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Strangers in a Strange Land
Forget man's inhumanity to man. District 9 is a deft satire of man's inhumanity to alien.
Human history is a story of minorities versus oppressors: us against them, one family quarreling with the neighbors next door, one tribe pitted against another. District 9, the first film from South African commercial director Neill Blomkamp, takes this familiar story and extrapolates and exaggerates it into a simple science fiction question. If humanity can't manage peace and equality amongst its own, how would humans fare when faced with the truly foreign? Forget man's inhumanity to man: Blomkamp's debut, part energetic sci-fi romp, part apartheid parable, is a deft satire of man's inhumanity to alien.
District 9's title refers to the name of a shanty town located just outside of Johannesburg, South Africa. Caged inside are nearly 2 million aliens—yes, the kind from outer space—whose ship mysteriously stalled out over the city two decades before. Needless to say, the aliens, who've been derisively dubbed "prawns" by the locals, don't mesh well culturally. They're dirty, fly-attracting garbage foragers who have a tough time with private property and treat cat food as an addictive delicacy. Despised, and often abused, by the city's human residents, the story starts when the contemptuous local authorities begin implementing a plan to forcibly relocate the alien population to an even grimier shack-town 200 kilometers away.
Blomkamp's film, which he co-scripted with Terri Tatchell, is a story of clashing cultures, and it poses questions similar to those raised by Orson Scott Card in the later books of his Ender series: Could an alien mind ever be truly knowable? Is peaceful interspecies coexistence even possible? Card treated these questions philosophically, as problems of culture and empathy. Blomkamp seems more interested in needling the human tendency toward brutal class segregation.
That manifests as a frequent eye toward bureuacracy and cruelty, which, often enough, turn out to be the same thing. Prawns, herded into walled-off slums, are beaten, lied to, and pushed around by heavily armed authorities. Their spawning grounds are deemed illegal, then set alight, while human captors chuckle over the "popcorn sound" the eggs make as they burst into flames. Those who cause problems quickly find themselves faced with a slew of regulations designed to give authorities maximum leeway. And when the aliens resist, or protest, they're casually shot. Still, Blomkamp is no government hater. The film targets the barbarism of private security forces hired to police District 9 as much as it does the local civil authorities.
Granted, the movie's not perfect. There's probably a dose or two of social-commentary too many, and the South African setting makes the film's political parallels too explicit. Blomkamp clearly takes it all very seriously and personally, and at times his outrage veers toward the melodramatic and obvious: Apartheid was a great evil, and so is the continued toll it takes on South African underclass. But no one seriously disputes this, and the film's occasionally weighty tone suggests that the director may be over-impressed with his own boldness.
Still, at the tail end of a cinematic summer of dumb, it's hard to criticize a sci-fi shoot-'em-up for slightly overestimating its own socio-political intelligence. And on the guns-a-blazin' front, the director's action-savvy is unmatched so far this year. The mechanized, no-holds-barred finale is the summer's best action setpiece—all the more impressive considering the film was made for about $30 million, less than a sixth of what Michael Bay reportedly spent on his joyless, insipid Transformers sequel.
Indeed, it's almost certain that the comparatively small budget was what allowed Blomkamp and producer Peter Jackson to buck studio pressure and produce a fantastically gory, socially-engaged film with no stars set in a foreign country. In Hollywood the little guy is also often pitted against uncaring overlords—but as Blomkamp's clever, thrilling movie shows, sometimes outsiders can still eke out a victory.
Peter Suderman is an associate editor at Reason magazine.
Xeones|8.14.09 @ 3:23PM|#
If humanity can't manage peace and equality amongst its own,
how would humans fare when faced with the truly foreign?
You don't need to be a dude of sci-fi to know that humans would
(will?) respond by completely losing their collective shit.
Movie looks interesting, though.
|8.14.09 @ 3:32PM|#
It would be a great day for humanity. Finally, we'd have somebody to oppress without being racist about it.
Mike M.|8.14.09 @ 3:36PM|#
I really want to see this, mostly because the effects look likey're absolutely incredible, considering the (relatively) low budget.
Shannon Love|8.14.09 @ 3:45PM|#
My son and I watched the trailer and we're pretty sure we can
predict all the major themes.
(1) Ordinary people will be hysterical bigots.
(2) The hero will be an articulate intellectual of some kind i.e.
journalist, lawyer, activist, movie director etc.
(3) The military/police will be depicted in a bad light.
(4) Any business people in the movie will be greedy monsters with
no thoughts for anyone except themselves.
(5) In the end, the articulate intellectuals will save everyone and
educate about our morally failings which they completely
lack.
My son observed, "Just once, I'd like to see a movie (especially a
sci-fi/Horror movie) where the redneck was right and the college
professor gets eaten. "
The subtext in many of these movies is how great articulate
intellectuals are and how bad everyone else, especially people in
business or military, are. After a few decades, it gets a bit
tedious.
|8.14.09 @ 3:51PM|#
I'm surprised at the somewhat dismissive review Roger Ebert wrote. I'd have figured a movie like this would hit all his sweet spots. Still, he did give it 3 stars.
|8.14.09 @ 3:54PM|#
I'm with Shannon Love; almost every SF thing on TV or in the movies is an allegory about racism, antisemitism, homophobia, or some closely related theme. In SF literature, as well, there is a long long tradition (Slan, perhaps, was one of the first) of stories about minorities with special powers who are oppressed. I don't think I have to enumerate them for the Reason crowd. It is kind of tired.
|8.14.09 @ 3:57PM|#
My son and I watched the trailer and we're pretty sure we
can predict all the major themes.
I had the same reaction. I'm still planning to see the movie,
though.
WWJGD|8.14.09 @ 3:59PM|#
Shannon Love
After reading several reviews, I can say you're definitely wrong on
#2 and mostly wrong on #5.
Does anyone here think #1 wouldn't happen?
