District 9
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.
