The Discussion of Xenophobia and Genocide in District 9 and Avatar

The humans wanted to use this mineral as an energy source back on earth. The Resources Development Administration (RDA) went to pandora to discover this element and they discovered that the most supply of it was by the Na'vi home tree. They tried alternative ways to communicate with the Na’vi and to send a message to them that they needed to mine the unobtanium. Jake was sent to communicate with them and he was the only one able to get into the home tree. He was given orders to tell the Na’vi to move from their home tree but he got delayed because he started to care for the Na’vi and their way of life but the soldiers decided to invade the home tree and forcefully evict the Na’vi because they felt that the Na’vi were not entitled to the resources of their planet simply because they were not human. This is what the screenshot shows instead of using their voice they would rather use their guns, bombs and missiles to send a message to them. The humans show no respect for the Na’vi or their beliefs. They believe that they are in control of the Na’vi simply because they have more advanced technology than them. This is ‘un-patriotic’ and ‘un-American’ in the sense that the soldiers come Pandora and dominate the Na’vi by destroying their home-tree and forcing them of their land. They are portrayed as the enemy because they did not involve the Na’vi and their opinion about them mining unobtanium. They decided to go and invade the home-tree after Jake failed to tell the Na’vi about the soldier’s mission. Even after Jake pleaded with them to not attack, they ignored him and the guilt of killing innocent people in order to get what they wanted. It is ‘’un-American’’ in the sense that [adapted from: NeviS,2017] the American values are based on equality, liberty, freedom etc. Cameron doesn’t display these American values when he displays the soldiers as the enemies and how they show inequality towards the Na’vi. One of the values are also opportunity the Na’vi were not given enough opportunity to learn the ways of the humans or at least teach them their ways. Critics were right in their descriptions of it because the movie doesn’t display the ideal American image that we know of today. It is very similar to the involvement of the Western forces’ in Iraq and Afghanistan. How the US wanted control of the oil supply in Iraq, but they refused to accede to Americas’ request. Instead the US decided to go to war with them and get what they wanted by force. They did destroy a lot of infrastructure in Iraq. It is like the soldiers they wanted the unobtanium all to themselves because it was selling for so much on the market and the Na’vi refused to give them control the soldiers took control by force instead of negotiating with them. They use their guns and bombs to seize control over which paints them as the antagonist in the movie.

I would say that Avatar is more technologically advanced. It took ten years to make the Avatar. The movie was reviewed as way ahead of its time and James Cameron was able to achieve this after so long. He was looking at whole new way of working with 3-D motion-capture on a virtual stage. He created the most advanced stereoscopic 3-D camera rig of its time, this is called the Fusion Camera System, and it was introduced in a new era of 3-D filmmaking.

These special effects were very advanced and pricey as well. For these special effects the budget would exceed 400 million dollars and no studio was ready to fund this kind of a project. Avatar was the first ever movie to exceed an amount of 2,5 billion dollars which made it the highest grossing movie of all time. It was also the most expensive movie to make, with a budget 280 million dollars. The movie was 40 percent live action and 60 percent CGI effects. The Fusion Camera System was a digital film camera system created by James Cameron and Vince Pace. It was developed to shoot features in stereoscopic 3D. This specific feature was used in Avatar which made it ahead of its time and it created the 3-D experience for the audience. The Fusion Camera System allowed 3D technology to be possible. It took Cameron and Pace ten years to work on the special effects and how to properly use the Fusion Camera System in filming.

Previous camera systems needed the use of two cameras to create the 3-D effect because it was discovered that the human brain processed separate information from both sides of the brain. Researchers saw that when a person watches 3-D productions their brain is simultaneously processing information, one part of the brain is processing the movement of the image while the other part is understanding what is happening within the image. Cameron and Pace decided to take this knowledge and create a system that can put different components into one complete picture.

The Fusion Camera System was able to eliminate this effect by only using one camera and put the film into one picture than two. This was easier for directors to utilise and help them go back and edit certain cuts in the movie. District 9 is considered less technologically advanced since it took less time to make it and it was not as costly as Avatar. It was discovered that only one person plays all the talking aliens in the movie. This person is Jason Cope. For the interactions between Wickus (Sharlto Copley) and the aliens they would move from one house to the next and just improvise their dialogue. The place the movie was shot in was an evacuated informal settlement in Johannesburg and this made production easier and less costly since it was only one person playing the role of the Prawns and the setting was in the real world this was less cost effective and it required less CGI effects due to how realistic it was. As for Avatar which was shot in an imaginary setting and more CGI was needed. The budget was only 30 million dollars. ‘’ District 9 was released by TriStar Pictures on 14 August 2009, in North America and became a financial success, earning over $210 million at the box office’’ The aliens in District 9 are designed by Weta Workshop, and the design is executed by Image Engine.

