I love that the Prawns are hideous. Not only is it just more realistic for actual aliens imo, but it means the audience does feel an initial revulsion, which puts the audience in the same position as the people living in that world. Then the movie turns the camera around and shows us the kind of horrors humanity has unleashed upon these other people, just because they're different and have cool shit. The audience has to grapple with their initial feelings, and so they gain a deeper look at how racists become racist, because they can empathize with it now. And yeah, the main character being such a cock is what makes the film work. He's realistic, not the best at anything, nor the most righteous. He's a guy trying to survive above all, and just happens to shift his own ideals and perspective along the way. Most people don't set out to change their own beliefs, the world does that for them. Also the cinematography is just really cool, I love the almost found footage style of it without it actually being found footage; just very unique.
Exactly. I think the idea is to soften the ethical blow of their mistreatment. To get us to agree with their treatment initially and then have to confront the reality of the situation. Honestly, I felt betrayed by myself the first time I watched this film. It's why I love it now because it got me to really explore what I'd actually think and believe in that sort of a situation.
I don't think they're hideous, I think they're just... alien, for the lack of a better word. If I was a biologist maybe I could make some interesting comments about their biomechanics or metabolism, but I'm not remotely qualified to try doing that. So I'll just leave you with a Futurama reference: just take a look at their version of "Miss Universe", it may look like an absolutely ridiculous joke, but I think what's ridiculous is that we should try to apply our human standards of appearance to an alien species. But IDK, maybe I'm just weird, I think lobsters are absolutely cute and you couldn't convince me they're delicious and I should try eating one anymore than you could convince me to eat a dog or a cat. And if you don't think so, just watch a few videos of Leon and try to tell me he's not a cute lobster.
I didn't think they were inherently violent. I thought the point the movie was trying to make was that they were separated from their home and culture, and were reduced to a more primitive existence. I thought the implication was that they were exceedingly intelligent and elegant, given their tech
They were starving. They had no access to medicine. They were living stranded in the dark for 3 months. They seeked refuge from a terrible fate, only to succumb to an arguably worse one.
The very fact that the prawns' didn't utilise their advanced weaponry and forcefully obtain resources suggests they are not violent. The prawns instead, trade their advanced weaponry for cat food instead of forcefully taking it.
I like how vikkis is not ever painted to be a hero, and ends up in a realistic situation after helping the Prawns: outcast due to the circumstances of his condition and unable to ever return to his family. It’s depressing but also the most likely outcome from a logical standpoint.
@@AntonioMartinez-uc9hv Flinging around insults is not criticism. Do you have anything of substance to say or do you just get off on being an edgelord?
@@AntonioMartinez-uc9hvand yet you keep commenting and boosting this video's popularity. Without people like you the algorithm wouldn't have recommended this video to me and I would've never discovered this channel, so thank you for all your hard work 😊
I also want to point out, Wikus was never a hero not just because he never really got what he wanted but also in that he isn't some saviour who showed up and solved everyones problems. Chris was already going to escape and Wikus had only messed it up. He made a mess in his attempt to right his mistake (out of selfishness, mind you, not because it was wrong) and he (from what we seen) didn't get a prize for doing so. He is far from a hero, and that is consistent throught the movie.
Very true. He acts almost purely out of selfishness, gets his comeuppance, and even when he has a genuine change of heart, still has to contend with the consequences of his actions
He’s unqualified and stumbled into his life through incompetence and a family hook up. Forget all this white savior talking that shit was so annoying. Get off your soapbox and enjoy a movie for being a movie. Seems like a way we could treat an outsider we feared.
I love how this movie is such a middle-finger to the white savior trope, and also just an overall challenge to the romanticized concept of being an ally to marginalized groups. Wikus only shows sympathy for prawns when he’s stripped of his privilege, and the movie shows that when he finally does decide to help the prawns, it’s not pretty. There’s no reward. He simply chose to do the right thing and that’s the end of it. No one is going to congratulate you for waking up and resisting the system you’ve benefitted from, cuz the point of being an ally is that it ISNT ABOUT YOU, it’s about the people that are being oppressed. I love that they had the balls to show such a brutally honest portrayal of his sacrifice, because a lot of people have yet to really grapple with that reality when they try and be allies.
Everything we know about the aliens comes from MNU corporate press releases. Right down to the name "prawn." And we know at least some of it it made-up bullshit purely because we see Wikus parrot it when it's obviously untrue. I think having them be so alien and other is a deliberate choice, rather than Avatar's lazy 'stuffed animal from space' approach. It primes the viewer to see the aliens in a certain way so that when those assumptions are challenged, it's hopefully more effective and makes you stop and consider *all* of what you'd just been taking as a given. Interestingly to this day I've seen viewers of this movie who just accept certain elements as a given, like the "hive mind" thing.
When you think about it, when you try to put yourself in the mindset of a white person in the days of slavery who had no contact with black people, they received their knowledge in much the same way, through those with vested interests...
While I haven't seen District 9 in a while, as far as I can remember, everything negative we hear about prawns in the movie was from the perspective of the documentary. Ie. The oppressor's perspective. Through Wikus's eyes, we come to learn that prawns are not just mindless savages at all through his relationship with Christopher and his child. Wikus becoming an alien is a metaphor for him beginning to empathize and identify with the "Prawns". That's my interpretation.
This is legit one of the best video essays that I’ve watched on RUclips. I love that you compare it to the common trope of sf genre and further showcases district 9 as an example of satire done right. When I first saw it in high school I thought it was just a gross movie, but it starts to resonates with me as I grew up. I hope to see more of your analysis of underrated movies!!
Who knew me wanting to revisit Neil Blomkamp's films after half a decade would lead me to your channel. I've been binging your content and it's absolutely SMASHING! Hidden gem of RUclips.
The detail I love is how they say in the movie that the prawn have a collective conscious/highly hierarchical creatures that lack individuality. But like, how do they then raise children, trade things for cat food and have any instintic for self preservation and fashion. Also, the whole thing that they're unitelligent to use their tech reminds me how I've always heard that indigenous people were lazy as slaves. Like, what? Obviously they do not want to collaborate to their own oppresion and weaponized incompetence is great for buying time.
