November 2013 – The Average Student

I have heard of the Ecole Polytechnique Massacre (A.K.A. the Montreal Massacre) before, but never have I actually read about it in detail. My initial thoughts after reading: What the hell is wrong with this guy…? Before I thought it was simply a psychopath on a killing spree for no apparent reason.

On December 6, 1989, twenty-five-year-old Marc Lepine, armed with a rifle and hunting knife, shot twenty-eight people before killing himself at the Ecole Polytechnique. He claimedto be “fighting feminism…”

What the hell… What was going through this man’s mind? Did he really believe that women were stealing away his rights? How does this man define the word “rational?” How can you go around killing women, blaming how they ruined your life, when your MOTHER, a WOMAN, GAVE you life?! There is no way I will ever be able to understand the thinking process he went through to come to his “rational” conclusion.

Of course this event is incredibly significant in Canadian history, as it lead to many social changes afterwards such as increased gun control laws. Furthermore, this date is now remembered as the National Day of Remembrance and Action on Violence Against Women. And although initially an extremely dark and sad incident, I believe some positive changes have arisen from the massacre.

Today, the view on gender equality has become less of an issue. Obviously not all sex discrimination has been erased, (nor will it ever become completely non-existent,) but the world has taken significant strides in the past years. My generation of children and teenagers are more open minded now than they ever had been in history. The thought of killing innocent people just because they are women is something incomprehensible to most. I personally feel anger and confusion when reading about this story. Why did it happen? What could have been done to prevent this? In the end, whats happened has happened, and we can only move forward. It’s awesome that the date has been remembered for so long, and the world has made vast improvements in response to the massacre.

I am utterly speechless after reading upon such a dreadful event, but I am glad to know that it is not only me that thinks this way. All my friends and peers will agree with me on the notion that this man, was indeed insane. It is reassuring to know that the youth in today’s society does not discriminate (as much as people in the past did) on people of different on gender or even skin colour or cultural backgrounds.

After reading on such a dark event in our country’s history, it really sparked my interest. How does the rest of the world view gender equality? Am I not the only one who thinks how I think? I cannot help but look forward to next semester.

I never got around to watching District 9 when it came out in 2009. A couple of friends and I were planning to watch it together, however, I had another prior engagement and could not go. I had never read any synopsis about the movie online either. Eventually, I just forgot about the movie, thinking it was just another typical alien science-fiction movie, where aliens come and take over the Earth while the good guys, the humans, fight back and take back their planet. I had no idea District 9 would possess such a deep underlying messages of apartheid, xenophobia and othering, and almost immediately, I regretted not watching the movie before.

District 9 takes place in Johannesburg, South Africa, where extraterrestrial life forms have landed. But instead of conquering the planet, the aliens are in jeopardy. They are all sick, malnourished, and in need to help. As such, the aliens are confined in a government camp called “District 9” which eventually develop into a slum. Conflicts arise between the humans and aliens, as the citizens of Johannesburg view the aliens as a virus, and riots break out to rid the aliens out of their township. The derogatory term “prawn” is given to the aliens, as the government segregates them from the humans. The South African government hires a private military company, Multinational United (MNU), to relocate the prawns from District 9 to a new internment camp via unfair and forced evictions.

District 9 was just like any other sci-fi movie: explosions, gun fight scenes, and alien-technology. District 9 was incredibly enjoyable to watch. However, the greatest aspect of the movie was definitely how it alluded to the historical events in the apartheid era in South Africa. It was obvious that the setting in South Africa was intentional, as it possessed a history of segregation of black and whites.

In District 9, the prawns represent the African natives, where they are given a set of rules for their people, different from the humans. Throughout the movie, there are signs that say “NO NON-HUMAN LOITERING” and other signs that place restrictions on the aliens. This is where apartheid is so prominent in the movie.

The human characters are presented to be very ignorant and close-minded. They do not believe living together with the aliens is a possible option. Xenophobia is prominent in most of the citizens as they fear the aliens, and cannot stand to live near them. Some prawns, obviously upset with the treatment, rise up and commit crimes arson, theft, and murder. However, the prawns’ destructive actions are somewhat justified, as they are being treated unfairly by society. Just like in the past, acts of destruction were committed in protest to the othering of the Africans.

Furthermore, MNU’s main goal with moving the prawns is to take the advanced alien weaponry. We find in the movie that MNU even performs inhumane tests on the aliens as well when Wikus sees lab in the basement of their headquarters.

Wikus, who initially is a weak-willed, conforming officer, eventually changes his views on the prawns. From evicting the prawns from their homes, treating them unfairly, and looking down on them, Wikus ends up working with a prawn named Christopher to save the alien population. I found that the scene where he is forced to test out alien weaponry, and refuses to shoot at prawns very significant. It shows that Wikus sees that the prawns possess human characteristics and have value in their lives, and thus, where his view ultimately changes.

Wikus, while still very selfish, does indeed eventually see the prawns as people just like him (and even becomes one in the end). It is sad, however, that the rest of the human population, especially the soldiers, see the aliens as ugly creatures, when in reality, they are the true monsters.