The look of the alien was purposely made to disgust the viewers which was meant to make them sympathize for these aliens that has such human-like emotions and characteristics. ‘’District 9 was named one of the top 10 independent films of 2009 by the National Board of Review of Motion Pictures. The film received four Academy Awards nominations for: Best Motion Picture of the Year (Peter Jackson, Carolynne Cunningham), Best Writing, Adapted Screenplay (Neill Blomkamp, Terri Tatchell), Best Achievement in Film Editing (Julian Clarke), Best Achievement in Visual Effects (Dan Kaufman, Peter Muyzers, Robert Habros, Matt Aitken); seven British Academy Film Awards nominations: Best Cinematography (Trent Opaloch), Best Screenplay – Adapted (Neill Blomkamp, Terri Tatchell), Best Editing (Julian Clarke), Best Production Design (Philip Ivey, Guy Potgieter), Best Sound (Brent Burge, Chris Ward, Dave Whitehead, Michael Hedges, Ken Saville), Best Special Visual Effects (Dan Kaufman, Peter Muyzers, Robert Habros, Matt Aitken), Best Director (Neill Blomkamp); five Broadcast Film Critics Association nominations: Best Makeup (Won), Best Screenplay, Adapted (Neill Blomkamp, Terri Tatchell), Best Sound, Best Visual Effects, Best Action Movie; and one Golden Globe nomination: Best Screenplay – Motion Picture (Neill Blomkamp, Terri Tatchell).’’ Blomkamp originally sought Weta Digital to design the creatures, but the company was busy with effects for Avatar as well which made District 9 a lower priority. In this essay I will discuss the evolution of Science Fiction by focusing on the portrayal of the ‘Self vs Other’ in the two films, Avatar and District 9. Both films portray an excellent example on how we humans fear and hate the things we don’t understand.

The Human Population Vs the Aliens (Characters and Gender Roles in Both Films)

In the film Avatar the humans would be considered as the Self since they destroyed the home tree of the Avatars to seize control of their land. Instead of the humans discussing a suitable solution of both parties. The gender roles in this film change as Netyiri the powerful Na’Vi woman must save Jake at the end when he tries to reach for the gas mask. Characters Grace were a big influence in the movie she was the only human trying to bridge a gap between the Humans and the Na’vi. She was even able to change Jakes perspective on the Na’vi and helped him realized the importance of their way of life and the beauty in it. In the film District Nine the humans have hatred towards the Prawns and they try to evict the Prawns from their homes because they thought of them as pests in their country. That’s how the aliens got the name Prawn which is a reference to the king cricket species which is considered a pest in South Africa. Wickus at first was against the prawns but started to care for them due to him becoming like one of them.

The humans were able to seize control over the Na’Vi due to their weapons of mass destruction. The bombs and missiles used to destroy the home tree and caused the Na’Vi to flee and seek refuge at their memory tree. They had no intention of attacking the humans until Jake comes to them arriving with the most violent creature in the sky in his control and starts a revolution he is considered as the Na’vis’ most-valuable-weapon since he gives them hope and works out the strategy. The humans have an advantage over the Na’vi due to the weapons they have even at the end the humans force the Na’vi to retreat due them having a greater advantage with the weapons but this changes when the animals of the forest join in the fight and the weapons of the humans are useless. The use of the bows and arrows portray how primitive the Na’vi are.

The Power of Language

Language in both films plays a powerful role. In the film Avatar, the native language of the Na’Vi was the one thing that enabled the humans to seek a relationship with them. If Grace hadn’t learnt the Na’vi language they wouldn’t have given her a chance to teach them the human way. The Na’vi are forced to speak English since it the language of the human which is seen as the stronger party. This shows that the humans have no interest in the culture of the Na’vi because they see them as inferior and not equals. In the film District Nine,[according to: Hillary Janks,2011] the choice of language is used for a form of identity. The use of the English language in the South African is to show the film is not based in the western hemisphere and Wikus, the anti-hero, using a broad South African accent with flat vowels and grammatical inaccuracies.

Corrupt Corporations or Governments

In the film Avatar, the corporation Resources Development Administration, or RDA uses the military to seize control of the Avatars. The military commander Miles has to carry out all the orders of Parker as he lives in comfort and less risk of losing his life. The military are seen as insensitive and they have to do all the dirty work and feel the guilt of killing innocent women and children of the Na’vi it is as if they have no control over their choices. In the film District Nine,[according to: District 9 wiki, N/A] MNU outsources the military and even gets professional killers to assist in the eviction of the Aliens. Wickus is chosen as the chief commander of the operation so that MNU is not fully accountable for any mishaps that happen and he is chosen mostly because he is married to the CEOs daughter this is also a form of nepotism

Xenophobia, Genocide, Speciesism

The film District Nine, Koobus venter displays a form of xenophobia towards the aliens. He even shoots one for the sake of satisfying his anger towards them. The humans as well display this when they tell the aliens repeatedly to go back home. The humans don’t want the aliens here and they even act on this by moving into district nine with military forces to evict the aliens. Xenophobia is a common attitude in Joburg. In the film Avatar the soldiers portrayed genocide when they attacked the home tree which also references the 9/11 attack on Twin Towers they continue by moving in on the memory tree to finish off the Avatars.

Scenery

In Avatar ‘’The world of Avatar, a futuristic world, where a group of beings coexist with the natura, respecting. We see a world without technology, paradises and inconceivable species for modern human mind.’’ ‘’The film was purposefully shot during this time to give the scenery a bleaker, gray appearance’’ Joburg is used as reference to the apartheid era. Which is a symbol of segregation which is portrayed in the film. The portrayal of the ‘’self’’ vs ‘’other’’ is highlighted well in both films and they give more meaning to the phrase as to how humans are against foreign species but some humans will try to be supportive and are more humane in that manner.