This is a great analysis! I watched this film when I was 13 (District 9 was rated 14+ in Canada) and it had a big impact on me. I think the biggest eye-opener was the scene where Koobus cruelly murders Christopher's helpless friend. You suddenly realise: the prawns are *people.* And if we can feel empathy for an alien bug, why don't we show it when this kind of thing happens to real people *all the time.*
The reason Wikus is as bad of a person he is was to show the audience that the someone who was complicit/aiding in the perpetration of the prawns becoming one. It was his reaction to becoming a part of the victimized group that sold the movie. If it was a person who was already sympathetic to the prawns then the film would’ve fallen flat due to them potentially being psyched to become an alien, similar to how Jake Sully was in Avatar. The fact that Wikus is a part of the antagonist system illustrates more how greedy MNU is to get what they want. They don’t take some random Johnny off the street who’s turning into a prawn, they take one of their employees and force him to all the tests/torture they put him through despite him being one of them at the start of the film
I'm still so confused. How do you only have 160 subscribers when your critiques are comfortably among the best on RUclips. This is so brilliant. Didn't even notice the trope myself because I'm not really one to go look for racial problems in entertainment, but what you say is so true. They do always have a white saviour to innocent natives. I'm actually from South Africa and they never do tackle the nastiness of it all. It's never cut and dry with a smooth happy ending.
The algorithm gods haven't seen fit to smile upon me yet, I guess. :) Thanks so much for the kind words, and the perspective! I'm glad an actual South African doesn't think I'm completely off base
Not at all, I'm always thrilled when anyone takes a sincere interest in what I'm doing, haha. I'd do it anyway, but getting honest and encouraging feedback is always great. And I'm glad I sparked anywhere near enough interest for you to watch it twice! That's a major compliment for me 👍
I think the deal with unobtanium was that they needed it for space travel. Which is silly when you think about it because that would mean they put themselves in a vicious cycle.
Honestly growing up in south Africa it's hard to see district 9 as a white saviour movie quite the opposite I hated wickus from the start and now that he has to suffer everything must change really is a great a allegory about apartheid
The narrative arc of Elysium collapsed for me where it's revealed that the O'Neill cylinder where the rich folk live has resources to serve the population of the entire planet to the same standard. It leaves you with a good guys/bad guys storyline that's just that, completely insulated from the complexities of the human condition. No hard choices, no grey areas, no truly difficult problems to address. Just upload the right software and push the right button. Great SFX though.
X-Men, despite having a whole lot of logical issues with its metaphor, at least does make the minority/oppressed class "cool" and even aspirational to the audience. Not many have watched District 9 and thought it would be awesome to be a prawn (like this video says very well) but a whole lot of people have pretended to be Wolverine or Storm or even Nightcrawler on a playground.
I watched this movie when it came out and I was 15 too. None of this dawned on me until last night when I rewatched it. It really seemed odd that this would happen in SA and yet out of the 3 major role players in the film (the white capitalist/army, the “savage” Kenyans, and the prawns) there were no black South Africans actually mentioned significantly in the film. Happy to see that I’m not alone and crazy in thinking this, because at 15 it definitely didn’t dawn on me that this was a white savior film but it did last night. Elysium also came to mind during the rewatch, had no idea this was by the same guy! Great job on this, I watched other videos looking for some sort of similarity to my take away but they all had surface level, retellings of the story instead of real analyses of the movie. I will say that although I enjoyed this far more than I did when I was 15, certain parts are definitely problematic. Like the entire depiction of black people. But still better than Avatar lol
Ah thanks so much! Yah, the thing I think is eternally good about District 9 is that its acknowledgement of cowardice and mediocrity in white people, which is so absent in other movies, allows you to read it with some self-reflection as social standards change. It's of its time for sure, but still approaches the issue with some complication. Its purposefully aesthetic ugliness goes far in that, I think.
Is there a parallel between Vicus the protagonist, and what Hanna Arengt is arguing, in her book where she makes the statement “the banality of evil” (the motivation of ordinary people to commit horror in order to “fit in”, and progress their status).
The relationship I have with District 9 and Niel Blomkamp is complicated. I love that District 9 was shot locally and Sharlto Copley is great in it. Just seeing South Africans in film is so cool and seeing our cities is also cool. The thing that complicates it for me is the real life place, District 6. District 6 was a residential area in Cape Town that was home to a lot of non-white people during apartheid, until it wasn't. The government forcibly relocated every non-white to the Cape Flats. Like... That's kinda the plot of the movie. The government wants to remove a forcibly relocated population from an inner city residential area. It's not even secret or subtle. The closest analogue for this would be forcibly displaced Indians and Malaysians trying to find a way back home. Most of those stories did not end happily. I feel like it's really difficult to accurately describe how different this movie feels if you're South African. It is both a point of national pride, and also like, a lot uncomfortable.
I feel like prawns are an oppressed people, yes but I don't think it's fair to compare them to natives. I think district 9 is an amazing movie because of its uniqueness. i don't think wikkus is a white savior i think that he is an annoying protagonist throw into a scenario where he is forced to help the prawns but is only doing it for his own benefit, i don't think he is actively trying to save them i think he is just trying to save himself.
I agree, I think that's what ultimately saves this movie. It's just hard to tell how purposeful the decisions that subvert the tropes are (for me, at least). Thanks for the watch :)
Fantastic video. I love District 9, it's one of my favorite movies, but I could never place why I liked it even though I generally dislike the trope of using superpowered/dangerous characters as stand ins for marginalized groups (biggest example being X-Men). You did a great job in explaining why it works in this movie and why it stands out compared to similar stories.
Thank you!! Yes, for me it's kind of become a signal of someone on the creative team not really knowing about marginalization or being too nervous to address it head-on, basically "see, we love the minorities, we think they have superpowers!" It works as a plot device, but it's skirting the issue. Thanks for the watch!
Definitely one of my favorite movies. Tho as I learned it can be really triggering to some folks who hold very personal views on immigration policies. Its also disappointing that the director hasn't released anything else on the same level from what I've seen so far.
I really did have that moment when I watched District 9 years ago when I got halfway into the movie and realized that probably everything that was said about the aliens in the opening sequence was either incorrect or deliberately fabricated. It definitely isn't perfect but I think it still has its value
I remember the first time I watched the movie, I was around 14 year old and I dident speak alot of english. Despite of that, I felt alot of sympathy for the aliens who accidentally landed on earth, tried to get help so they could leave, got oppressed and treated like bugs. I rooted for the sympathetic humans who tried to help the aliens. I didn't know of the real life things that inspired some of the stuff in the movie. I liked the movie then, but the messages and stuff you have pointed out really makes the movie go down in likability for me.
