Dacula - Looking Beyond the Surface

District 9, a film meant to depict a fictitious period of apartheid, has proved to be an excellent way to end this course on holocausts throughout history and from different lenses, real or fiction. The film centers on the main character Wikus, who becomes infected by alien DNA after taking it upon himself to test alien technology found in an alien’s home. From this point onward, as his infection gradually spreads, Wikus is referred to as a “prawn.” A private military company called Multinational United (MNU) proceeds to conduct a number of tests on him that bring Wikus to the realization that the severity of his infection is greater than he thought. For example, in one of MNU’s tests, it is discovered that Wikus’ new hand has the ability to use alien weapons. To test this, MNU uses  a random “prawn” as Wikus’ aim. The random prawn is marked with an “X” for Wikus to shoot, and from seeing Wikus we see that he is afraid of the MNU and their questionable tests. From this scene onward we see that the MNU becomes the central antagonist of the film and the instigator of future violence. A subplot exists within the film as well in which the character Smit, Wikus’ father-in-law, announces to the press that Wikus has contracted an alien STD from having sexual relations with one of the “prawns.” Quite obviously, we realize that this is not the case, but because of this declaration, Wikus’ wife must struggle with two things about her husband throughout the film: (1) to deal with the fact of her husband’s deformities and (2) to wonder whether or not her father is telling the truth. Wikus pleads with his wife to “please not give up” him and begs her to believe her husband over her father.

One connection that exists between this movie and the theme of victim vs. victimizer/oppressor vs. oppressed that we have studied throughout this course is seen through the depiction of a member of the victimizing group becoming the victim. By Wikus’ infection, he is able to learn that the groups he is so adamant against are not all inferior to each other. The victims of the Holocaust and other genocides we have learned about did contain these types of people, but their numbers were few in comparison to the vast majority of victims of these crimes against humanity. We see a unique situation come into play through this film: that oppressors can easily become the oppressed and vice versa in an instant.

The film makes a significant note of the fact that some groups of people can be easily neglected and not recognized as human beings as well. Obviously, this message is not as clear-cut in the movie: the aliens are definitely not creatures who look like us. But through other elements, we see apartheid into play and prejudice that stems from the humans seeing the aliens as rightfully ostracized because they look different, speak a strange language, and do not act out in ways similar to us. However, these aliens find similarities to the humans in that they have an understanding of family. They know and have to the ability to feel the most intense emotions we selfishly attribute to ourselves as human: pain, joy, anger. We see in this futuristic society that the only thing separating the aliens from the humans is the fact that their culture and appearance are different. And in this sense, District 9 becomes an excellent choice to learn and understand the injustice, the utter injustice that stems from the most violent forms of hatred in history.