District 9 - Review, Discuss, Commentary ***SPOILERS*** possible

[firehawk12]

I just go back from this tonight and I'm not sure where I really stand on the apartheid issue anymore. Of course, maybe the easy solution would be that Western directors simply avoid doing SF with racial allegory at all, because you really can't win either way.

But I'm sure all the points I could bring up have been discussed already. Regardless, I think it was a bit shallow on that end... to the point where I wasn't even sure if miscegenation was the real theme of the film.

I hate to say this, but I think this would have been better if it was called Halo. The games don't try to do anything really meaningful with the narrative - just a generic alien invasion and random (white?) guy in armor blasting things to bits. The verite style is very striking and not as distracting as in other films, so if all Blomkamp had to worry about was things going boom, he would have been able to make a stronger film.

 

[The Habs Fan]

Just got back from the movie. I thought it was Excellent. A great and unique science fiction movie to close out the summer.

 

[Agent Richard07]

The director said in an interview the aliens were a hive mind who had lost their "queen". They were directionless after that and would've starved to death floating above the city in their ship had the humans not stepped in when they did. Its quite possible that they were (as some put it) a "colonizing force" meaning to conquer our our solar system before their leadership died off. My personal theory is that before whatever disease or injury killed their queen, she navigated them towards the closest habitable world in hopes that some of her people might think for start themselves and survive. In the same article he explained why the "drones" didn't mount an escape sooner: it took them that long (twenty years) before one of them got a mind of their and started thinking ofr the hive's best interests.

Thanks. I found an interview where he answers the following questions...

What is your own back story for these aliens? What's their home planet like? Why did they end up on Earth?

Read the response.

He also talks about Christopher...

Where does this leave Christopher Johnson [an abnormally smart prawn who sparks a bit of a revolution... Not to give too much away]?

I think it's taken 20 years. I think because there is a subconscious hive mind happening, really what they should do is lay one egg that has a different embryo in it that grows into a Queen or being someone that dictates direction. But I think in the interim, because they may have done that, there may be an egg out there with that, but as that being is growing, I just like the idea that he may have been a lot more directionless in the beginning. But the hive structure of their society may just pick one or two that starts to become the leader. Like the overall structure of his brain may change because the hive may want that to happen. So he starts having a direction and a goal. Which is an interesting idea and it's just enough to kick start them to be able to get to the ship to get back.

 

[The Boy Who Cried Worf]

The director said in an interview the aliens were a hive mind who had lost their "queen". They were directionless after that and would've starved to death floating above the city in their ship had the humans not stepped in when they did. Its quite possible that they were (as some put it) a "colonizing force" meaning to conquer our our solar system before their leadership died off. My personal theory is that before whatever disease or injury killed their queen, she navigated them towards the closest habitable world in hopes that some of her people might think for start themselves and survive. In the same article he explained why the "drones" didn't mount an escape sooner: it took them that long (twenty years) before one of them got a mind of their and started thinking ofr the hive's best interests.

Thanks. I found an interview where he answers the following questions...

What is your own back story for these aliens? What's their home planet like? Why did they end up on Earth?

Read the response.

He also talks about Christopher...

Where does this leave Christopher Johnson [an abnormally smart prawn who sparks a bit of a revolution... Not to give too much away]?

I think it's taken 20 years. I think because there is a subconscious hive mind happening, really what they should do is lay one egg that has a different embryo in it that grows into a Queen or being someone that dictates direction. But I think in the interim, because they may have done that, there may be an egg out there with that, but as that being is growing, I just like the idea that he may have been a lot more directionless in the beginning. But the hive structure of their society may just pick one or two that starts to become the leader. Like the overall structure of his brain may change because the hive may want that to happen. So he starts having a direction and a goal. Which is an interesting idea and it's just enough to kick start them to be able to get to the ship to get back.

Maybe if he had actually made a movie about this and not a pseudo-intellectual message film he might have had a good movie on his hands.

 

[Bisz]

D9 is fiction, but the director chose to base in apartheid-era South Africa. He could've just as easily placed it in today's South Africa if he didn't want to deal or address apartheid. I would've liked some mention of it and the impact it had on South African society, in regards to the arrival of the prawns. One comment would've been nice. It didn't have to be a policy discussion on it, but for the vast majority of people who know little about the history of South Africa, and I include myself in that number, some context to help explain the 'irony' would've been better.

Exactly would it have been too much to ask them to thrown in something like this:

Guy1: Thats damned convenient that the aliens came to South Africa, we can take all these fancy "No Blacks" signs and easily conver them to "No Prawns" signs.

Guy2: Yah, I mean, had they gone anywhere else, that place would have had to make those signs from scratch!




Dude, come on! How blatant, in your face does the movie have to be for you to not want a literal line in there that yes, this movie is in fact about apartheid?