Glad I finished watching before commenting cause I was about to summarize exactly what you said in the second half of the video in defense of the movie
A note unmentioned on Wikus' writing: van de Merwe is not just a common Afrikaans surname, it is a shorthand for a fool, and the name used in the place of Irishman in schoolyard jokes across this end of Africa where Irish is just a word.
My sister and I were just barely underage to see Elysium when it came out, so we bought tickets for a different movie and snuck into it. Halfway through we left and went to watch the actual movie we paid money for. God Elysium sucked. Fucking great video!
In defense of Ellysium, something very clever the writers did was to point out that the protagonist (Matt Damon) grew up in the same socioeconomic conditions as his "non white" peers did. In my opinion, that saves it from being a purely white savior movie, because people seem to forget that marginalization is not only due to ethnic conditions, but also economic ones. That is intersectionality.
Allegory where the audience vicariously _feels_ toward the oppressed as real-world oppressors had toward their victims. Honestly, not sure if an allegory could properly invoke that sense of hatred without making the subjects non-human -- much of modern audiences understand all humans to be people, so asking us to see actors' human roles as something less is a stretch.
allegorie for apartheit ? more like a "even black people can be racist" sort of plot. remember that scene when Africans wave to the ship taking off in a "good riddance" way it's not a small detail, these aliens are treated like slaves and sub humans by humans, no matter black or white
I can’t believe people really gonna talk shit about district 9 cause the protagonist (who’s an ass like she said) is white. District 9 is one of the greatest movies I’ve ever seen. And the aliens serving as a metaphor for South Africans I say works In it’s favor not the other way like she was saying at the end. I’ll die on this hill.
Its going to be a real challenge to pull off a sequel. Christopher doesnt seem like the type to wage war against humanity. Probably just wants to take his people and gtfo. But thats not enough for a compelling story. The mystery and tragedy of the first is part of what makes it so compelling.
I'm not saying that it excuses everything done to the Prawns, but there's also dialogue about how Prawns think that derailing a passenger train is a great practical joke....
I don't think you really understand the metaphor. When colonists sailed to Africa, Africans DID trade valuable assets for trivial ones. They DID live in relative squalor, and they WERE comparatively more primitive, less organised and less educated. There's nothing inherently repulsive about these aliens, in a Star Wars universe they'd just be another species that everyone gets along with. What they are is different. Disorganised, impulsive, uneducated and easily manipulated. What you're trying to portray as some agenda driven bias is actually just artistic honesty. Also newsflash progressives, not all metaphors are allegories. Not every story is a morality tale. This is fiction for adults that draws loosely on real life themes, what you take away from it says more about your own depth of historical understanding than anyone else's.
To your point about “District 9”’s lead being an asshole throughout: one of the things that’s always stuck with me about the movie is that the “hero” is still calling the aliens “prawns” at the end of the movie. We’re told, in no uncertain terms, that “prawns” is a slur. If this had been a movie about actual apartheid, and the white hero was still calling the black hero *the n-word* at the end, people would’ve lost their minds. But, because these are bug-faced aliens, it’s fine.
About anaptanium from Avatar. Basically anaptanium is the super conductor (even in heat) and etc. Basically x2 - the civilisation is on resource crisis and without anaptanium Earth civilisation shall fall. There are a lot of lore there, just not in the film itself, in materials and such. Look it up, if u d'like
With the genocide in Gaza dominating the headlines of late, this movie sprang to mind because I find that my attitude toward it has changed. When I first saw it, I enjoyed the spectacle, but that was perhaps all I felt about it. Now I realize just how closer to the stark truth of apartheid it was, though it's of course a bowdlerized portrayal of the horrible truth :(. At first I thought the metaphor was a bit heavy-handed, a bit much. Surely, people couldn't be THAT cruel to each other, right? And it's impossible for an entire nation to be indifferent to horrors being perpetrated on their very doorstep, RIGHT?
This video is probably the best take on this particular subject I've seen so far. For the most part I'm optimistic about the direction Hollywood is moving in. By increasing the representation of film makers that are minorities, different perspectives can be introduced to the mainstream more naturally. Maybe the truly substantial arguments won't ever be put into blockbusters due to capitalism, but at least people will be aware of those ideas.
You're always so nice. 😊 I agree, capitalism will always influence hollywood to water ideas down for profit, and that's fine, I guess, but it's nice to see the barrier to entry for moviemaking lowered. So many more people can make good stuff outside the system these days
This movie is much more thought provoking and intelligent than I thought. Wonderful video! I love this movie to death. Would you like a sequel to this movie?
Thanks for the comment! I love it too. Sometimes I think I would love a sequel. Other times I think ending it with a whole new problem and possible war that no one knows how to address is a perfect lack of resolution 👌
The Morbid Zoo I would love a sequel. The movie ended in a bittersweet way, and on a bit of a cliffhanger. What would you want in a District 10 if it ever happened?
Ooh that's so hard to answer! More of a focus on the de facto ownership of District 10 by MNU and how its corporate interests effect the surrounding politics, maybe? I'd want Christopher Johnson to come back, but I don't know how they would do that effectively since he left the planet. :P you?
The Morbid Zoo Well I would definitely love for Christopher to come back. Maybe with an army or something. But I don’t know if Chris is the type of guy for revenge. Didn’t seem like it. I do love how Blomkamp tied political and social commentary into his first two films (I don’t know what the message behind Chappie was. All I know is that it sucked). I’d like him to explore the consequences whistleblowers have to face, since at the end Fundiswa (the guy who exposed MNU’s illegal actions) was the one in the orange jumpsuit and NOT Piet the crook behind MNU. I’d love to see how Wikkus has adjusted to his life as a Prawn. Maybe we could get a scene in the movie where Tania comes to realize that the Prawn giving her metal flowers is indeed Wikkus. There’s so many possibilities. Sadly I doubt it’ll ever happen. I’m still holding out hope though!
Yeah, I kind of think Blomkamp blew his chances for a sequel with his subsequent work. That's why, as I said, I think the awesomeness of District 9 might have been an accident, haha. I don't think Chris is a revenge guy either, but it's possible his opinion might be overridden by the prawns back home, which would be another interesting thing to explore. Totally agree about Fundiswa, every time I watch this movie I want to know more about him!
From a structural perspective it is very annoying to how Avatar functions around coming over to the Na'vi's side when everything about their presentation directs the audience to immediately sympathize and side with them. District 9's success in at the very least giving the audience a journey to siding with the "Prawns" was the cause of at least 100 hours of arguments I had with fellow college students who preferred Avatar at the time of both films' release.
