Well here is my fourth blog post for the ASTU course. As always this will be focused around the topic of law and society and yes, it is going to be on the movie District 9 by Neil Blompkopt and Peter Jackson. So here are my feelings on the way the film changes Wikus’s character gradually after getting infected, the music and the theme of xenophobia.
First of all my thoughts on the movie. It’s a good movie with an engaging storyline and a soundtrack that will appeal to your personal emotions. The way Wikus’s character was handled was done exceptionally well as we the viewers get to experience the gradual shift from a man who patronizes and is ignorant of the alien’s culture to basically becoming their life saver. This change is evident within the second half of the film. In the first half, Wikus is naïve and rather patronizing towards the aliens which is further proven by the scene where he makes a remark about one of the aliens being sharp, as though he thought the others had low intelligence. The fact that he made the remark based on the fact that the alien realized his plan to evict them shows that he was almost surprised at the creature’s intelligence therefore presenting his naivety. Within the second half after he gets infected with the black fluid and has to trust Christopher the alien in order to be able to get his arm back to normal, we can see that he actually starts to develop compassion after finding out the ship that Christopher had built and his feelings for the experimented aliens in the labs. Of course we all know he is only helping Christopher because he wants a cure for his arm, but we can clearly see in the lab sequence and when the ship is shown that Sharlto Copley’s acting as Wikus in those scenes almost make us believe that he is changing emotionally and taking on a new approach to the aliens. This shows at the end of the film where Wikus almost smiles when he sees the two aliens depart and it is clearly one of compassion.
Some of the shots within the second half of the film are also an interesting and effective addition by the filmmaker. For example the emotional African style music played during the more dramatic scenes such as the ending and the scene where Wikus is captured by the MNU along with Christopher. The music is really effective because it appeals to your emotions during the latter half and really makes you feel for these characters and the hardships they have gone through. The fact that it sounds almost like something that would be played in a movie set in Africa or the Middle East is also effective because it emphasizes the fact that the film takes place in African territory.
The underlying theme of xenophobia is also present throughout the film from the first half to the second half. During the first half we as an audience have already seen the effects of this on the South African population through documentary style footage during the first few minutes. The use of interviews from them almost make the film seem almost realistic and the fact that I’ve heard that the filmmaker actually interviewed these people just makes it feel like the movie is trying to present to us that some people in that country actually experience xenophobia in reality. The fact that these people are the ones that start the riots in the city and are presenting throwing a hefty cheer at the end when the mothership departs only confirms this. The MNU themselves also display xenophobia which is clearly evident in the scene where Wikus and Christopher find out that these men have been experimenting on the aliens in their headquarters. It’s almost as though the MNU want to find out what the aliens are made of and is experiencing curiosity, which makes sense since xenophobia is the fear of the unknown so as a result they want to challenge that fear so as to make sense of the unknown. This aspect of xenophobia also extends to the Nigerians who battle the MNU forces at the films climax. Both men are not afraid to use weaponry against each other and it’s made clearer by the fact that the Nigerians are living almost in the same conditions as the aliens. Xenophobia is also shown by the way human beings reacted to Wikus’s deformed arm; they reacted with shock.
However this is only my opinion of the film though. I enjoyed it and found some nice parallels with another film by the same director called Elysium which I thought was really enjoyable.
Hey Jonathan,
You’re absolutely right about the fact that people such as Wikus underwent a radical change his perspectives for what may appear to be good intentions but in reality is intended for personal gain. In fact, even cases in history suggest this. For example, the real reason behind the Canadian government’s decision to cancel the Chinese Exclusion Act in 1945 was actually not to promote multiculturalism but rather to take advantage of foreign labour that Canada during that time started becoming in demand of.
Fair enough Bill, but I feel that although at times Wikus’ positive actions were the result of him doing good things for his own gain, there was still a definite shift, and somewhere along the line he started doing good things for the right reasons. When he tells Christopher Johnson to leave and take his son, that he’ll fight off Venter while in the disabled mech suit, that’s not him acting only out of self-interest- that’s genuine sacrifice. Was it sacrifice he was forced into? Yes. But it was selflessness nonetheless. And I think eventually the same thing happens with governments (or I’d like to). Initially, racist policies (to build on your example) are abolished because of selfish interests, but over time we become better people, there is an ethical progression, and in the best case scenario we transform, completely, much like Wikus, to fight for justice, to make amends, and to be selfless where before we were cold-hearted.
Jonathan- I loved that you picked up on the music. I really enjoyed the score as well- both because it was emotionally touching and because I felt that it tied in, subtly, the fact that the wrongs perpetrated against the aliens in the movie were analogous to those against native South Africans during apartheid. There’s a lot of haunting songs about the struggles of sub-Saharan Africans underneath imperialist rule.