District 9

I went to the movies today, catching the 5pm showing with some friends after-work. Walking to the AMC theater next to the Boston Commons, I was trying to recall what I had heard about the movie--it was a movie about humans vs. aliens. Truthfully speaking, the genre of Sci-Fi movies does not generally spark an interest in me. However, a fellow co-worker explained it as a movie with commentary...hmmm, I thought to myself, that is a film technique that I have not seen yet...why not give it a try. So come Friday afternoon...I sneaked out of work early, walked to the movie theater through the muggy-ness of Boston weather, and sat down to enjoy the show...



Neill Blomkamp, the director of District 9, examines what it means to be human, and throughout the movie, asks his audience the same question. Yes, the movie is indeed about humans vs. alien...however, break down the definition of "alien" and Webster's dictionary gives us: belonging or relating to another person, place, or thing; strange. For the sake of the movie, these aliens are indeed extra-terrestrial species living on earth. However, the movie goes beyond that fact, showing that through the differences and strangeness, similarities do exist. Through countless scenes in the movie, Neill Blomkamp, shows his audience innate feelings, emotions and actions--both good and bad--that are common for everyone, human or alien. I do not want to give too much away, therefore, I leave it at that. The movie, in my opinion, represents a hyperbole of our current society. Coming from a background of international development, I cannot help but compare the common themes involved: an us vs them approach, taking differences to mean undeveloped, poor, uncivilized, salvages, and perhaps most importantly, a wall built between the aliens and humans....so close, yet worlds apart. Even though we live in a seemingly connected world with the ever-reaching world wide web, mobile phones, and transcontinental flights, differences in skin color, passports, and economics, among many others, still keep up worlds apart. This movie reminds me of the quote by Paublo Richard:

"We are aware that another gigantic wall is being constructed in the Third World,
to hide the reality of the poor majorities.
A wall between the rich and poor is being built,
so that poverty does not annoy the powerful
and the poor are obliged to die
in the silence of history."

Yet, there is hope! The recognition that we are more similar than we are different. One scene captures Neill Blomkamp's message the best. It is a scene when an alien child turns to a human and says, "we are similar." Sometimes it takes a child to point out a simple, yet often forgotten fact by 'mature adults.'