Xeones|8.14.09 @ 4:03PM|#
"Just once, I'd like to see a movie (especially a
sci-fi/Horror movie) where the redneck was right and the college
professor gets eaten. "
You never saw Deep Blue Sea? Samuel L. Jackson's
enlightened scientist character gets bit the fuck in half by a
shark while in the middle of an inspiring monologue.
24AheadDotCom|8.14.09 @ 4:04PM|#
No alien is illegal!
No alien is illegal!
No alien is illegal!
No alien is illegal!
Meanwhile, see this (h/t
Kochtopuswire). Somehow I think
they forgot some of the costs involved, no?
kinnath|8.14.09 @ 4:12PM|#
Samuel L. Jackson's enlightened scientist character gets bit
the fuck in half by a shark while in the middle of an inspiring
monologue.
That was a wonderful moment.
Jennifer|8.14.09 @ 4:14PM|#
Harry Turtledove did an alternate-history series about aliens who invaded earth during World War Two. I think his take was pretty accurate: some humans would be smart enough to set aside their differences to fight the common enemy, but the crazy ones would still be crazy; the Hitlers of the world would still try exterminating the Jews, for instance.
Xeones|8.14.09 @ 4:14PM|#
That was a wonderful moment.
Yeah, it was one of the few genuinely surprising scenes i can think
of in recent movies.
TallDave|8.14.09 @ 4:15PM|#
If humanity can't manage peace and equality amongst its own,
how would humans fare when faced with the truly foreign?
Ask the Neanderthals.
Really, though, this question depends almost entirely on whether
the polity involved is a liberal democracy. The U.S., Germany, and
Russia all had concentration camps, but treated the people in them
very differently.
TallDave|8.14.09 @ 4:18PM|#
My son observed, "Just once, I'd like to see a movie
(especially a sci-fi/Horror movie) where the redneck was right and
the college professor gets eaten. "
How about Mars Attacks!?
I love the scene where the aliens come to Congress to "apologize"
for the "misunderstanding" of the violent first contact and instead
kill everyone in the room.
Fluffy|8.14.09 @ 4:19PM|#
(1) Ordinary people will be hysterical bigots.
(2) The hero will be an articulate intellectual of some kind i.e.
journalist, lawyer, activist, movie director etc.
(3) The military/police will be depicted in a bad light.
(4) Any business people in the movie will be greedy monsters with
no thoughts for anyone except themselves.
(5) In the end, the articulate intellectuals will save everyone and
educate about our morally failings which they completely
lack.
Actually,
#1. Ordinary people aren't hysterical bigots, they're mostly just
bored with the aliens because they turned out to be nothing
special, and annoyed at all the welfare funds they consume.
2. Completely wrong. The "hero" is an asshole bureaucrat who only
got his job due to nepotism who doesn't want to help anybody.
3. You're right on this one, they do attempt to depict the South
African military and police realistically.
4. Well, since the businesspeople in question are milking off a UN
contract, they pretty much SHOULD be depicted this way. For
realism's sake, again.
5. Nope.
You didn't do too well with your guesses.
|8.14.09 @ 4:21PM|#
Ripley's character blasted that 7-foot, acid bleeding bastard
into space on the original, and then blasted the bigger &
breeder bastard into space out of the airlock in "Aliens"
I'd say the acid-bleeder was quite foreign, as species go
Samuel L. Jackson|8.14.09 @ 4:27PM|#
I have had it with these motherfucking sharks in my motherfucking monologue.
Fist of Etiquette|8.14.09 @ 4:28PM|#
Why can't the aliens ever be those easy green chicks Shatner was always making out with?
|8.14.09 @ 4:35PM|#
I'm surprised no one's mentioned 1988's flick "Alien Nation" as a cinematic predecessor. Maybe I'm the only one who saw it...
|8.14.09 @ 4:38PM|#
Hey, I liked Alien Nation. Jimmy Caan, General Zod, Inigo Montoya--all good stuff.
EJM|8.14.09 @ 4:41PM|#
My son observed, "Just once, I'd like to see a movie
(especially a sci-fi/Horror movie) where the redneck was right and
the college professor gets eaten."
IIRC, the '80s TV
movie "Starcrossed" had the noble researcher killed by the bad
aliens.
I'm surprised no one's mentioned 1988's flick "Alien Nation" as
a cinematic predecessor. Maybe I'm the only one who saw
it...
I actually remember the
subsequent TV series a bit more.
|8.14.09 @ 4:50PM|#
Goddam, I'm encouraged by Fluffy's synopsis.
No more, though, without Spoiler Alert warnings, please.
Rimfax|8.14.09 @ 4:59PM|#
Try Kin-dza-dza!.
The aliens are all human-looking, but their behavior is completely
alien. You can only get it as a free fansub download, since it was
never released outside of Russia. It lacks the suicide-inducing
tone of other Soviet-era films.
It's definitely worth seeing, if only as a commentary on how
Russians viewed the class structure of the Soviet system.
Spoonman|8.14.09 @ 5:21PM|#
From the Ebert review:
The movie mentions Nigerian prostitutes servicing the aliens, but wisely refrains from entertaining us with this spectacle.
That's funny shit.
kinnath|8.14.09 @ 5:48PM|#
I'm surprised no one's mentioned 1988's flick "Alien Nation"
as a cinematic predecessor. Maybe I'm the only one who saw
it...
Saw it; enjoyed it.
I thought it had already been brought up here. I must have seen it
somewhere else.
EscapedWestOfTheBigMuddy|8.14.09 @ 5:57PM|#
My son observed, "Just once, I'd like to see a movie (especially a sci-fi/Horror movie) where the redneck was right and the college professor gets eaten. "
Does Red Dawn come close enough?
I mean, Patrick Swayze leads the high school football team to repel
the bad guys and save America.
EJM|8.14.09 @ 6:04PM|#
Does Red Dawn come close enough?
I mean, Patrick Swayze leads the high school football team to repel
the bad guys and save America.
That's being remade, too.
qwerty|8.14.09 @ 6:22PM|#
Actually,
#1. Ordinary people aren't hysterical bigots, they're mostly just
bored with the aliens because they turned out to be nothing
special, and annoyed at all the welfare funds they
consume.
