Racism and Violence in Neil Blomkamp's Movie District 9

The film District 9, directed by Neil Blomkamp, recounts the story of Wikus Van De Merwe's transformation from human to an alien prawn. Wikus, played by Sharlto Copley, is an MNU officer, in Johannesburg, South Africa. Wikus works with the aliens that were accidentally stranded on earth. After accidentally landing on earth the aliens take refuge in a small township known as District 9. Wikus leads a team that is tasked with evicting the aliens and relocating them to a more 'improved' district.

During a routine eviction run, Wikus stumbled into a home that contained alien weaponry. Wikus came in contact with a foreign liquid and sprays his face with it then begins to develop cold-like symptoms. After 30-plus hours of exposure, he gradually began to turn into an alien prawn. With the help of Christopher, a prawn, they went on the hunt for a cure to change Wikus back to human. Unfortunately, the cure was unattainable on earth, and Christopher needed to return to his home planet. The journey back was estimated to take three years. Ultimately, leaving Wikus on earth mutating into a prawn, and unable to be with his wife.

The director wanted his audience to learn the surrealism of racism between the two groups of species. In the film, we take an in-depth look at the lifestyle the alien prawns were given. They were promised an adequate lifestyle, but in return, received a slum community. In a scene, we see how the prawn is excluded from public places, like restaurants. One could say that it felt familiar to the times of segregation. Their homes can be compared to concentration camps that housed innocent people. The social and culture discriminations that are presented in the film feel relevant today.

The prawns were mistreated and looked upon as vermin by the African residents leaving nearby. During the eviction scene, many prawns were killed because they wouldn't agree to leave their house or because they seemed threatening. Blomkamp used these two distinct group to highlight the discrimination that happens when one of them feel superior. During the expedition to find the cure, Wikus and Christopher discover a lab with prawns. The prawns are being tested and examined like animals by scientists.

I absolutely loved the acting in the film, Sharlto Copley was brilliant by portraying a bureaucrat that loved his job and wife. I enjoyed seeing Copley take the character through a journey of self-discovery and redemption. At the beginning of the film, Copley shows prejudice against the prawns. However, as he begins to turn into one of them, he experiences first hand the hate and humiliation, they face daily. His transformation into them led him through obstacles that he had to overcome. For example, when the government discovered his abnormality, they wanted to test him. He was considered a medical artifact, and they wanted to use him as research. Copley acting comes through screen loud and clear. He makes the audience feel sympathy for him and concern. When he is persecuted, we see the fear and anguish in Copley's eyes and attitude. At the end of the film, Copley matures and feels compassion for the prawns. He demonstrates a growth in the character from a loving family bureaucrat to a compassionate hero. Copley's acting is like a rollercoaster that leaves the audience inspired and captivated.

The apocalypse from The Road and District 9 had the element of violence in common. In The Road, the man and the boy came across people who were willing to harm them for survival. Similarly, in District 9, people were pushed to violence because they wanted the alien weaponry. In both, the film and book people were driven to do unimaginable acts to survive or advance. The Road showed us how people turned to cannibalism for a source of food.

In District 9, people would murder and eat to try to transform into the aliens to have the ability to use their weapons. For example, there is an underground boss who desired to possess alien genetics for the sole purpose of operating alien machinery. The underground boss went as far as to eat parts of the aliens because he thought the alien would live in him. In The Road, the man and the boy stumbled a cellar filled with people who were ready to be eaten by roadagents. Through the film District 9 and the book The Road, we witness how, during an apocalypse, humans violently dehumanize and are forced to make inconceivable choices.