towards an alien race known as "Prawns", which is serves as derogatory name for the species. Throughout the movie, there are many scenes that portray dehumanization of the aliens. The first element of racism seen is the segregation between the humans and the aliens. The Prawns are forced to live a fenced in ghetto that has extremely poor living conditions. Inside this area, Prawns live in makeshift shacks and are consistently watched by the military. The military throughout the film can be seen doing inhumane and unethical acts throughout the film which consists of beating and murdering the Prawns for no particular reason. It is not too surprising that the alien race means no harm because when looking at other discriminated races in history, there was no reason for the discrimination in the first place. In fact, not only do the aliens mean no harm, they show human-like qualities and emotions. We can see one character that cares for his son and becomes loyal to the protagonist of the movie.
ReplyDeleteWhen looking at the movie as a whole, we can see many elements of racism and prejudice that were implemented that can be seen throughout history. For example segregation can be seen many times in American history as well as during the Holocaust. Also abuse of the "inferior" race whether it be physical or verbal abuse is seen all throughout history in places all around the world. Because these themes in the film can be seen in history on multiple occasions it makes it feel much more real. Also the way it was filmed at the beginning of the film made it feel believable as well.
District 9 does portray the view of racism. The reason why there has been the view on this movie is because there are the different people and the aliens. Which kinda proves how there are racist views on this movie but arnt really shown to the full extent as the district 9 can be proved as a concentration camp and how it looks like it and how the people are stuck together and how the CMU seems to act like the germans and have put the aliens in a camp its viewed as racist.
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