OK, so she's mostly right.
2. Completely wrong. The "hero" is an asshole bureaucrat who
only got his job due to nepotism who doesn't want to help
anybody.
Well, I guess that means he isn't a hero doesn't it?
3. You're right on this one, they do attempt to depict the
South African military and police realistically.
Yeah, that supports her point, not refutes it. The movie is set in
South Africa for a reason.
4. Well, since the businesspeople in question are milking off a
UN contract, they pretty much SHOULD be depicted this way. For
realism's sake, again.
and all businesspeople work for the UN? So far it's Shannon:4,
Fluffy:0
5. Nope.
I'll let you know after I've seen it.
PS: Independence Day was one of the few non-PC aliens come to Earth
movies in recent times. That is why
1. critics hate it
2. it made a zillion dollars
EscapedWestOfTheBigMuddy|8.14.09 @ 6:25PM|#
Does Red Dawn come close enough?
[...]
That's being remade, too.
I don't understand why people do this. It is a rare remake that has
anything to offer at all, much less improves on the original.
But making a worse version of Red Dawn?!?
Paul|8.14.09 @ 6:30PM|#
Apparently Shannon has never seen Independence
Day.
And she's a better person for it.
Paul|8.14.09 @ 6:32PM|#
I mean, Patrick Swayze leads the high school football team
to repel the bad guys and save America.
He does not. He merely creates a small faction which acts as a
regional resistance group. You know, like the French Resistance,
except more effective.
EscapedWestOfTheBigMuddy|8.14.09 @ 6:35PM|#
Paul,
Without hyperbole, Hit&Run would be much less fun.
So quit harshing my buzz, OK?
Paul|8.14.09 @ 6:35PM|#
Oh, and it wasn't until I got through the whole Firefly series before I realized there were no aliens. No wonder that series was so good.
Paul|8.14.09 @ 6:40PM|#
Without hyperbole, Hit&Run would be much less fun.
So quit harshing my buzz, OK?
Sorry man. I was a kid when Red Dawn came out and I thought it was
pretty cool. As an adult I look back on it, and I can't help but be
struck that as a movie... as entertaining cinema, it was put
together rather well. Story, pacing etc. But I do have to admit
that over time, it appears too self conscious.
I remember that people in the 80's hated it because they felt it
was Reaganesque propaganda.
Maybe I should describe the movie as a guilty pleasure. Yeah,
that's it.
Shannon Love|8.14.09 @ 7:12PM|#
I don't think that Independence Day or Mars Attacks really
undermine my point. In both cases, the entire premise of the movie
was an attack by overtly hostile aliens. No one going into the
movies thought there was any possibility of the aliens being the
good guys. Besides both those movies were just shoot-em ups. They
had no serious undertones.
I can't think of any thoughtful science fiction/horror movie in
which the tropes I listed don't govern the plot. That is also true
for movies and books in general. I also note that in my sons video
games, corporations are always evil and if the story has an evil
government in it, 9 times out of 10 it is an evil "corporation"
that is the government even when that doesn't make any sense.
Wall-E is a good example of the latter.
This has broader implication than just boring Basically, we have a
specific class or subculture producing our societies stories. They
keep creating stories in which people of that subculture are the
heros and all the subcultures social and political competitors are
the villains. After a few generations of these stories, the
perceptions of the subculture become the perceptions of culture at
large.
We're reverting to a condition like that of the medieval era where
the military aristocrats controlled the stories. In the end, the
language itself called the professional killers nobel and the
people of vills (villages) who grew food and killed no one became
"villians." We have the same concept today in which articulate
intellectuals are stereotyped as intelligent and altruistic and
business people as stupid and greedy.
It's no wonder the free-market is such a hard sell. Most people
have been trained since birth to believe that only a small elite
part of the population can be trusted.
EscapedWestOfTheBigMuddy|8.14.09 @ 7:21PM|#
Maybe I should describe the movie as a guilty pleasure. Yeah, that's it.
I have a category I call "So bad it's good". Red Dawn
qualifies for me, as does Tank Girl, Wizards, and
Hudson Hawk.
And I shall hear no derision.
Matt|8.14.09 @ 7:36PM|#
http://www.slate.com/id/2225285/
I have to agree with Shannon. The bureaucrat that everyone sees as
typical (mailing it in on a regular basis) saves the day after
being "enlightened" by the alien's suffering. Those outside
District 9 don't want to help people because it hurts their bottom
lines and they're not the most desirable creatures to have around
(if you could only understand). The government and
corporations are all evil and make up the establishment.
In my understanding the movie basically says: If you selfish,
self-centered, materialists just had a little empathy you would see
that these aliens are just like us! Who are you to judge
them!?
Sounds familiar doesn't it?
Matt|8.14.09 @ 7:41PM|#
I probably should've mentioned that the Slate article is a
review of the movie, as well (and tends to reiterate some of the
points people have made in this thread).
And also, a social commentary really needs to be boiled down to the
bare minimum if it's going to be analyzed. You really think that
people are going to walk out of a movie that shallow and say to
themselves, "Well, I guess businesses that get awarded government
contracts suck." No. They're going to say, "Oh my God, how could
they treat those poor things like that those evil
bloodsuckers."
EJM|8.14.09 @ 8:14PM|#
I don't think that Independence Day or Mars Attacks really
undermine my point. In both cases, the entire premise of the movie
was an attack by overtly hostile aliens. No one going into the
movies thought there was any possibility of the aliens being the
good guys. Besides both those movies were just [shoot-'em-ups].
They had no serious undertones.
I can't think of any thoughtful science fiction/horror movie in
which the tropes I listed don't govern the plot. That is also true
for movies and books in general. [...]
FWIW, I forgot to mention earlier "A Small
Talent for War" (from the '80s "Twilight Zone").
qwerty|8.14.09 @ 8:27PM|#
Blow me qwerty, you cunt.