 

[Bisz]

Maybe if he had actually made a movie about this and not a pseudo-intellectual message film he might have had a good movie on his hands.

But why would he want to downgrade to a 'good' movie? From this poll its clear he's already got an 'excellent' movie. Clearly he chose to do the right thing in making this movie the way he did.

 

[Garibaldi O'brien]

It was a good movie. It was as close to a modern Twilight Zone as I've seen in ages. Great FX, no pussy PG-13 crap, and some really first rate allegory.

I will rate it with Planet of the Apes. The Prawn CGI gave me the kind of realism the ape makeup did when I was a tot.

 

[DarKush]

I wonder if the kids who were born in the 90's, when apartheid was ending and after it had been dismantled know anything about it. Same with the Soviet Union and communism. I can't assume that people know what I know.

Were you not taught about about the Korean and Vietnam Wars? Martin Luther King Jr and Rosa Parks? Japanese concentration camps during WWII? Why would you assume that South African children wouldn't be taught about apartheid, or that Russian children wouldn't be taught about communism? Just because they might be taught the official state line doesn't mean they wouldn't be familiar with the entire system, and the negatives that sprang from it.

I'm talking more about the international audience. Also, even in the USA there is are different interpretations of history. In my native South, some call the Civil War the War of Northern Aggression or the War for Southern Independance for example.

As for the natives, I can only speak as an American, and there is quite a bit of history not taught in schools and a quite a lot of stuff Americans don't know-by choice or design-about their own government and its policies. Regarding your examples, from what I can recall, MLK and Rosa Parks were taught, but they were not the sum total of the Civil Rights Movement. Many other Civil Rights leaders, ideas, events, etc. were not taught. I don't even remember going over Korea-it's been almost twenty years since I went to high school, but Vietnam was pretty much the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution, TET Offensive, protests, and the fall of Saigon, there was a lot of important things that happened between and during those perhaps larger, or seminal events during that period. With history there's quite a bit that's left unsaid, for whatever reasons. I can't assume that native Russians or S. Africans, etc. are taught their history, just like I can't assume Americans are. It's one thing conservatives sometimes complain about, the lack of American history courses in schools.

 

[DarKush]

D9 is fiction, but the director chose to base in apartheid-era South Africa. He could've just as easily placed it in today's South Africa if he didn't want to deal or address apartheid. I would've liked some mention of it and the impact it had on South African society, in regards to the arrival of the prawns. One comment would've been nice. It didn't have to be a policy discussion on it, but for the vast majority of people who know little about the history of South Africa, and I include myself in that number, some context to help explain the 'irony' would've been better.

Exactly would it have been too much to ask them to thrown in something like this:

Guy1: Thats damned convenient that the aliens came to South Africa, we can take all these fancy "No Blacks" signs and easily conver them to "No Prawns" signs.

Guy2: Yah, I mean, had they gone anywhere else, that place would have had to make those signs from scratch!




Dude, come on! How blatant, in your face does the movie have to be for you to not want a literal line in there that yes, this movie is in fact about apartheid?

That's debatable that this movie is specifically about apartheid, even if it was based in apartheid S.A. Some feel, including posters on this board, that it was a broader indictment of intolerance in general. I've also read that the director said that D9 was more about contemporary issues in SA. But since it was based in apartheid-era S.A., I would've liked a mention of it.

 

[chrisspringob]

I've also read that the director said that D9 was more about contemporary issues in SA. But since it was based in apartheid-era S.A., I would've liked a mention of it.

It wasn't based in apartheid-era South Africa. It was based in modern day South Africa, with a few pieces of footage from apartheid-era South Africa (the aliens' initial arrival on Earth).

 

[Warped9]

I've been hearing a lot of people talking about a sequel or prequel to D9 even amongst the departing crowd right after I saw the film as well as online.

I may be wrong, but my gut feeling is that I don't expect to see a followup to this. I suspect it will be more like The Iron Giant with open questions left dangling. The main difference is that we'll likely get some extra stuff in the DVD release that may clarify one or two things, but that's it.

 

[Gepard]

Fantastic movie, and very disturbing; never before have I taken such savage pleasure in the mass deaths of so many people during an action finale.

But since it was based in apartheid-era S.A., I would've liked a mention of it.

Perhaps this is a stretch, but I wonder if the presence of an outside and very alien presence might blunt racial tensions between blacks and whites--after all, they're both human races while the Prawns are creepy bug-things both sides can hate.

I've been hearing a lot of people talking about a sequel or prequel to D9 even amongst the departing crowd right after I saw the film as well as online.

I may be wrong, but my gut feeling is that I don't expect to see a followup to this. I suspect it will be more like The Iron Giant with open questions left dangling. The main difference is that we'll likely get some extra stuff in the DVD release that may clarify one or two things, but that's it.

