DISTRICT 9

[Johnestauffer]

I recently saw the movie District 9.
It was a fascinating study of alien first contact and the results in contemporary society. (not quite the glories of ET)
It also lay the ground work for a subsequent movie.
How do you feel about the way the 'human' world treated the alien vistors?
Could such a senario really play out in today's world (or one of the very near future)?

 

[Coyote Knight]

CONTAINS POSSIBLE SPOILERS!!!!!

















I too loved District 9 except for the camera work. It was a very interesting look, with strong sentiments of apartheid. I think that rioting, fear, and mistrust will happen with aliens in the future, but I do not think they will be forced into concentration camps.

 

[Campbell1004]

The baby alien was funny. His pajama pants had moons and stars on them. As for the movie I really really really liked it and I would see it again if I had the chance.

 

[Highlander]

Bah, highly overrated. I felt that while it was an interesting concept, Jackson went with the shock value regarding the violence.

 

[black angel]

I was disappointed that Human tech leaves are the same as OTL, really unrealistic, also that the Ship wasn't filled with Humans when it took off

 

[The Sandman]

Given that the alien ship landed in 1982, what exactly would be the likely allohistorical effects on South Africa?

 

[black angel]

Given that the alien ship landed in 1982, what exactly would be the likely allohistorical effects on South Africa?

that would be the other point, apartheid is unlikely to end in TTL, the blockade of South Africa would fall apart as nations will run to their door to get their hands on Alien tech, also the idea that any government would turn over the rights to Alien tech to any one else let alone a company, even if they did want to stop dealing with the Aliens it would go to the UN. any way the idea that the Whites of South Africa would do right by non-humans in 1982, is well, this the Country that got nukes just to kill black people ok

 

[Prem_Rack]

Bah, highly overrated. I felt that while it was an interesting concept, Jackson went with the shock value regarding the violence.

Jackson has nothing to do with the content of the movie He's just a (the?) producer.

 

[Kriegdämmerung]

Given that the alien ship landed in 1982, what exactly would be the likely allohistorical effects on South Africa?

I always thought that the apartheid government would remain in power, more or less because the international community didn't want to cause anymore stress in an already tense situation. I also wondered if this more-conservative, anti-apartheid government would create a real bantustan for the aliens, a "xenostan" if you will beyond District 9...

Just thoughts.

 

[zoomar]

I got the impression that the apartheid government probably collapsed anyway because now there were "real" different people to put in segregated districts. Measured against Prawns, the differences among blacks, indians, mixed race people and whites is pretty minor. The juxtaposition of black and white people at all levels supporting the segregation of the prawns I took to be a basic statement about human nature and prejudice, not a statement about South Africa per se - although I imagine the message may be also aimed at south africans as well.

There are obviously some big plot holes, but I found the film so well-paced and well-edited that none of them occurred to me until afterward. Even some of the plot holes provided food for thought...such as why hadn't the MNU stripped the mothership? Maybe because it was set aside by international convention to be left undisturbed and untouched so no possible information was inadvertantly lost or destroyed?

 

[Faeelin]

"Let's perform medical experiments on the citizens of an interstellar power!"

 

[Georgepatton]

I always thought that the apartheid government would remain in power, more or less because the international community didn't want to cause anymore stress in an already tense situation. I also wondered if this more-conservative, anti-apartheid government would create a real bantustan for the aliens, a "xenostan" if you will beyond District 9...

Just thoughts.

The movie showed blacks at all levels of the society. The main character had a black soldier guarding him, his second-in-command was black. I don't think the apartheid government stayed in power.

 

[black angel]

The movie showed blacks at all levels of the society. The main character had a black soldier guarding him, his second-in-command was black. I don't think the apartheid government stayed in power.

ya we know, what Kriegdämmerung and I are saying is, if this were a real POD, we feel that apartheid wouldn't fall.