I'm reminded of an expression involving glass houses and
stones...
|8.14.09 @ 8:37PM|#
Red Dawn is being remade? The only things that movie
had going for it are 1) John Milius may be a right-wing crank, but
the man knows how to write, and 2) if you are a teenage boy, it's
the coolest thing you've ever fucking seen, ever.
How will they bring these elements to a new movie? Oh right, they
won't.
Elemenope|8.14.09 @ 9:16PM|#
In my understanding the movie basically says: If you
selfish, self-centered, materialists just had a little empathy you
would see that these aliens are just like us! Who are you to judge
them!?
Sounds familiar doesn't it?
Yeah, it sounds like common moral fucking sense. But I'm sure
that's not where you were going with that.
Elemenope|8.14.09 @ 9:18PM|#
How will they bring these elements to a new movie? Oh right,
they won't.
I was also dismayed by the announcement. What could a remake
possibly bring to the table?
In other impossibly stupid news, AICN was reporting that Bryan
Singer is angling to direct a BSG movie absolutely unattached to
the Ron Moore interpretation. Re-tar-ded.
|8.14.09 @ 9:29PM|#
The below actually happens in Aliens... I cant be alone to
reference that outstanding sequel ?? Hicks (Biehn's character) was
right, and Burke gets smacked in the face by an acid-bleeding
7-foot alien. Burke of course playing the scum, out for himself
business person.
"My son observed, "Just once, I'd like to see a movie (especially a
sci-fi/Horror movie) where the redneck was right and the college
professor gets eaten. " "
F**k the Red Dawn remake, yet another signal that Hollywood has
become quite lame...in another 5 years what are they gonna do,
remake Goonies ?
|8.14.09 @ 9:45PM|#
# Tingy Wah | August 14, 2009, 4:35pm | #
# I'm surprised no one's mentioned 1988's flick
# "Alien Nation" as a cinematic predecessor.
# Maybe I'm the only one who saw it...
Reading the WSJ's take on District 9, the first thing I thought of
was "Alien Nation starring Zoidberg."
I loved the move and TV series both. Isn't the guy who played the
alien lead (Francisco) in the TV series now hawking spoon sized
shredded wheat on TV? I can never see that guy without imagining
him having a bald head with spots. I'm sorry about the mental
typecasting, but he was just so good -- dare I say beloved? -- in
his alien role.
As far as South African sci-fi imports are concerned, make mine
Charlie Jade. My son saw D9 last night, though, and liked it well
enough.
|8.14.09 @ 9:57PM|#
Does 'League of Extraordinary Gentleman' make this listing ??
Consideration is all I am seeking....
"I have a category I call "So bad it's good". Red Dawn qualifies
for me, as does Tank Girl, Wizards, and Hudson Hawk.
And I shall hear no derision."
EscapedWestOfTheBigMuddy|8.14.09 @ 10:17PM|#
Does 'League of Extraordinary Gentleman' make this listing ?? Consideration is all I am seeking....
I found League of Extraordinary Gentleman to be so bad it
was bad.
But that is just me...
Elemenope|8.14.09 @ 10:21PM|#
I found League of Extraordinary Gentleman to be so bad it
was bad.
But that is just me...
To me it seemed like two films spliced together. The part with the
story and plot and what-have-you was a hideous cinematic
abomination. The other part, the one with the witty inter-character
banter, was halfway serviceable.
|8.14.09 @ 11:31PM|#
Nope...that was a hideous abomination. My enjoyment of burning $8 on a ticket would have been better spent...actually burning the $8 with fuel and ignition.
Lowdog|8.14.09 @ 11:49PM|#
I didn't really like it overall, but I was fooled by all the
things that I read claiming it was a really good movie.
Which is a surprise, because I almost always go into a movie
thinking it was going to suck, and being pleasantly surprised when
it isn't as bad as I assumed. I am basically very critical of
movies.
Not to say there weren't some cool parts of the movie, but there
were some parts that I really disliked, as well. I did not realise
that it was going to be as gory as it was, for instance.
Ramesh Raghuvanshi|8.14.09 @ 11:52PM|#
Treat very cruel way to weak minority is inborn human nature.
Even
animal who are living in group they also donot tolrat outsider,
they bit them drive awy them.
There is another reason man always want some group for hate,some
victim to their default.
|8.15.09 @ 12:58AM|#
@ EscapedWestOfTheBigMuddy
Actually, I always thought Wizards was pretty good. It's the one
case where Ralph Bakshi actually hit the target he was aiming
for.
For the "so bad it's good" list I'd add Flash Gordon (the one with
the soundtrack by Queen). Max Von Sydow *was* Emperor Ming. And
Topol as Dr. Zarkov? That's gold right there. :-) It's probably one
of the best damn looking bad films ever made, including the gaudy,
retro spacecraft designs. And I liked the idea of little worlds
floating around in a vast atmosphere. King of like Larry Niven's
"Smoke Ring", but without the science.
|8.15.09 @ 1:05AM|#
I found League of Extraordinary Gentleman to be so bad it
was bad.
Having read the Alan Moore graphic novel, I couldn't even make my
self watch the film. When I heard they changed the educated,
cultured and take-no-shit Mina Harker from the group *leader* into
a yet-another-sexy-vampire, I wrote it off.
In the book, Alan Quartermain is washed up, drugged out sod that
Harker has to drag out of an opium den, and forcibly dry him out by
locking him into a room on Nemo's sub.
And you just *know* what the Hollywood execs said. "What? The woman
is the leader? We can't have that! Make her like that sexy babe in
Underworld."
|8.15.09 @ 1:34AM|#
I can't think of any thoughtful science fiction/horror movie
in which the tropes I listed don't govern the plot.
X-Files: Season 7, Signs and Wonders. The
whole episode is set up to make you think that the bad guy is the
crazy snake-handling evangelical preacher, when it's really the
moderate mainline Protestant minister who turns out to be the
monster.
Sean W. Malone|8.15.09 @ 1:46AM|#
Haha... Hilarious... I am watching Underworld right now. I also
have a penchant for "so-bad-it's-good" and occasionally
"so-bad-it's-bad" movies.
