Last week, I finally saw District 9. Since I’m blogging about it now, you can safely assume I was impressed.
District 9 is a science fiction movie, but of a kind that hasn’t come out in a long time. In the eighties, a large alien ship appeared above the South-African city of Johannesburg. Since the ship does not seem to go anywhere, humans decide to cut their way in. They discover what seems to be a large group of malnourished interstellar refugees. Their appearance leads humans to use the derogatory term ‘prawns’ to denote the aliens. In all honesty, they do look a bit like a cross between a human and a lobster.
In all their wisdom, governmental organizations decide to concentrate the 1.5 million prawns in one part of the city, district 9. The prawns are prohibited to become part of society, and are increasingly confined to the boundaries of district 9. It’s no surprise that district 9 slowly develops into a slum riddled with crime and poverty. The real trouble starts when the government decides to relocate all prawns to a refugee camp outside of the city. The story is really, really good, which in itself is pretty unique for scifi movies nowadays.
A 'prawn' from District 9.
Moreover, the setting complements the story perfectly. The ghetto to which the prawns have been condemned is no different from the slums which millions of people around our own world call home. It’s hard to miss the political undertone, and the segregation of prawns becomes all the more uncomfortable, considering the very recent history of apartheid in South-Africa. One of the biggest strengths of this movie is that it shows the harsh reality of life in the slums, discrimination and segregation. In this way, the inhumanity that humans are capable of becomes apparent, without the need of political or moral statements.
In that sense, District 9 reminded me of another great science fiction movie: Blade Runner. In Blade Runner, it’s not aliens, but artificial humans (replicants) who have become de-facto outlaws. Humanity created the replicants in their image, with superior strength and abilities, so that they can work on off-earth colonies. When advanced models develop a wish for independence, they revolt to their slave-like existence. A special police-unit (the Blade Runners) is tasked with hunting down these replicants. Like prawns, the replicants are driven by very human emotions and desires. It’s mankind that crushes their ambitions and dreams.
These movies hold up a mirror for humanity. The reflection is not pretty, as intolerance seems deeply rooted in human nature. The worrying thing is not that this is how we may treat replicants or aliens. It’s worrying that this is how we treated our fellow human beings throughout human history.
Luckily, the main characters from both movies seem to rise above this intolerance. And that brings me back to my own desk, where a tank filled with artemia salina (you might know them better as brine shrimp, or sea monkeys) currently resides. As a testament to human compassion, I will treat these creatures, small as they may be, with the utmost respect! I vow I will not give them derogatory names, despite their obvious crustacean appearance. Nor will I ever hunt them down or wage war with them. There’s at least one human on this globe on which they can count!
You might also like:
Recent Comments