Sequel Hook was my first thought about the dangling threads. (In fact, District 9 already has an entry on that page.) District 10 and the fate of Wilkus work as open-ended threads, but the specific promises Christopher made to return and fix Wilkus and rescue his people felt like it was intended to set up another film.

IMO, the only way to make a follow-up work, though, would be to have Christopher just vanish. Set the next movie, say, ten years later, Christopher hasn't returned and the Prawns (and Wilkus) have to come to grips with the fact that rescue isn't coming as they start to assimilate into human society, and focus on the problems that arise from that.

 

[Anwar]

Wikus retained his human intelligence even after his physical transformation was complete (at least, the ending suggested that), so for full irony they could have Wikus become a leader among the Prawns if they ever do District 10.

 

[Checkmate]

Personally I hope Christopher never comes back. Wilkus was the worst "hero" I've ever had the displeasure of seeing. Going around laughing about how baby prawns pop like popcorn, offering abortion souveriers, lying to a child about his father, backstabbing his "friend," and just all around being completely selfish in everything he did after being infected. Pathetic.

All the movie did was make me hate South Africans even more than I did beforehand. Not even Humans in general, just South Africans. Wilkus first and foremost. I even liked the army colonel guy more; at least he was straight forward. Not a sniveling, backstabbing little fuck.

 

[Captain Craig]

I'm talking more about the international audience. Also, even in the USA there is are different interpretations of history. In my native South, some call the Civil War the War of Northern Aggression or the War for Southern Independance for example.

Please tell these people to let the stereotype die. It is the 21st century and it was the Civil War. As you can see I'm in Nashville, TN and I'd appreciate it if they kept their ignorance to themselves.

"Better to keep ones mouth shut and be assumed ignorant than open your mouth and confirm it for all."

 

[777]

.....All the movie did was make me hate South Africans even more than I did beforehand. Not even Humans in general, just South Africans....

What the hell?!! Generalizing much? What did South Africans (and all of them on top of it) ever do to you?

 

[tauntme]

Personally I hope Christopher never comes back. Wilkus was the worst "hero" I've ever had the displeasure of seeing. Going around laughing about how baby prawns pop like popcorn, offering abortion souveriers, lying to a child about his father, backstabbing his "friend," and just all around being completely selfish in everything he did after being infected. Pathetic.

All the movie did was make me hate South Africans even more than I did beforehand. Not even Humans in general, just South Africans. Wilkus first and foremost. I even liked the army colonel guy more; at least he was straight forward. Not a sniveling, backstabbing little fuck.

You're just a generally pessimistic guy. Wilkus was never supposed to be your typical hero, although he did go back and save Christopher at the end. He was full of flaws, an anti-hero if you will. And I didn't hate him, his humor was dark, that's true, but if you go around, you will notice that much of our humor is dark as well. At that time, no one could relate to the aliens, and the humor is an attempt by the humans to relate to them, no matter how twisted. It's exactly like racial prejudice.

 

[Agenda]

I have a theory about the events leading up to the ship's landing. As I think the Director stated, there was a virus that killed the queen. Once that happens, the ship is programmed to automatically head to a habitable planet like Earth. Or maybe they were already at Earth when the virus hit.

But since there's no more queen, you have a bunch of mutinous, uncontrollable aliens running around without guidance. Christopher doesn't want these guys to have possession of a ship that can ravage an entire planet, so he intentionally grounds the vessel on Earth because it's the lesser evil. Maybe, in doing so, he actually saves the Earth from his own shipmates.

So that's where the little command ship comes in. It's the key to the whole vessel...the bridge if you will. Detaching it renders the entire ship unusable. Maybe Christopher detached it or maybe it detached automatically because it's standard procedure. The little liquid device is a power source, but it's moreso of a key, a fail safe. Either it automatically disintegrates when the command ship detaches or maybe it was accidently lost/destroyed.

Without the key you can't power the little ship or the big ship. Maybe only the pilot of the vessel or an engineer (which Christopher probably is) has knowledge of how to make the liquid that powers everything.

 

[DarKush]

I've also read that the director said that D9 was more about contemporary issues in SA. But since it was based in apartheid-era S.A., I would've liked a mention of it.

It wasn't based in apartheid-era South Africa. It was based in modern day South Africa, with a few pieces of footage from apartheid-era South Africa (the aliens' initial arrival on Earth).

I think you're partly right. I think the movie was based in an alternate reality where the apartheid system continued to the present day.

 

[chrisspringob]

I've also read that the director said that D9 was more about contemporary issues in SA. But since it was based in apartheid-era S.A., I would've liked a mention of it.

It wasn't based in apartheid-era South Africa. It was based in modern day South Africa, with a few pieces of footage from apartheid-era South Africa (the aliens' initial arrival on Earth).

I think you're partly right. I think the movie was based in an alternate reality where the apartheid system continued to the present day.

Is there any evidence whatsoever that (human, not alien) apartheid was still going on in the present day in the movie?