 

[black angel]

I got the impression that the apartheid government probably collapsed anyway because now there were "real" different people to put in segregated districts. Measured against Prawns, the differences among blacks, indians, mixed race people and whites is pretty minor. The juxtaposition of black and white people at all levels supporting the segregation of the prawns I took to be a basic statement about human nature and prejudice, not a statement about South Africa per se - although I imagine the message may be also aimed at south africans as well.

smart, but you're using Logic and Reason, on racism.

 

[The Sandman]

smart, but you're using Logic and Reason, on racism.

Well, not really. It's more that history seems to show that two groups that hate each other are fully capable of temporarily putting aside their differences if a third group that they both hate more shows up.

Of course, this whole situation is going to get shot to hell after the end of the movie.

 

[zoomar]

ya we know, what Kriegdämmerung and I are saying is, if this were a real POD, we feel that apartheid wouldn't fall.

Perhaps. But regardless of the "reality" of the POD, it is not beyond the realm of possibility that the Union of South Africa as a sovereign nation altogether would cease to exist. The film itself implies this might have happened. An international organization (the MNU - which is clearly multiracial and fairly American-accented linguistically) has extraterritorial police and military powers in Johannesburg and enough control that it can establish the relocation district as well. It is hard to imagine that the major powers would let a potentially unstable nation like South Africa maintain full independence in this situation. This has nothing to do with Apartheid. The same situation would probably occur if the ship appeared in 2009 over Johannesburg.

 

[black angel]

Perhaps. But regardless of the "reality" of the POD, it is not beyond the realm of possibility that the Union of South Africa as a sovereign nation altogether would cease to exist. The film itself implies this might have happened. An international organization (the MNU - which is clearly multiracial and fairly American-accented linguistically) has extraterritorial police and military powers in Johannesburg and enough control that it can establish the relocation district as well. It is hard to imagine that the major powers would let a potentially unstable nation like South Africa maintain full independence in this situation. This has nothing to do with Apartheid. The same situation would probably occur if the ship appeared in 2009 over Johannesburg.

where you watching the movie? the MNU is a Multination company run by South Africans (Wikus, his father-in-law, ect)

 

[Kriegdämmerung]

To be fair, I doubt that making it so the apartheid government didn't fall would gain a lot of sucess. The movie confused a few people I knew who saw it, so adding another level of depth would probably be too much.

Now "Alive in Jo'Burg"...that had some potential...

 

[MerryPrankster]

that would be the other point, apartheid is unlikely to end in TTL, the blockade of South Africa would fall apart as nations will run to their door to get their hands on Alien tech, also the idea that any government would turn over the rights to Alien tech to any one else let alone a company, even if they did want to stop dealing with the Aliens it would go to the UN. any way the idea that the Whites of South Africa would do right by non-humans in 1982, is well, this the Country that got nukes just to kill black people ok

Just to kill black people or to:

1. Defend against a possible invasion by the neighbors that could lead to the extermination of the white population? Most African leaders are Mugabe, not Mandela, and at the time South Africa had nukes, were allies of the Soviet Union and would likely draw on the support of Cuban soldiers.

2. Blackmail the US into intervening to stop said invasion, the latter of which would not involve any nuclear use at all (as opposed #1).

Apartheid was evil enough--to accuse them of genocidal designs is unnecessary.

 

[zoomar]

where you watching the movie? the MNU is a Multination company run by South Africans (Wikus, his father-in-law, ect)

As you said, MNU was a multinational corporation. Yes, Wikus' father-in-law was a senior director. It does not necessarily mean it was South African owned, any more than Toyota is an American company because its senior leadership based in the US are Americans. I stand by my statement that many of the senior MNU officials and scientists (black and white) interviewed in the faux documentaries spoke English with a decided American accent. I doubt this was accidental. Do we know for a fact that the special forces who fight Wikus at the end are regular South African Military? They deploy from MNU vehicles. I may be wrong, but there is very little to show that the South African government has any role whatsoever in the management and policing of District 9. There are many way to interpret the events in a movie such as this, none of them necessarily the only "correct" ones.