I might just be dumb but I didn't really understand how racism affects the perpetrator, the negative effects the main character got was because he became a prawn and was subjected to xenophobia.
@@themorbidzoo another thing i thought of is that i feel like district 9 is more of a tale of human nature than an allegory, it shows how selfish everyone is, mnu confining the prawns, Christopher johnson only helping wikkus if it means he can escape earth, wikkus only helping johnson for his own benefit, i don't think there are any real saviors or good guys in this film and i think almost everyone is out for their own gain
@@stanley6440 I agree, all of that is what makes this movie great, but I think it all works *despite* the director, who transparently wanted to make an apartheid allegory, not because of him. I think this is further evidenced by his extremely heavyhanded subsequent movies. District 9 itself is wonderful, but only if we separate it from the intentions it was made with, imo
@@stanley6440 additionally, i think the things you described are what make this an incredible allegory for colonialism in general, but not apartheid in particular. Large social failings are caused/supported by small individual failures given too much power, like wikus' selfishness, dumbness, etc. I love this movie, but not in the way I'm "supposed to" I think
@@themorbidzoo totally Agree, I can't wait to see what the sequel will bring and whether it will flop or not, what do you personally think it will be about?
Honestly, my biggest issue with this video is, it seems like you are trying to say that you shouldn't make a story that is logically self consistent, if by being so, it makes it somehow "not work as an allegory of *insert random thing here*". Mostly with your Avatar example, everything in the movie makes complete logical sense based on how humans have acted to each other in the past. If we found an alien planet with intelligent life, with a primitive society, and they were sitting on top of a super valuable resource, based upon how we as humans have interacted with each other, OF COURSE we would treat them like shit and see them as lesser. And of course, there would be a subset of people who actually see their treatment as awful and want to help, so the movie having a set of characters wanting to help the aliens makes perfect sense. Whether Jake had been white or some other race, if he had the same personality, he would have still wanted to help the Navi. And the movie would have went in the exact same way it did. (of course stuff like the Navi being humanoid and them even being able to win in the first place, is what you can genuinely criticize. If the movie had been completely realistic, they would have lost) It feels kinda... absurd to want to change certain things about the movie all because you don't like how it works out as an allegory. If anything, the story of Avatar is TOO simple and should have had more added to it to give it more depth. But the main backbone of it makes complete logical sense for why people did what they did.
This is an interesting comment that I think is worth addressing. The problem I have with these plot tropes is not that they're logically inconsistent. My interest is not in their internal cause and effect, my interest is in the implied ideology behind what kind of stories Hollywood prefers to tell and how that might or might not affect popular understandings of how racism and colonialism function. For example, your issue with my thesis here is an argument from realism, right? "If this actually happened, this is how it would go." But these are movies. Someone made them up, they can only be called "realistic" in the sense that they broadly refer to our general familiarity with the violence of colonialism as an concept, as your point about the Navi being absolutely incapable of winning that fight illustrates. As with all film, the point of these stories is not to reflect reality, it's to be emotionally satisfying enough to make people spend money, a task which is much more easily accomplished with a "universally" relatable white savior figure than not. Avatar and Elysium are both perfectly functional narratives, there's nothing wrong with them plotwise, but it's in bad faith to both claim that these movies are true to history and human nature but also that it's inappropriate to question whether or not they work well as allegories, since allegories are transparently what they are. District 9 offers limited emotional satisfaction and a main character that to me embodies a much more honest depiction of the colonizing mindset. There are lots of Wikuses, but I don't know of a single Jake Sully. It's disturbing to me that emotional satisfaction is so often the metric by which we judge the truth, or "realism" of a story. Thanks for the watch and comment! I hope my tone is coming through-- everything I say above is intended with all good will. :)
This is a great exploration of the movie! District 9 doesn’t come across like typical feel good white savior movies, nor did it feel like an allegory intended to be a 1:1 sci-fi stand in (despite it being set in South Africa.) Also, I think there’s too much nuance in the characters (especially Wikus) for its qualities to be accidental IMO.
Wonderful work this was brilliant an awesome analysis,i agree with every single point you made! You really adressed the elephants in the room. Keep up the good work! Just subscribed 👍
I don’t believe we were ever supposed to root for Wikus. He was unlikeable from the start and even towards the end after his journey, he almost abandoned Christopher to the army men and tried to steal his ship.
Great videos, great analysis, deep insight and information. Upload more content! Would like to see your perspective about these movies and they themes: - The Host from Bong Joon Ho (maybe there is something in it with this covid invisible monster lurking the world right now) - Attack the Block from Joe Cornish - Colossal from Nacho Vigalondo - It follows from David Robert Mitchell - The Babadook from Jennifer Kent - Let the right one in from Tomas Alfredson I´m asking too much? XD You can do it!! Keep that good work! And thank you!
@@themorbidzoo you're welcome! I like to suggest you also the creation of an instagram account (for the igtv) and a discord channel, where you can build up a community for discussion, sharing articles, movies, etc. Your little monster has to grow! XD Have a nice day, best regards from argentina!
This movie still has problems obviusly but I knew there was a reason I enjoyed it more than Avatar and this video and some of the comments here explain it perfectly.
There is something about District 9 that feels very personal to me. But, for the name of me, I can't quite put my finger on. Anyway. Good video. Great insights to mull over. Keep being insightful in interesting ways.
Thanks for this video. I'm writing a story that involves some subtextual references to old colonialism. In some ways I've avoided White Saviour tropes, but this video's made me realise that, as with Blomkamp, half of those were by accident. I'd um'd and ah'd on getting a sensitivity reader, but the light this has shone on my ignorance has made it clear that that is absolutely essential.
I don't remember the prawns ever being portrayed as violent. Don't they trade all their tech and weapons for food in the beginning, when they obviously have superior military tech to humanity? (Being a casually spacefaring race) I like that their design is hideous. They immediately come across as mindless, evil, scary, ugly bug things, which puts the viewer in the same mindset that the people in the story have.
Perfect analaysis. Its why i really wasn't a hige fan of the the story that avatar told, but loved district 9. It kinda flips the white savior narrative on its head.
