According to the Oxford English Dictionary, Dystopia is defined as “an imaginary place or society in which everything is bad” (Stevenson/Waite 2011:448) According to the movie District 9, the future society is presented as a dystopian, divided society. With aliens intruding the human’s everyday life, taking up their space, time and money, the humans place the aliens in a restricted area where they have to live surrounded by garbage. The only humans living with the aliens are the Nigerians and the rest of the humans are afraid of the aliens which is tearing the society apart. District 9 explore the dystopian images of our society in other conventions that science fiction has, which will be discussed in this essay.
‘The critical dystopia is the dark side of hope, and hopes for a way out; anti-utopia attributes the darkness to Utopia itself, and tells us the exits are ambushed’
- (Levitas and Sargisson, 2003, p.26, cited by Baker, Brian in Science Fiction, 2014:117)
The movie presents Johannesburg throughout the movie as a normal city with a normal society, apart from the aliens. Because of this normal scenery, the narrative of the movie is made more realistic. The cinematography used in this film makes the movie more believable with the interviews, old video footage and handheld cameras. This makes the movie’s dystopian images more hidden in the politics throughout the movie. The movie contains some dystopian characteristic images, such as the UFO over the city, all of the garbage floating around in the district and the lubritorium in the basement of the MNU Department of Alien Affair’s headquarters. Dystopian movies are often concentrated on the political abuse of power, where District 9 at first seems to be a fair and open community. Further out in the movie, the insight in the treatment the aliens are getting reveals how the power is abused due to political and economic motives hidden behind the promises of a better society for the humans.
EMPATHY, SEGREGATION AND DEHUMANIZING
The aliens’ living conditions are considered as slum and they live among the Nigerans who are dealing weapons, selling sex and scamming the aliens. The aliens are portrayed as obnoxious creatures who eat cat food and trash, fights and destroys thing. This representation of the aliens strengthens the dystopian images of the movie. Showing how bad the conditions get after the aliens appear in our society, it creates a frightful environment for the humans. District 9 works as an intimidating look at how the society can change if the humans ever will be invaded by someone from the outside. The dystopian images of this is represented throughout the movie with every scene from the district.
The character of Wikus is becoming more humane the less human he is which is in line with the audience’s empathy for the aliens, where the audience end up applauding the aliens rather than the MNU.
Early on in the movie, the audience learn that the society around the aliens are calling the aliens for “prawns”. (District 9, 0:04:41) This kind of racist insult used in the movie is degrading and is establishing segregation between the aliens and the humans, and by continuously dehumanizing the aliens, the society is allowing the MNU mistreating the aliens. As finding some similarity to how different white societies around the world have been calling the African American people for the "n-word” during the last 200 years, there is a connotation in using terms like these, saying “you are different from us and will never be a part of this society”. By nurturing attitudes like this, the society is slowly reaching some of the dystopian images as seen in District 9, where there are so big differences between the races.
KILLING RATHER THAN HELPING
District 9 is a science fiction film but maintain to appear as a realistic science fiction movie. In difference to many other Science Fiction movies, District 9 focusses on the political and economic dystopia. Instead of the typical “the end of the world” narrative that is often to find in several science fiction movies, this movie highlights on how the society respond to the aliens needing help. By using aliens as the “unknown”, the movie portrays the racism that exist in our society, and with the movie’s dystopian images, the movie also portrays which direction our society can be heading in.
The movie contains some dystopian images throughout, and one dystopian image in the movie is how the military treats the aliens while being in the district. The military, especially Koobus, love killing the aliens and are determined to kill as many as possible. He states that he “love watching prawns die” and is motivated by watching them suffer. (District 9 2009: 1:14:21) This scene of the movie represents the dystopian images of a society killing what it is afraid of and do not know. The idea of killing rather than helping those who suffer shows the audience where a society can go wrong.
SIMILARITIES WITH OUR SOCIETY
There are similarities between the history of South Africa and District 9. During the apartheid (institutionalised racial segregation during 1948-1994), there was a District Six, a restricted area for “whites only”. In the beginning of the film, it is shots of signs saying “no Non-Human Loitering. Mandate H4- 188 Enforcement area” (District 9 2009: 03:11) to separate the aliens from the humans. This is an approach that was used during apartheid to separate blacks from whites. Comparing the history background, the agitated atmosphere contributes to the images of a dystopian society and it composes a more complex movie.
