Since the oppressed in District 9 are literally aliens, it is much easier to see how they can be discriminated against. The use of aliens as the victim was also very interesting because in films, humans are most frequently the victims. It made me think about how we depict "other" and how power is the basis for any victim/oppressor relationship. While we commonly think of aliens as being the definitive "other" this is only because we assume their knowledge and technology is far more sophisticated than our own. In District 9, with the aliens lacking power, the humans are able to subjugate them and subject them to terrible treatment. They are so clearly different from the humans due to physical appearance and culture, which makes it even easier for the humans to control them. Also, a technique that is frequently employed in genocides is trying to make the oppressed seem less than human which is much easier because the victims in District 9 literally are not human. However, Wikus' experience in the alien culture provides a unique insight that we rarely see when studying genocide. Being able to straddle the two sides of victim and oppressor, Wikus is able to see his original perspective and understand the alien's as well. It reminded me of the situation in The Pianist when the German officer finds Szpilman and spares his life. It's through Wikus' transformation that he begins to understand the aliens and how similar they really are. Through these interactions he sees the family dynamics and the culture of the aliens that he recognizes as being not entirely like his own life.
Overall, it was a very unique portrayal of the ways that people are systematically excluded and when that occurs, the potential for that to evolve into a very terrible situation. I was also reminded of Schindler's List because Wikus was able to use his power and status as a human to try to help Christopher.
Overall, it was a very unique portrayal of the ways that people are systematically excluded and when that occurs, the potential for that to evolve into a very terrible situation. I was also reminded of Schindler's List because Wikus was able to use his power and status as a human to try to help Christopher.
I completely agree with you and like your post. The story is obviously meant to parallel apartheid. It is interesting how at the end of your first paragraph you call their forced domain a ghetto similar to the area the Jewish people were forced into. You're right that the use of actual aliens allows one to look objectively at how humans treat "the other." The obvious differences in appearance also make the distinction easier. In Hotel Rwanda, one could not even tell the exact difference between Hutus and Tutsis without looking at an identification card. I also agree that Wikus turning into an alien is something very interesting and different. Some Germans would help the Jewish people but that is as far asd it could go, the Germans were not converting to Judaism.
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I really like that you made this point. One of the points I made in my blog post was the differences in identification of prisoners in the Holocaust vs. District 9. In the Holocaust, pink triangles and yellow stars were used to identify prisoners; in District 9, the prisoners are literally nonhuman. Besides the obvious, the fact that they are easy to identify due to their physical characteristics, I think the fact that they are literally not human makes it even easier to discriminate against them. We see this as MNU soldiers and officials make derogatory comments towards them, for example. I also like the comparison you made with Schindler’s List. In both situations, an insider working for the antagonist actually puts himself at great risk in order to help those most in need.