@themorbidzoo I've always had an interest in stuff like history philosophy and science and some of my teachers were cool and lend me books and stuff that the school didn't have or we would talk for hours about any subject especially my current issues and events teacher perfect time for that class since it was during the election run of 2020
“Prawns are nearly unrecognizable as humans: they are hive minded, impulsive, and apparently prone to violence” Did you… read that sentence before recording it? This is literally describing most humans.
I really need to watch District 9 again. I remember really enjoying it. It's definitely messy and viewed as part of Blompkamp's body of work it looks messier or more accidental for sure. I wish we could really know how much Elysium is Blompkamp's vision versus studio notes: The movie because it takes everything that was good in the messiness of District 9 and planes it down into one of the most generic and least enjoyable of the blockbuster movie whose message I generally agree with, capitalism and segregation bad. I haven't seen all the Oats stuff, but it does seem that left to his own devices he gets weird and messy again for better or worse.
Maybe partly but by no means wholly on accident. Looking back at it years later District 9 has become a cult film despite its awards and I think this video makes plain the reasons why. It's not political in the way of a bill or peer reviewed paper. But it's political in the way of a 4 minute punk song.
Another great commentary. The Nigerian warlord guy was, in my opinion, depicted in such an over the top racist way, that it killed any legitimate social commentary the film had. Speaking only for myself of course.
The other side of the coin is the magical negro trope, in which a black character, typically imbued with some sort of supernatural ability, helps a white character solve a problem. Steven King has written a few of these characters. And now that I think about it, I think he might be a latent racist.
I don’t think this was accidentally better than most “white savior” movies. For one, during the dismantling of apartheid, many of the white people went ip to microphones and apologized for their complicity. Conversely, many of the indigenous people would listen and attempt to forgive. It seemed fake to most Americans, but if you take that demonstration of contrition, it can be profound. Additionally, this movie borrows, almost literally, the phrase, “walk a mile in their shoes”. Whereas turning into an alien/human hybrid isn’t exactly wearing shoes, Wikus is forced to live their lives as he slowly turns into one of the “prawns”. This movie would be potentially unintelligible if the story didn’t have a white protagonist focus. Where Elysium had a frustratingly ignorant casting, I think the followup, “Chappie”, shows that “District 9” wasn’t accidental.
I don't understand if you're woke or sarcastic, I absolutely loved your Thing analysis, so I'm checking your other stuff. I just wanna say one thing here, I know Nigerians very well, I have many friends and dealt with so many others, and I had the chance to see how their mafia operates, and I can say pretty confidently that Blumkamp's depiction was rather spot on, with a few cinematic additions, because it's a movie after all, but the violence and complete disregard for human life are a mind numbing scary thing in real life, the reasons for which are unimportant in this context, so the criticism and racism accusations fall absolutely flat. I find it a shame how the new generations can't handle the truth, and even worst, find it controversial, which is half way being the opposite of truth.
District 9 is not a documentary, it’s fiction, and Blomkamp can arrange real-world truths any way he wants. My criticism is not based on some starry-eyed naivety of what gang violence is like lol, it’s about what one chooses to include in the two hours one has to tell a story, especially an allegory, as Blomkamp has repeatedly said District 9 is. To illustrate, I’m much more familiar with the nihilistic evil and cruelty of Mexican cartels than I’d like to be. Its annoying enough that Latin people in Elysium aren’t the agents of their own salvation in that movie, but if the only Latin presence at all in an obvious allegory for Mexican-American border immigration were the cartels, I’d wonder why, and consider it even more garbage than it already is.
@@themorbidzooexcept it isn't and most of the time throughout history, the oppressed were helped by people of the higher class and the Mexican American border situation can only be resolved by both sides working together. Elysium shows this as matt damion ends up as nothing but a weapon and tool for another charecter to help his people. Yes he had a hand in saving them, but it wasn't just him. I'm not white and find it absurd how quick some are to call a movie white savior simple because the main charecter is white especially when the movie doesn't focus on thier race or their whiteness which I admit some older movies do. District 9 is not a white savior movie nor is something like the last samurai or Lawrence of Arabia. Even avatar is only considered white savior because the main charcter is white which is ridiculous beyond belief as race isn't a factor in the movie. Yes he saves them and is a white man but so what? If you take out your obsession with race you find a movie about a human going native and falling in love with another culture and people and fighting to help them. Yes is it a bit wish fufiliment and abit power fantasy and basic, sure, but some of the best stories every written are.(I don't think avatar is a good movie but not because the main charecter is white) I can't take you seriously when you're unable to comprehend that this is not a white savior movie. 99% of people of all colours hate the main charecter and by the end only marginally like him more. No white person goes "Oh yeah go Wilkus be white and help them woohoo" or "see that's a white man right there." People project onto things, I've noticed this. A white character helping or saving an oppressed group of people doesn't automatically mean white savior, that's just pure foolishness.
@@themorbidzoo If someone actually thinks that a white character helping or saving someone automatically makes them a white savior, they need some serious help. I watched avatar as did most of my friends and family, and none of us even once thought about race or white savior and most people didn't and from what it seems it's only the political types did and then complained about it. I'm kurdish my people have been oppressed for hundred of years and still are in many places where up until relatively recently, couldn't speak our language or use out symbols or even call ourselves kurds, instead we were mountain turks and we've had genocide committed against us many times. my own mother and other family were kept in a camp during the anfal massacre and I sympathize a lot with native and oppressed people. I understand that these people only want to help, but this whole white savior thing is stupid. I've only ever come across a few movies that i could considered calling white savior films and intent is important, but avatar? district 9? the last samurai? these are just poorly made movies about colonalism where I wouldn't view race as a factor. They could have made all the humans brown and black and that wouldn't change anything at all. Also it's not just white people who have colonised places and oppressed people. I understand to a degree why some people dislike avatar and see it in the way they do but i feel as though they are held in a chokehold by the past and even though i find it honestly ridiculous, may be offended that a white person is doing the saving when they did the damage in the first place but that's also just boiling things down to race and that everyone person of a race is responsible for the actions of anyone in that race or even the majority of that race. I've been abused by turks quite a bit and experiences a lot of racism here in the UK, mostly by white people, after moving here as an immigrant from Iraq because of the American invasion, but never have I allowed myself to think in shades of black and white. One of my best friends is a turk and my current gf is white. i think you mean well, but i disagree a lot about this whole white savior thing. I could say more but i think I've already written enough. I wish you well in the future and hope you have a nice day.