A couple weeks ago, for instance, my roommate and I buckled down
with beers and watched "Transmorphers" (you're reading that
correctly).
Good times.
Anyway, I actually only wanted to add that I thought/think/will
always think that Wizards sucked a donkey's bollocks.
So does Fritz the Cat.
ev|8.15.09 @ 2:05AM|#
I saw the flick today and loved it. I can't remember a recent
sci-fi movie that I've liked more than this one.
It did everything for me. The fact that there's a badass mech
warrior kinda sealed the deal for me.
Art-P.O.G.|8.15.09 @ 2:32AM|#
I can't wait to see District 9.
Quiet Desperation, I agree with you. Flash Gordon(1980) is
a pleasure to behold.
Elemenope|8.15.09 @ 3:14AM|#
The whole episode is set up to make you think that the bad
guy is the crazy snake-handling evangelical preacher, when it's
really the moderate mainline Protestant minister who turns out to
be the monster.
That was a good episode.
|8.15.09 @ 3:44AM|#
Just once, I'd like to see a movie (especially a sci-fi/Horror movie) where the redneck was right and the college professor gets eaten.
Election 2000?
jhn|8.15.09 @ 3:57AM|#
No, the bureaucrat does everything he can to save his own ass and only becomes "enlightened" when he fails miserably.
Space Fiend|8.15.09 @ 5:34AM|#
You can't say the movie was "blame the corporations" when every
single human in the movie is portrayed as evil.
Besides, who doesn't want to blame corporations when they go around
murdering innocent "people" for no reason?
It's a bit hard to argue a movie is anti-libertarian when
corporations murdering civilians get their comeupance from
individuals acting in their self-interest.
Trying not to reveal too much....
Art-P.O.G.|8.15.09 @ 7:05AM|#
Good one, Tony :D. 'Course, the one who seemed more "folksy" was really a blueblood, too.
|8.15.09 @ 8:35AM|#
yet some movies have a redeeming quality not captured in the
plot or story lines...Beckinsale in leather, woo hoo...some would
find a redemptive quality
"Haha... Hilarious... I am watching Underworld right now. I also
have a penchant for "so-bad-it's-good" and occasionally
"so-bad-it's-bad" movies"
|8.15.09 @ 10:15AM|#
Besides, who doesn't want to blame corporations when they go
around murdering innocent "people" for no reason?
It's a bit hard to argue a movie is anti-libertarian when
corporations murdering civilians get their comeupance from
individuals acting in their self-interest.
I think the point that some are concerned about is that
corporations in real life generally don't run around committing
mass murder. That's usually the realm of goverment. Actual
corporations are general very vanilla and very concerned about
their image.
**MINOR SPOILERS**
However in this movie I would say it is clear the corporation in
question is clearly a rent seeking government hybrid that in many
ways is more of a stand in for the UN. Hence all the white vehicles
and equipment.
My one beef with the movie is the characterization of the people
working for MNU. The movie basically makes them look like they just
hire sociopaths. While organizations tasked with those kind of
duties certainly can become corrupt, it usually is with a large
coating of euphemisms and "it's for the best" attitudes that allows
humans to salve their concious. It's not a prison, it's an
"internment camp." "It's for their own protection." It's not racial
extermination, it's "The Final Solution" and so on.
They did a little bit at the beginning with the "eviction" notices
which I thought was spot on. But for much of the rest of the film I
felt their attitude was a little too cartoon villain for my
taste.
Otherwise I thought it was a really good movie. Probably the best I
have seen all summer other than Up.
|8.15.09 @ 1:56PM|#
The 1980 Flash, was a stinkeroo, made worse by the fact
that I had fond memories of watching the original serials. New
York's Channel 11 used to run a chapter a day on their afternoon
kiddie show hosted by Chuck McCann. Besides the 3 Gordon
chapterplays, they showed Tim Tyler's Luck, Buck
Rogers (also starring Buster Crabbe), The Purple Monster
Strikes, The Phantom Empire with Gene Autry (the 1979
TV series, Cliffhangers had a plagiarized
version homage to this called The Secret
Empire) and many others.
This never stopped me from seeing Flesh Gordon in first
run, however.
Kevin
TallDave|8.15.09 @ 2:38PM|#
I agree with your larger point, though: there's a definite
undercurrent that is anti-business, anti-capitalist, even
anti-Western. That was one reason I loved 300 so much: it
was an unabashed paean to Western Civ.
The invisible hand will always be a hard sell next to images of the
poor. Of course, anyone can see the Soviet Union collapsed and Cuba
is running out of toilet paper if they look, but no one makes
movies about it.
TallDave|8.15.09 @ 2:42PM|#
Was Flash Gordon the one that had the episode with the
giant robot that had a big brain in a long glass cylinder and put
needles in people's necks to control them? I remember at the end of
the episode the hero has been captured by the evil robot, which is
about to put the needle in his neck, and he says "It's no one's
fault really" to the woman and then pushes the robot into a trap in
the floor, where it thrashes around in some sort of liquid.
Saw it when I was a kid, made an impression, but I can never
remember what it was from.
|8.15.09 @ 2:56PM|#
Alien Nation is not a movie, it's cinema. There was an npr
interview with a dutch resistance member when Red Dawn came out. He
said it was a very accurate porteayal of partisan life.
A
A
Monsyne Dragon|8.15.09 @ 4:25PM|#
It'll be interesting to see District 9. If you don't know,m it's basically a full-length version of a short that Blomkamp did called "Alive in Jo'burg" which is available on google video: http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-1185812222812358837
LarryA|8.15.09 @ 9:33PM|#
I can't think of any thoughtful science fiction/horror movie
in which the tropes I listed don't govern the plot. That is also
true for movies and books in general. I also note that in my sons
video games, corporations are always evil and if the story has an
evil government in it, 9 times out of 10 it is an evil
"corporation" that is the government even when that doesn't make
any sense.
