District 9 Movie Analysis
District 9 (Peter Jackson, 2009), a science fiction film produced by Peter Jackson, is a rare gem unlike the many sci-fi movies which have been released in our time. The story is established via a mix of standard third person camera and documentary footage and takes place in the present - a twist from your regular science fiction film which normally takes place in the future. The film, about a colony of alien refugees forced by humans to live in a South African slum, is an example of social satire by presenting a critique of the injustice with which we treat those who are different from us. The metaphors of science fiction are being used to portray the nature of racism; with the way that racist ideology and discourse deals with those different from us whom we fear or despise.
District 9 bares no flare of contemporary glamour, lacks big budget effects, casts no name actors and is therefore an anti-Hollywood film. The story is about an extraterrestrial race who makes contact with Earth and the relationships with humans and society. The film opens with a shot of a large alien mothership hovering directly over Johannesburg, South Africa where we learn is the current home of a government camp called District 9 in which the aliens, derogatorily
referred to as “Prawns”, are forced to take refuge in. After years of refuge, the South African government hires MNU, a private military company, to evict the aliens from their current “home” in District 9 and relocate them to the New District 10; a glorified concentration camp. We are then introduced to Wikus van de Merwe (Sharlto Copley), an employee of MNU who is given the task of serving eviction notices to each and every Prawn. Wikus takes us into District 9 in which we observe the filthy, unbearable living conditions of the slum and the disgusting, vile behaviour of the Prawns. We, as viewers, immediately side with the humans and despise the “Others” which was precisely the intention of Peter Jackson when producing the first half
District 9 bares no flare of contemporary glamour, lacks big budget effects, casts no name actors and is therefore an anti-Hollywood film. The story is about an extraterrestrial race who makes contact with Earth and the relationships with humans and society. The film opens with a shot of a large alien mothership hovering directly over Johannesburg, South Africa where we learn is the current home of a government camp called District 9 in which the aliens, derogatorily
referred to as “Prawns”, are forced to take refuge in. After years of refuge, the South African government hires MNU, a private military company, to evict the aliens from their current “home” in District 9 and relocate them to the New District 10; a glorified concentration camp. We are then introduced to Wikus van de Merwe (Sharlto Copley), an employee of MNU who is given the task of serving eviction notices to each and every Prawn. Wikus takes us into District 9 in which we observe the filthy, unbearable living conditions of the slum and the disgusting, vile behaviour of the Prawns. We, as viewers, immediately side with the humans and despise the “Others” which was precisely the intention of Peter Jackson when producing the first half