@@ibrahimsimko8039 Sorry to here about your troubles. I'm on a similar page aswell. I do also agree that thinking a character is a white savior simply because they save or help a group of oppressed people is ridiculous, even when done like avatar or something more wish fulfilment and power fantasy like. I feel like when its a movie that takes place on Earth and about real native tribes and oppressed people, its a bit more risky and more questionable tbh but something like avatar? I don't view it as white savior at all and no I'm not white though I am pale-skinned. Also last samurai? Do some people actually think it's white savior? Have they watched it?
6:10 Oh, it gets even worse in the sequel where it's never brought up again! Heheheheh..... hahahahaha...... HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I don't think it was by accident. District 9 has always felt, to me, like it was very intentional in what it was portraying (as far as messaging goes anyway). I've always enjoyed Wikus being a piece of shit and non traditional protagonist because that's exactly what, I think, Blomkamp wanted to portray. At least it would make sense anyway since white people created apartheid and this is an allegory for that. Even as a young teen watching it for the first time I rooted for the Prawns and hated the humans and by the end of the movie still hated Wikus.
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Dear liberal,
If you claim prawns are ugly, then why do I want to smooch one?
Monsterfucker University
I am pinning this comment.
Great university
Checkmate, atheists
Nice to see a fellow alumni representing our illustrious alma mater.
~Monstris Fornicari Cupimus!!~
I graduated
I love that the Prawns are hideous. Not only is it just more realistic for actual aliens imo, but it means the audience does feel an initial revulsion, which puts the audience in the same position as the people living in that world. Then the movie turns the camera around and shows us the kind of horrors humanity has unleashed upon these other people, just because they're different and have cool shit. The audience has to grapple with their initial feelings, and so they gain a deeper look at how racists become racist, because they can empathize with it now. And yeah, the main character being such a cock is what makes the film work. He's realistic, not the best at anything, nor the most righteous. He's a guy trying to survive above all, and just happens to shift his own ideals and perspective along the way. Most people don't set out to change their own beliefs, the world does that for them.
Also the cinematography is just really cool, I love the almost found footage style of it without it actually being found footage; just very unique.
The most unappealing part about the Prawns to me, even more than their design, is the noises they make. It puts my teeth on edge
@@kidkangaroo5213 YES THIS from the speech to many sound fx involving their movements. Loved it all
Exactly. I think the idea is to soften the ethical blow of their mistreatment. To get us to agree with their treatment initially and then have to confront the reality of the situation.
Honestly, I felt betrayed by myself the first time I watched this film. It's why I love it now because it got me to really explore what I'd actually think and believe in that sort of a situation.
I don't think they're hideous, I think they're just... alien, for the lack of a better word.
If I was a biologist maybe I could make some interesting comments about their biomechanics or metabolism, but I'm not remotely qualified to try doing that. So I'll just leave you with a Futurama reference: just take a look at their version of "Miss Universe", it may look like an absolutely ridiculous joke, but I think what's ridiculous is that we should try to apply our human standards of appearance to an alien species.
But IDK, maybe I'm just weird, I think lobsters are absolutely cute and you couldn't convince me they're delicious and I should try eating one anymore than you could convince me to eat a dog or a cat. And if you don't think so, just watch a few videos of Leon and try to tell me he's not a cute lobster.
So you're saying...the real monsters are the humans we met along the way?
I didn't think they were inherently violent. I thought the point the movie was trying to make was that they were separated from their home and culture, and were reduced to a more primitive existence. I thought the implication was that they were exceedingly intelligent and elegant, given their tech
...and it's not clear how much time they spent trapped in the spaceship before arriving
They were starving. They had no access to medicine. They were living stranded in the dark for 3 months. They seeked refuge from a terrible fate, only to succumb to an arguably worse one.
The very fact that the prawns' didn't utilise their advanced weaponry and forcefully obtain resources suggests they are not violent. The prawns instead, trade their advanced weaponry for cat food instead of forcefully taking it.
No… they were black people.
@@blamblastersidgeiii9360 isn’t also possible that it could be a disease? Like they weren’t always like this
I like how vikkis is not ever painted to be a hero, and ends up in a realistic situation after helping the Prawns: outcast due to the circumstances of his condition and unable to ever return to his family. It’s depressing but also the most likely outcome from a logical standpoint.
I adore District 9. Still one of my favorite movies of all time.
Same! Thanks for the watch :)
@@themorbidzooYour videos are stupidly pretentious but really mediocre, because they are full of absurd arguments.
@@AntonioMartinez-uc9hv Flinging around insults is not criticism. Do you have anything of substance to say or do you just get off on being an edgelord?
@@AntonioMartinez-uc9hv I agree
@@AntonioMartinez-uc9hvand yet you keep commenting and boosting this video's popularity. Without people like you the algorithm wouldn't have recommended this video to me and I would've never discovered this channel, so thank you for all your hard work 😊
I also want to point out, Wikus was never a hero not just because he never really got what he wanted but also in that he isn't some saviour who showed up and solved everyones problems. Chris was already going to escape and Wikus had only messed it up. He made a mess in his attempt to right his mistake (out of selfishness, mind you, not because it was wrong) and he (from what we seen) didn't get a prize for doing so. He is far from a hero, and that is consistent throught the movie.
Very true. He acts almost purely out of selfishness, gets his comeuppance, and even when he has a genuine change of heart, still has to contend with the consequences of his actions
He’s unqualified and stumbled into his life through incompetence and a family hook up. Forget all this white savior talking that shit was so annoying. Get off your soapbox and enjoy a movie for being a movie. Seems like a way we could treat an outsider we feared.
white savior. colonialism. original allegory. award movies. outgrown imaginary. write on my brain.
"Don't breathe on me. Cover your mouth."
HOLD UP WAIT A MINUTE
😂 holy shit the elysians were the real heroes
Studys show: Germaphobes dident exist prior to 2020
I love how this movie is such a middle-finger to the white savior trope, and also just an overall challenge to the romanticized concept of being an ally to marginalized groups. Wikus only shows sympathy for prawns when he’s stripped of his privilege, and the movie shows that when he finally does decide to help the prawns, it’s not pretty. There’s no reward. He simply chose to do the right thing and that’s the end of it.
No one is going to congratulate you for waking up and resisting the system you’ve benefitted from, cuz the point of being an ally is that it ISNT ABOUT YOU, it’s about the people that are being oppressed. I love that they had the balls to show such a brutally honest portrayal of his sacrifice, because a lot of people have yet to really grapple with that reality when they try and be allies.