Agreed. Earlier today I was with a group of a dozen friends, each
of whom is well past fifty, and who collectively follow a wide
variety of genres. I asked them to list movie and TV corporations
that were portrayed as "voluntarily doing the right thing."
We got zip.
Walter Jameson|8.16.09 @ 1:14AM|#
I think the real issue presented by this film is whether or not society is heading toward a point in which it cannot engage in a film unless it features nauseating, hand-held, fake-documentary shots.
Sean W. Malone|8.16.09 @ 2:56AM|#
Just saw District 9 at the Chinese Theatre. Actually really good
experience overall...
These may be my own libertarian proclivities coming out here, but I
didn't really see the Multi-National United "company" as a business
really. Or perhaps, more accurately, it just seemed like a defense
contractor working for the United Nations... Point being, it didn't
really seem so much like it was vilifying "business" so much as it
was vilifying apartheid-style concentration camps
segregation.
Yes, there is an obligatory moment where the CEO of MNU has to be a
complete bastard, but mostly it just seemed like a rent-seeking
government offshoot.
Also, I had a delicious Bacon-wrapped Hotdog after the show on the
street. Mmmmmmmmmmmmmmm.... Black-markety goodness!
Art-P.O.G.|8.16.09 @ 3:09AM|#
I suspect that the reason corporations are portrayed in a
generally negative way in popular film and television is that the
creators of the show are really using the fictional corporations as
a surrogate for real studios. They can sublimate "the heartless
moneybagged patrons don't appreciate my struggles as an artist"
into a familiar trope, while furthermore cathartically depicting
their aesthetic misgivings thusly: "why did X-Men Origins:
Wolverine suck so bad? I blame the
approval/marketing-by-committee process, and its indicativeness of
the clumsy, unartful hands of big bidness (particularly that
rat-bastard studio head who wouldn't greenlight my magnum
opus".
That, and most of Hollywood is made of bleeding-heart leftists.
;)
But, really, I'm hearing mostly positive things about District
9 (tips hat at Sean W. Malone.
Art-P.O.G.|8.16.09 @ 3:13AM|#
I could really use a copyeditor, but I stand by the content of my last post.
Sean W. Malone|8.16.09 @ 3:50AM|#
Art, speaking from close proximity & some personal
experience, I think you've mostly hit the nail on the head.
A lot of Hollywood's hatred of "business" stems from the fact that
the relationship most film directors/writers have with studio execs
who actually fund their projects is identical to the relationship a
15 year old girl has with her father, especially when he's telling
her not to date her pierced-up idiot boyfriend.
Quite a few "artists" really get off on whining about shit like
that. Invariably, it's sort of immature and petty as they are
shocked to find that when someone puts them at the reigns of a
large project with $100 million on the line, the people who ponied
up the cash tend to want some say in how that money is spent.
So we get endless kvetching.
But also, I think, no one here should under-estimate just how
stupid and ignorant most of the people in this town really
are. Before I moved here I was prepared for some percentage of
crazy, ignorant and dumb, but I really did not expect the
percentage to be this high.
They don't understand economics, business is a foreign concept to
most of these guys and worse, many/most aren't even capable of
formulating the thoughts that would carry them to proper
conclusions. It's embarrassing mostly... As a result, we get these
stunted projects where the director doesn't deviate from the
playbook at all.
Art-P.O.G.|8.16.09 @ 4:18AM|#
Sean W. Malone,
Interesting. I definitely have sympathy for both sides (studio and
filmmaker). Either side can definitely have a hand in an epic fail
comitted to film. Creative types with their deforming artistic
excesses or studio types mangling a property with some horrible
misconception about "what sells".
Heaven help us whenever both have a hand in it.
|8.16.09 @ 2:22PM|#
Since we are wishing for the ideal science fiction film, here
are my desired features:
1. The illogic of not being able to find that massive control room
which fell off the giant spaceship to earth - it hurts my brain!
Necessary for the plot, but destroys any suspended disbelief.
2. Humans learning absolutely nothing about the aliens over a
period of 28 years. I don't think so.
3. Aliens able to manufacture complex weapons, exotic computers,
and distill extremely powerful fuels - who cannot figure out over
28 years how to interact with the human economy to their own
benefit. Impossible that none of them would never find a way to use
that stuff to their advantage beyond trading for cat food.
4. Aliens who own complex weapons, exotic computers, and extremely
powerful fuels - who cannot use them to improve their own
situations. Again, I don't think so. Where are the gangs of
weapons-wielding aliens TAKING all the cat food they want?
5. Humans too stupid to use anything other than brute force and
vivisection to learn about the advanced technology. Good lord, do
you think the Vatican might have shown an interest in the aliens,
and sent a Jesuit or three down to investigate their culture? Do
you think HP or Bill Gates or Lockheed or Monsanto might have
slipped a few of the smarter aliens out of the slum ghetto and into
their research centers (with or without the permission of the MNU
and the UN), given them all the cat food they wanted, and told them
to make whatever they wanted, just for the fun of seeing what they
came up with?
Enough. The holes in the internal story logic, the lack of multiple
modes of real human behavior, and the pure stupidity of the aliens
made this movie a simple morality tale when it could have been
much, much, much more.
I only hope it was just a prequel for the return of the
mothership.
Anonymouse|8.16.09 @ 4:56PM|#
Mikee:
1) It's existence was speculative- who knows how hard they looked.
Maybe it was shielded?
2) We learn plenty about their genetics. Their tech is capable of
FTL travel- their understanding of physics is levels of magnitude
beyond our own. How much would a stone-age tribe learn from a
laptop in twenty years?
3 & 4) This is key: there are 1.8 million aliens. Specifically,
there are 1,799,999 low-functioning drones and Christopher. Notice
how they walked the mech to the compound but didn't demonstrate its
non-trivial capabilities? Without a leader's direction, they can't.
so:
5) They have no culture, and there are no smart ones except
Christopher, and he kepps it to himself.
