District 9
“It’s gonna be clean and its gonna be quiet.” This is the attitude many people in Cape Town held regarding the discrimination of blacks in District 6. The 2009 film produced and directed by Blomkamp and Peter Jackson, District 9, highlights by using satire, the cruel and inhumane side of the society that discriminates towards specific others. It embodies ideas that ridicule modern society including the loss of humanisation and the effects of discriminating and segregating races.
The ‘prawns’ are the “bottom feeders” of society. They live without rights and respect and are forced into poor living conditions. This reflects life for victims of racism in District 6. They were given few opportunities in comparison to others living in Cape Town and were treated like animals. Their form in District 9 as ‘prawns’ is a distinct choice made by the director Jackson as it shows them as a completely different specimen which sets them apart from the humans. The term ‘prawn’ is very derogatory towards them and alienates them from society. The degrading and childish language used when speaking to the ‘prawns’ and the disrespect and indecency shown by the humans “get your fokkin tentacle out of my face!” highlights the lack of respect shown to them. The way the humans view the aliens mimics the way the whites viewed the blacks at Cape Town. Through the denouncement of the character Vikus, we can see the demeaning attitude used by the government of South Africa towards the blacks. Humour is a tool used to deliberately point out the absurd level of unseemliness.
Intentionally avoided, nobody wants to get involved with the prawns and they only communicated when completely necessary. They hid the prawns away so they don’t have to deal with them in everyday life. This was an approach the people of Cape Town used and shut themselves off from the different race so they didn’t have to deal with them. The affects seen in District 9 show the result of ignoring an entire multicultural
The ‘prawns’ are the “bottom feeders” of society. They live without rights and respect and are forced into poor living conditions. This reflects life for victims of racism in District 6. They were given few opportunities in comparison to others living in Cape Town and were treated like animals. Their form in District 9 as ‘prawns’ is a distinct choice made by the director Jackson as it shows them as a completely different specimen which sets them apart from the humans. The term ‘prawn’ is very derogatory towards them and alienates them from society. The degrading and childish language used when speaking to the ‘prawns’ and the disrespect and indecency shown by the humans “get your fokkin tentacle out of my face!” highlights the lack of respect shown to them. The way the humans view the aliens mimics the way the whites viewed the blacks at Cape Town. Through the denouncement of the character Vikus, we can see the demeaning attitude used by the government of South Africa towards the blacks. Humour is a tool used to deliberately point out the absurd level of unseemliness.
Intentionally avoided, nobody wants to get involved with the prawns and they only communicated when completely necessary. They hid the prawns away so they don’t have to deal with them in everyday life. This was an approach the people of Cape Town used and shut themselves off from the different race so they didn’t have to deal with them. The affects seen in District 9 show the result of ignoring an entire multicultural