💯💯💯
@@themorbidzooIn reality, for both of them, ignorance is leading them to say stupid things.
@@themorbidzooignorance is leading you to say stupid things
@@themorbidzoo"White Man Bad"- This video
Everything we know about the aliens comes from MNU corporate press releases. Right down to the name "prawn." And we know at least some of it it made-up bullshit purely because we see Wikus parrot it when it's obviously untrue. I think having them be so alien and other is a deliberate choice, rather than Avatar's lazy 'stuffed animal from space' approach. It primes the viewer to see the aliens in a certain way so that when those assumptions are challenged, it's hopefully more effective and makes you stop and consider *all* of what you'd just been taking as a given. Interestingly to this day I've seen viewers of this movie who just accept certain elements as a given, like the "hive mind" thing.
When you think about it, when you try to put yourself in the mindset of a white person in the days of slavery who had no contact with black people, they received their knowledge in much the same way, through those with vested interests...
Great point.
While I haven't seen District 9 in a while, as far as I can remember, everything negative we hear about prawns in the movie was from the perspective of the documentary. Ie. The oppressor's perspective. Through Wikus's eyes, we come to learn that prawns are not just mindless savages at all through his relationship with Christopher and his child. Wikus becoming an alien is a metaphor for him beginning to empathize and identify with the "Prawns". That's my interpretation.
This is legit one of the best video essays that I’ve watched on RUclips. I love that you compare it to the common trope of sf genre and further showcases district 9 as an example of satire done right. When I first saw it in high school I thought it was just a gross movie, but it starts to resonates with me as I grew up. I hope to see more of your analysis of underrated movies!!
Thank you so much!!
What’s really cool is that district 9 is apparently getting a sequel now as announced by the director.
God I hope it doesn't get Elysiumed.
Two years later and still no sign of it that I know of. Is it in development hell?
@@JohnMoseley wouldn’t surprise me
@@htspencer9084what do you mean?
They've been saying this for over a decade now.
Who knew me wanting to revisit Neil Blomkamp's films after half a decade would lead me to your channel. I've been binging your content and it's absolutely SMASHING! Hidden gem of RUclips.
Ha, thanks!!
The detail I love is how they say in the movie that the prawn have a collective conscious/highly hierarchical creatures that lack individuality. But like, how do they then raise children, trade things for cat food and have any instintic for self preservation and fashion.
Also, the whole thing that they're unitelligent to use their tech reminds me how I've always heard that indigenous people were lazy as slaves. Like, what? Obviously they do not want to collaborate to their own oppresion and weaponized incompetence is great for buying time.
This is a great analysis! I watched this film when I was 13 (District 9 was rated 14+ in Canada) and it had a big impact on me. I think the biggest eye-opener was the scene where Koobus cruelly murders Christopher's helpless friend. You suddenly realise: the prawns are *people.* And if we can feel empathy for an alien bug, why don't we show it when this kind of thing happens to real people *all the time.*
The reason Wikus is as bad of a person he is was to show the audience that the someone who was complicit/aiding in the perpetration of the prawns becoming one. It was his reaction to becoming a part of the victimized group that sold the movie. If it was a person who was already sympathetic to the prawns then the film would’ve fallen flat due to them potentially being psyched to become an alien, similar to how Jake Sully was in Avatar. The fact that Wikus is a part of the antagonist system illustrates more how greedy MNU is to get what they want. They don’t take some random Johnny off the street who’s turning into a prawn, they take one of their employees and force him to all the tests/torture they put him through despite him being one of them at the start of the film
Never thought of that. Wikus is the exact opposite of Jake Sully. Nice catch.
I'm still so confused. How do you only have 160 subscribers when your critiques are comfortably among the best on RUclips. This is so brilliant. Didn't even notice the trope myself because I'm not really one to go look for racial problems in entertainment, but what you say is so true. They do always have a white saviour to innocent natives. I'm actually from South Africa and they never do tackle the nastiness of it all. It's never cut and dry with a smooth happy ending.
The algorithm gods haven't seen fit to smile upon me yet, I guess. :) Thanks so much for the kind words, and the perspective! I'm glad an actual South African doesn't think I'm completely off base
Not at all, I'm always thrilled when anyone takes a sincere interest in what I'm doing, haha. I'd do it anyway, but getting honest and encouraging feedback is always great. And I'm glad I sparked anywhere near enough interest for you to watch it twice! That's a major compliment for me 👍
@@themorbidzoo isn't it too much effort though? Or am I just that lazy? 😅
@@themorbidzoo you remind me of spookiest ghost, critical drinker and anomaly inc. You're from their cloth
It's definitely work, but it's fun work!
I think the deal with unobtanium was that they needed it for space travel. Which is silly when you think about it because that would mean they put themselves in a vicious cycle.
Them putting themselves in a vicious circle is one of the few smart parts.
Honestly growing up in south Africa it's hard to see district 9 as a white saviour movie quite the opposite I hated wickus from the start and now that he has to suffer everything must change really is a great a allegory about apartheid
Thanks for the watch! Do you know offhand how this movie was generally received in SA? I've always been interested in that.
(puts dork glasses on)
Didn't they say in Avatar that unobtanium is a room-temperature superconductor?
The narrative arc of Elysium collapsed for me where it's revealed that the O'Neill cylinder where the rich folk live has resources to serve the population of the entire planet to the same standard. It leaves you with a good guys/bad guys storyline that's just that, completely insulated from the complexities of the human condition. No hard choices, no grey areas, no truly difficult problems to address. Just upload the right software and push the right button. Great SFX though.
X-Men, despite having a whole lot of logical issues with its metaphor, at least does make the minority/oppressed class "cool" and even aspirational to the audience. Not many have watched District 9 and thought it would be awesome to be a prawn (like this video says very well) but a whole lot of people have pretended to be Wolverine or Storm or even Nightcrawler on a playground.
I watched this movie when it came out and I was 15 too. None of this dawned on me until last night when I rewatched it. It really seemed odd that this would happen in SA and yet out of the 3 major role players in the film (the white capitalist/army, the “savage” Kenyans, and the prawns) there were no black South Africans actually mentioned significantly in the film. Happy to see that I’m not alone and crazy in thinking this, because at 15 it definitely didn’t dawn on me that this was a white savior film but it did last night.
Elysium also came to mind during the rewatch, had no idea this was by the same guy! Great job on this, I watched other videos looking for some sort of similarity to my take away but they all had surface level, retellings of the story instead of real analyses of the movie.
