District 9 is a movie that is supposed to show apartheid in South Africa and also show how genocide starts and is carried out. The aliens represent the unwanted minority, forced to live in confined spaces with no where to go. They are not integrated into society and therefore begin to act out. The aliens were identified as an enemy to the South African people because they were a minority that was easily identified. This is similar to what is described in the article “Native American Genocide.” Native Americans were a minority in their society and because they were easily identified by their features and therefore negative stereotypes developed quickly. They were excluded from society and therefore lived in poor conditions just like the aliens in Sector 9.
The exclusion of the aliens that occurs in the movie is similar to that in the ghettos seen in the movie “The Pianist.” They are separated from the rest of mankind and made to live in slums. They are forced to break laws and steal in order to survive. It is much like the ghetto because the rest of society thinks it is acceptable to confine these people to horrible condition and small places because it is easy for them. Unlike in the article “The Fate of Raul Wallenberg,” there seems to be no one that wants to help the aliens. No one will risk their lives to help them because they feel it isn’t worth it. They don’t seem them as other living creatures and thats why it is so easy for the military to kill them. At one point in the movie, a military man even says that he loves his job of killing “prawns.”
The systematic extermination of the aliens is similar to that seen in the movie, “Schindler’s List.” While it seems that the MNU doesn’t mean to exterminate the aliens at first, it seems easy for them to do once it starts. It also seems like the rest of the population is not quite aware of all that is going on. This is similar to the Nazi extermination of Jews. Many were not aware, or pretended not to know how they were being killed off. However, all that matter in the end is that it did happen and it was allowed to happen. No one stood up for the aliens because society had labeled them as being unwanted.
It is true what you say about the extermination of the aliens. Just like the Nazis who initially only wanted to isolate the Jewish population MNU once they believed that They could no longer contain the Aliens within the camps decided to get rid of them. It could be argued however, that in both cases although they do not say it outright, The isolation of both groups could have only ended with extermination as there was no other way to make them go way.A fact I believe that both the Nazi regime and MNU must have known of when they proceeded with the initial segregation since in both cases if the two powers really wanted their respective outsiders to leave they would have done everything in their power to help them leave instead of persecuting them.
ReplyDeleteYou are right that no one tried to help the aliens. That was something different from the rest of the films we have seen. There always seem to be someone who wanted to stop what was going on even if they didn't actually follow through with it. Even some Germans helped Jews even if it was for their own profit like in The Pianist or Schnidler for cheap workers. However in District 9 no one seemed worried about what was happening. Not even the other lower class African Americans. No one was concerned with actually helping Wikus. Even his wife helped her father capture him! All of his fellow employees seemed to go on with their lives easily.
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