DG|8.16.09 @ 7:37PM|#
Remember that Sci-Fi Channel movie where the alien is disguised as a gorgeous blond? She seduces a couple of guys, and they end up in a pool of blood in their jacuzzis. Prawns and lizard aliens, whether good or evil, are no fun.
whiskey|8.16.09 @ 8:46PM|#
The movie is monumentally stupid, in all sorts of ways.
First, the Aliens have a spaceship and advanced weapons. They are
the Afrikaners, the Dutch Colonists, the Boers, not the Bantu or
Zulu tribesmen MAJORITY.
That's freaking stupid. Aliens with Spaceships in internment camps.
It's like a story where Superman is imprisoned because ... well
because of evil racism by bad White guys who are inferior to ME!
Dammit. It's all about ME ME ME and how enlightened and anti-racism
I am.
Second, Apartheid has been dead for 18 years. Like every other
nation in Africa, South Africa has been led by superstitious (AIDS
caused by "spores" and cured by sex with virgins) and corrupt, and
polygamous Presidents. SA under the ANC cannot even keep the power
on in Johannesburg. Rape, murder and assault are at traumatic
levels, never seen before, and one survey had 1/4 of SA (Black) men
admitting to being part of gang-rapes. EVERY prediction by
Apartheid supporters about the misery of Black self-rule has come
true, as it came true everywhere in Africa.
Because Africa was colonized for a reason: Africans in contact with
"Aliens" from "outer space" (Europe) confronted a challenge: a
vastly superior technologically, and economically, colonizer who
did not care one way or another about them or their ways of life,
and simply sought their resources. NONE of the colonized peoples,
split by tribalism, superstition, magical thinking, and Big Man-ism
were able to adapt and adopt Western technology, way of living, and
everything else to prevent from being colonized. They wanted to
stay African and did, but at a price. Being ruled by others, until
said others got tired of it, and left, leaving them as pathetic and
tribally poor and primitive as before.
When Japan was faced with "aliens" (Commodore Perry's Black Fleet)
opening up them to trade by force, they crash-modernized. They
remained partially Japanese, but only in part, much of them
becoming Western. Though not enough, as their over-reliance in WWII
on "fighting spirit" and the "samurai surprise stroke" (killing the
enemy in one blow) demonstrated. However modernization did not come
without huge bloodshed in Japan against those who wished like
Africans to be what they were, without change even if that meant
defeat, versus those who wished to be not colonized.
The movie was stupid -- the story of Aliens showing up is one of
not "racism" and elite White guys showing how enlightened and
morally superior they are, but rather the struggle of small peoples
and groups to stay as they are, even being ruled by Aliens, vs.
those (China, America, Russia, Japan) with the power and will to
lead a united World government to crash-modernize their own
spaceships, weapons, and so on. New Zealand and South Africa would
be useful for resources, but little else, and have no say in
anything, and no one would care about "racism." The world would
care about technology, getting more of it, better each time, and
that's it.
Sean W. Malone|8.16.09 @ 9:39PM|#
Agreed to everything said by Mikee and Whiskey said.
With the caveat that as a marginally mindless sci-fi movie, it was
well done and has a good story-arc (the "hero" actually exhibits a
relatively large personal change throughout the film - emotionally
and physically).
But yes, you really have to suspend disbelief a lot to see a
million & a half aliens with intergalactic technology and
remarkably powerful weapons in some kind of concentration camp with
no attempts to improve their lot or escape in 28 years. That's
pretty bizarre.
|8.17.09 @ 12:12AM|#
I think the implication of Christopher is that most of the
aliens aren't smart enough to improve their lot or escape. They're
much like 70 IQ humans. Christopher may not be able to control
enough of them to launch an attack against humanity. Even with
advanced technology, the mass of your forces matter.
Maybe that's why the ship stopped at Earth in the first place. It's
essentially a crash landing, because all the other "leader" aliens
are dead and Christopher can't control enough of them by himself to
crew the ship or run the food processing systems (they were
starving when found).
|8.17.09 @ 12:19AM|#
Just had to jump in here to address Mikee and Anonymouse's
#1.
The big "brain" that fell out of the ship was actually Christopher
Johnson's basement. Remember at the end where it went up and fit
INTO the ship.
That was what was going on.
Wasn't made very clear, but trust me, that's what was
happening.
Joe C|8.17.09 @ 1:12AM|#
Shannon Love, your predictions aren't quite accurate. By chance I happened to see the film directly before reading this article, and it is the best film I've seen this year by far. See the film before you judge...also, regarding this comment, "In the end, the articulate intellectuals will save everyone and educate about our morally failings which they completely lack" you should probably watch Mars Attacks!, Feast and Escape from L.A.
Joe C|8.17.09 @ 1:20AM|#
Whiskey, you couldn't have gotten it more wrong. Also, for all of you analyzing this film on an exclusively socio-political level...don't. It succeeds in so many other ways. Amazing CG characters, which usually takes me out of a film (Lord of the Rings, new Star Wars, King Kong etc), brilliantly executed acting and directing and so on...Any director that can make you despise computer-generated characters and then form an emotional attachment to them in the course of an hour has achieved something special. The political overtones may have been overt and clumsy at times, but there is much, much more to this film that should be celebrated and enjoyed by as many viewers as possible.
Neu Mejican|8.17.09 @ 1:59AM|#
Good movie.
Too much time spent on the action film subplot. Most of the
weaknesses in the film came from the need to have the action
sequences. This includes the need for over the top villains and the
need for lots of high tech weapons. Otherwise, this was a really
good film. The political points, I think, were not as simplistic as
some have implied.
Shannon's predictions miss on 3 of 5.
Neu Mejican|8.17.09 @ 2:19AM|#
2. Humans learning absolutely nothing about the aliens over
a period of 28 years. I don't think so.
Well, they did learn their language. At the very least. It was also
clear that they learned a lot more. I don't think you were watching
very carefully.
As for 3,4,...well, let's just say you may have missed some
evidence for those activities that wafted around in the
background.
And as for 5...no evidence one way or the other. But certainly
tangential to the plot.
