The film District 9, directed by Neill Blomkamp takes place in South Africa, years after an intelligent alien race crash landed on earth. The aliens, now common place in South Africa, are still segregated and live in slums. Some people are advocates of equal alien rights, but for the most part the aliens are looked upon as a lower race. This movie takes place post-apartheid, but the african american community also takes advantage of the aliens addictions and naivety. I find this ironic because the blacks in South Africa were kept down by whites and now free, they pick on the aliens by installing gangs in the alien ghettos to make a profit off them. The movie is about racism. The main character is an intelligent, upper middle class man with average political views. At first, he rejects his transformation and thinks he is becoming a monster. As the evolution (or devolution) continues, the man begins to feel sympathy for the aliens. This is a statement on how if an individual looks at life through the prospective of a lower class, they learn they are not so different. Just as whites kept blacks down, now people kept aliens down. Just as at one point in history it was an atrocity for whites and blacks to mate, now a doctored image of a man experiencing coitus with an alien is considered repulsive. The issue of racism is not solved in the film, as there is a sequel looming, but this comments on the fact that there is still racism and slavery in the world. Blomkamp is showing the atrocities of racism without explicitly saying so. That is what makes the movie enjoyable for the public. One knows that they are supposed to loathe the aliens because they are the outsiders, however you tend to end up rooting for them. They come off as scary and aggressive but are just like everyone else. This shows racial profiling and the injustices that go along with it. All in all, the film was enjoyable, jam packed with action, and a good political message.
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