Even though there are similarities between South Africa’s history and District 9, the movie is not limited to the country of South Africa. The movie represents how different kinds of human communities have been excluded from the society for a long time, for an example; the Jews during World War 2. There are similarities to connect between the treatment the Jews had during World War 2, and how the aliens are treated in the movie. Keeping locked in a specific area with guards watching them, they are fugitives from the rest of the society because of race and/or how/where they were born.
The brutality between the MNU’s military and the aliens is a dystopian image that can be compared with the war in Syria and American military claiming their rights while hurting innocent people. The images the movie portrays are in fact not that far away from our own reality of society, just replace the aliens with Syrian refugees. When the people of Johannesburg do not want the aliens in their city anymore, the MNU decides to move the refugees over 200 km outside of the town. Blaming the move on the people of South Africa’s well-being, the real reason for the moving is in fact the weapons that the aliens have been producing, which translates into an economic purpose. This “Out of sight out of mind” – philosophy represents the American society’s actions towards the refugees from Syria now in 2019, where President Donald Trump decided that the Syrian refugees belongs in refugee camps. There are also similarities between the economic purposes our society keeps prioritizing on the at the expense of other’s lives and well-being. With this in mind, the movie is touching into sensitive problems the society today are having, even though the movie is set to the 1980’s.
While hiding from the MNU, District 9 explores how Wikus get to know some of the aliens while hiding in the district. By gaining knowledge and realising how similar to the humans the aliens actually are, Wikus is learning to understand the aliens and gradually he decides to help them. This gaining of empathy for someone he previously had no compassion for is a step in the right direction of an integrated society. While Wikus and Christopher (alien) argue over Christopher helping Wikus with fixing him back to being human, Christopher admits that it will take him longer than first expected and it will take around three years. (District 9 2009: 1:12:04) Their dialogue in this scene shows how two incredible different species connect as a result of the circumstances.
‘Behind that bond is the radical transformation Wikus has undergone, for as that genetic transformation proceeds, their friendship becomes deeper. If the aliens are modelled after Africans who are still subject to discrimination, Afrikaners like Wikus, the film implies, can only fully come to understand their predicament by literally going native. So, while Blomkamp’s prawn-like aliens do not help humans to undergo a super-evolution, they unwittingly make Afrikaners like Wikus literally live as aliens themselves. Through this hybrid experience, it is implied, humans (aka whites) and aliens (aka non-whites) might finally evolve a productive coalition, one based on mutual understanding. ‘
Telotte, J.P. and Duchovnay, Gerald (2015) Science Fiction Double Feature: The Science Fiction Film as Cult Text (Liverpool University Press)
REAL LIFE SOCIETY
By comparing District 9’s society with real life society and some problems and difficulties today, there are a lot of similarities. The movie represents a warning for our society showing how the biggest threat to a society can be ourselves and how the constant chase after economic achievement on the behalf of others can lead to a society in ruins. Being able to compare the movie with many historical tragedies, the movie provides a critical view on how a society can destroy itself while believing the opposite. The dystopian images of a society trying to control aliens invading our space shot on a realistic manner like in District 9, the movie represent dystopia of our society. With the use of the interviews both in the beginning and the end of the movie, District 9 tell the audience that something bad happened, but everything is fine again. This use of cinematography can be seen as weaken the dystopian images at the end of the movie as the problem seems to be solved, but in interaction with the text on the screen and the setting of the mood, the problems are far from over. (District 9, 0:01:40 and 01:38:06) The aliens are still living in the district (now District 10), the movie continues with retaining the dystopian images. The movie ends with questions that are not being answered which gives the audience something to reflect on.
District 9 address the fears of some communities while also stating a warning for our society about how to treat both each other and those we do not know.
Bibliography:
- Baker, Brian (2014) Science Fiction, Palgrave Macmillan Publisher, London, p. 117
- Steveson, Angus & Waite, Maurice (2011) Concise Oxford English Dictionary (Twelfth edition) Published by Oxford University Press Inc., New York, p. 448
- Telotte, J.P & Duchovnay, Gerald (2015) Science Fiction Double Feature: The Science Fiction Film as a Cult Text, Published by Liverpool University Press, Liverpool, Pp. 130-142
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