Space Fiend|8.17.09 @ 2:40AM|#
OK, libertarians, since some of you were clearly not paying
close enough attention, I'm going to speak your language:
The aliens seen in the movie aside from Christopher are basically
the bugs from Starship Troopers without a brain bug. Only instead
of simply dying, they have some kind of rudimentary intelligence
that seeks short-term survival.
Think of when the humans open the ship and all the aliens just
stare at them not moving. They are terrible at processing new
situations and stimuli, except Christopher, his friend, and his
son, who are of some other bug caste or class, and are highly
intelligent.
Neu Mejican|8.17.09 @ 10:01AM|#
Space Fiend,
That is alluded to in the film, but may be in there as a nod to
idiotic theories that Africans are not capable of leading
themselves (see rant above). Remember, that was a theory put forth
by the humans. The difference between Christopher and the others
could as easily been education and class as raw intelligence.
But even if the "bug worker class theory" is correct, you are
low-balling the intelligence of the worker class based on their
behavior by several orders of magnitude.
Their behavior was depicted as very similar to that of humans in
similar conditions.
Another point regarding the technology, that I think people are
missing...When you live embedded in technology, you don't need to
know how it works. And when the technology you rely is made with a
sophisticated infrastructure, even if you know how to make it,
doesn't mean you have the means.
|8.17.09 @ 10:36AM|#
Saw the movie. My verdict - mildly interesting but don't waste
your money. It'll be out on cable soon enough.
Somebody should have told Blomkamp that, unless you're going to
feature the exploits of a fantasy heavy metal rock band with hot
chicks, 'mock-umentary' is the best way to a kill a movie. I didn't
learn a thing in those parts of the movie that couldn't have been
more effectively and engagingly demonstrated in real movie scenes.
Real movie scenes would probably have made the 'man's inhumanity to
humanoid crustaceans' preaching a bit too obvious so the 'banality
of evil' approach is somewhat redeeming. The actual movie was a
fairly pedestrian and predictable sci-fi action shoot-em-up once
you got to the 'suspend your disbelief now' part. The action scenes
were very well done. That's pretty much the only redeeming feature
of the film.
I walked out with a different take on the South African apartheid
theme. It seems an obvious comparison because of the location but
take a closer look at some of the details. The 'prawns' aren't even
minimally integrated into the economy even though they are
tremendously strong, have advanced technology, and we can
communicate with them. They live in a sprawling fetid camp
supported almost entirely by a UN style organization and illegal
trade. The camps are surrounded and raided frequently for weapons
caches, contraband, and to enforce 'population control'.
To me it doesn't sound so much like the real aphartied setting as
it does the 'Israel is practicing apartheid /Final Solution on the
Palestinians' meme. There's even a little of the 'Elders of Zion'
blood libel coupled with the 'Israeli' MNU acting like Nazi's. (At
one point the main human character admits that the new home for the
prawns is a 'concentration camp').
It's also pretty rich that in a movie with such an enlightened
racial attitude, the group that comes off the absolute worst in
terms of ignorance and superstition is the Nigerians.
Any attempt to debate the alien social structure is seriously
flawed by the way they do pretty much anything the director wants
them to do at a given moment in the film. (A minor spoiler example
- babies are shown incubating in a sort of hive but Head Bug
Christopher has a son?) It's not a matter of looking close enough
to spot things as what you wind up projecting on the film to fill
in the gaps in logic.
Neu Mejican, I think you have a point with the comment about having
the knowledge but missing the means. The only flaw I can see there
is that if the aliens just fookin' ran out of foockin' gas how come
it seems to be part of every thing they make? Their actions and
situation are simply whatever the storyteller wants them to be at
any given time.
|8.17.09 @ 10:42AM|#
I felt like it started from a great premise, but then halfway
through it turned into Goldblum's "The Fly" and then became just
another shoot-em-up (albiet very well done).
Shannon:
Try the original "The Thing."
Neu Mejican|8.17.09 @ 12:22PM|#
DerHahn,
As I said above, I think the plot problems (there were some,
although I don't know if the son is an issue at all) come from an
attempt to merge an action movie with a more serious film about a
more serious topic. The "do what they need to now" elements, to me,
seemed to come from the need to set up an action sequence.
I think it was actually a smart move to leave a lot of the details
in the background and up to the viewer. Filling in the gaps is what
makes it engaging.
I agree that the camp is closer to Gaza than a township...at least
conceptually. Darfur came to my mind, as well.
perilisk|8.17.09 @ 1:24PM|#
Saw it, enjoyed it.
(1) Ordinary people were not kindly disposed towards the aliens,
but weren't hysterical (but at the time of the movie, the aliens
had been on earth for 20 years)
(2) The hero was a bureacrat who got ahead by marrying the boss's
daughter. Not the benevolent, public-serving sort of a bureaucrat,
but the kind that tells an alien who refuses to sign forms to be
relocated to a concentration camp that he'll take his kid to
child's services.
(3) There are no military/police in the movie, per se; see
#4.
(4) True, although the "business" in this cases is basically
Halliburton+Blackwater+UmbrellaCorp; there's no evidence that they
do anything other than for-profit application of coercive force
(aside from researching related technology, i.e. arms).
(5) Not really, but it isn't a "save everyone" kind of plot.
I did think it was a little odd that the prawns didn't use their
superior firepower to create a colony; on the other hand, there
were about a million of them, and versus several thousand times as
many humans, so it probably wouldn't go too well. The fact that
even Christopher couldn't create more fuel and had to salvage it
was also a little strange, not to mention I still don't understand
why they came to Earth and why they left and so on. But it doesn't
matter too much, really.
Action was fun, although I did feel like I was watching someone
playing a video game from about 10 years in the future.
|8.22.09 @ 1:20PM|#
I enjoyed the responses to my criticisms of the film. Thank
you.
Again, despite all the negatives of the hole-filled plot, let me
state my hope about the film: I hope that it serves as a prequel to
the return of the mothership, three years after the original movie
ended.
I'd really like to see a movie about the intelligent "prawns"
interacting with humanity.
Leave a Comment
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