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starladySo I dragged my friend M to see District 9 tonight. I found it thought-provoking to say the least, and I think that if sff movies generally were as interesting as this one, the genre would be in a much happier place, although there were (of course) some things I found problematic. As most people probably are peripherally aware, the film follows Multi-National United middle manager Wikus van der Moehrve as he heads out to District 9, the slum in Johannesburg in which 1.8 million aliens have been living since their ship stalled out over the city 20 years earlier, to hand out eviction notices. As you might expect, things don't go exactly as planned.
So, well, I liked this film; but then, I am able to like this film. The Economist argued that it offers a powerful plea for the rights of the world's refugee population, and I definitely think that the film supports that reading; moreover, I hope the film will focus attention on the abject poverty and hellish living conditions which the inhabitants of the Soweto township, where the film was shot, endure daily. In some ways I think the film would be worth a viewing for that alone; it brings to mind Slumdog Millionaire, which also shot on location in Mumbai (though not, I think, in the slums themselves), in its visual candor. I don't think I'm making too large a generalization to say that people in the States, and in wealthier countries, are generally shielded from the visual reality of global poverty, and to the extent that both films deflate that bubble even a bit, I think they're valuable.
One of the things I liked most about the film, and this is going to sound strange, is that Wikus is a man. I don't think, actually, that a woman could plausibly have been in Wikus' position, though unfortunately Wikus being a man allows the film to indulge in some very stereotypical characterizations of his wife and her father. But so frequently in sff it's women who are vulnerable to alien invasion and penetration of various sorts (the archetypical example here might be Aki from Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within), since of course qua women they are inherently violable, and lesser humans; Wikus' terror as his own body betrays him, though he's a man, seems like a form of rough justice. Of course, the flip side of my argument here is simply that Wikus, already portrayed as feminine (i.e. as an office worker, he's inherently weak, particularly in the scene where he confronts Commando Man early in the beginning), is simply further feminized by his transformation.
I could have done, though, without the whole "Nigerians eat alien and human limbs because they believe in bush magic and witch doctors!" subplot. For that matter, one of the few black people portrayed positively for longer than 30 seconds, Wikus' trainee, winds up on trial for taking independent ethical action. Nnedi Okorafor has a way more incisive take on these issues; I didn't even notice that none of the documentary experts weren't white. She also spotted that all of the aliens were portrayed as male, which didn't register consciously with me, and among other things raises questions about sexual behaviour stereotypes that I don't even want to explore (one of "the Nigerians" taunts Wikus for allegedly doing it "doggy-style" with an alien. yeah), but which perhaps lead back to Wikus-as-feminine.
All of this sounds negative, but as a film, it was enjoyable, and the fact that it raises these questions is a testament to the fact that it has more than 1/3 of a brain. I particularly liked the ending, and the reversals of the final sequence. Will Christopher return, and in what manner will s/he do so? Can Wikus' transformation be reversed, and if so, will he be a sort of Tiresias figure to the world? Will District 10 ever be abolished? The answer, I suspect, is up to us to decide.
So, well, I liked this film; but then, I am able to like this film. The Economist argued that it offers a powerful plea for the rights of the world's refugee population, and I definitely think that the film supports that reading; moreover, I hope the film will focus attention on the abject poverty and hellish living conditions which the inhabitants of the Soweto township, where the film was shot, endure daily. In some ways I think the film would be worth a viewing for that alone; it brings to mind Slumdog Millionaire, which also shot on location in Mumbai (though not, I think, in the slums themselves), in its visual candor. I don't think I'm making too large a generalization to say that people in the States, and in wealthier countries, are generally shielded from the visual reality of global poverty, and to the extent that both films deflate that bubble even a bit, I think they're valuable.
One of the things I liked most about the film, and this is going to sound strange, is that Wikus is a man. I don't think, actually, that a woman could plausibly have been in Wikus' position, though unfortunately Wikus being a man allows the film to indulge in some very stereotypical characterizations of his wife and her father. But so frequently in sff it's women who are vulnerable to alien invasion and penetration of various sorts (the archetypical example here might be Aki from Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within), since of course qua women they are inherently violable, and lesser humans; Wikus' terror as his own body betrays him, though he's a man, seems like a form of rough justice. Of course, the flip side of my argument here is simply that Wikus, already portrayed as feminine (i.e. as an office worker, he's inherently weak, particularly in the scene where he confronts Commando Man early in the beginning), is simply further feminized by his transformation.
I could have done, though, without the whole "Nigerians eat alien and human limbs because they believe in bush magic and witch doctors!" subplot. For that matter, one of the few black people portrayed positively for longer than 30 seconds, Wikus' trainee, winds up on trial for taking independent ethical action. Nnedi Okorafor has a way more incisive take on these issues; I didn't even notice that none of the documentary experts weren't white. She also spotted that all of the aliens were portrayed as male, which didn't register consciously with me, and among other things raises questions about sexual behaviour stereotypes that I don't even want to explore (one of "the Nigerians" taunts Wikus for allegedly doing it "doggy-style" with an alien. yeah), but which perhaps lead back to Wikus-as-feminine.
All of this sounds negative, but as a film, it was enjoyable, and the fact that it raises these questions is a testament to the fact that it has more than 1/3 of a brain. I particularly liked the ending, and the reversals of the final sequence. Will Christopher return, and in what manner will s/he do so? Can Wikus' transformation be reversed, and if so, will he be a sort of Tiresias figure to the world? Will District 10 ever be abolished? The answer, I suspect, is up to us to decide.