I will say that although I enjoyed this far more than I did when I was 15, certain parts are definitely problematic. Like the entire depiction of black people. But still better than Avatar lol
Ah thanks so much! Yah, the thing I think is eternally good about District 9 is that its acknowledgement of cowardice and mediocrity in white people, which is so absent in other movies, allows you to read it with some self-reflection as social standards change. It's of its time for sure, but still approaches the issue with some complication. Its purposefully aesthetic ugliness goes far in that, I think.
Is there a parallel between Vicus the protagonist, and what Hanna Arengt is arguing, in her book where she makes the statement “the banality of evil” (the motivation of ordinary people to commit horror in order to “fit in”, and progress their status).
Nice! YES. Perfect illustration of the banality of evil
The relationship I have with District 9 and Niel Blomkamp is complicated. I love that District 9 was shot locally and Sharlto Copley is great in it. Just seeing South Africans in film is so cool and seeing our cities is also cool.
The thing that complicates it for me is the real life place, District 6. District 6 was a residential area in Cape Town that was home to a lot of non-white people during apartheid, until it wasn't. The government forcibly relocated every non-white to the Cape Flats. Like... That's kinda the plot of the movie. The government wants to remove a forcibly relocated population from an inner city residential area. It's not even secret or subtle. The closest analogue for this would be forcibly displaced Indians and Malaysians trying to find a way back home.
Most of those stories did not end happily.
I feel like it's really difficult to accurately describe how different this movie feels if you're South African. It is both a point of national pride, and also like, a lot uncomfortable.
I'm so lucky to have found your channel!
Thank you!
I feel like prawns are an oppressed people, yes but I don't think it's fair to compare them to natives. I think district 9 is an amazing movie because of its uniqueness. i don't think wikkus is a white savior i think that he is an annoying protagonist throw into a scenario where he is forced to help the prawns but is only doing it for his own benefit, i don't think he is actively trying to save them i think he is just trying to save himself.
I agree, I think that's what ultimately saves this movie. It's just hard to tell how purposeful the decisions that subvert the tropes are (for me, at least). Thanks for the watch :)
@@themorbidzoo yeah definitely! and no problem
Fantastic video. I love District 9, it's one of my favorite movies, but I could never place why I liked it even though I generally dislike the trope of using superpowered/dangerous characters as stand ins for marginalized groups (biggest example being X-Men). You did a great job in explaining why it works in this movie and why it stands out compared to similar stories.
Thank you!! Yes, for me it's kind of become a signal of someone on the creative team not really knowing about marginalization or being too nervous to address it head-on, basically "see, we love the minorities, we think they have superpowers!" It works as a plot device, but it's skirting the issue. Thanks for the watch!
Definitely one of my favorite movies. Tho as I learned it can be really triggering to some folks who hold very personal views on immigration policies. Its also disappointing that the director hasn't released anything else on the same level from what I've seen so far.
I really did have that moment when I watched District 9 years ago when I got halfway into the movie and realized that probably everything that was said about the aliens in the opening sequence was either incorrect or deliberately fabricated. It definitely isn't perfect but I think it still has its value
The best realistic analysis about this kind of movie
And a very mature approach to slavery and colonialism in the video 👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼
Fantastic work! Well spoken, researched, and edited. I'm happy that Hi-Def Ninja made me aware of your channel. Subscribed!
- Ken
Discovered this channel a few months back and have been going through a lot of the videos. These critiques are all so good!!
I remember the first time I watched the movie, I was around 14 year old and I dident speak alot of english. Despite of that, I felt alot of sympathy for the aliens who accidentally landed on earth, tried to get help so they could leave, got oppressed and treated like bugs. I rooted for the sympathetic humans who tried to help the aliens. I didn't know of the real life things that inspired some of the stuff in the movie.
I liked the movie then, but the messages and stuff you have pointed out really makes the movie go down in likability for me.
Glad I finished watching before commenting cause I was about to summarize exactly what you said in the second half of the video in defense of the movie
Thanks for watching!
Subbed! This channel is much less self-assured, masturbatory, and garrulous than most video essay channels. Good work.
Thanks!!!
Damm, I really want to like both District 9 and Avatar but you video essayist keep making that hard XD
Jesus christ, for someone who claims not to be racist you sure do mention the race of the lead protaganist a lot.
This was the best take on District 9 I’ve seen. Subbed
A long thaaaaaaaaaaaank you for finally putting it into words. Good video, good explanation.
An even longer thaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaank you for the watch! And the comment!
@@themorbidzoo No problem!
A note unmentioned on Wikus' writing: van de Merwe is not just a common Afrikaans surname, it is a shorthand for a fool, and the name used in the place of Irishman in schoolyard jokes across this end of Africa where Irish is just a word.
My sister and I were just barely underage to see Elysium when it came out, so we bought tickets for a different movie and snuck into it. Halfway through we left and went to watch the actual movie we paid money for. God Elysium sucked. Fucking great video!
Hahaha well don't worry, it doesn't get any better by the end. Thanks for watching!!
elysium was amazing what do you mean
In defense of Ellysium, something very clever the writers did was to point out that the protagonist (Matt Damon) grew up in the same socioeconomic conditions as his "non white" peers did. In my opinion, that saves it from being a purely white savior movie, because people seem to forget that marginalization is not only due to ethnic conditions, but also economic ones. That is intersectionality.
Allegory where the audience vicariously _feels_ toward the oppressed as real-world oppressors had toward their victims. Honestly, not sure if an allegory could properly invoke that sense of hatred without making the subjects non-human -- much of modern audiences understand all humans to be people, so asking us to see actors' human roles as something less is a stretch.
As a fellow Oklahoman I can vouch for that lol
allegorie for apartheit ? more like a "even black people can be racist" sort of plot. remember that scene when Africans wave to the ship taking off in a "good riddance" way
it's not a small detail, these aliens are treated like slaves and sub humans by humans, no matter black or white
I can’t believe people really gonna talk shit about district 9 cause the protagonist (who’s an ass like she said) is white. District 9 is one of the greatest movies I’ve ever seen. And the aliens serving as a metaphor for South Africans I say works In it’s favor not the other way like she was saying at the end. I’ll die on this hill.
I mean true this movie fucking slaps. Thanks for the watch :)
Its going to be a real challenge to pull off a sequel. Christopher doesnt seem like the type to wage war against humanity. Probably just wants to take his people and gtfo. But thats not enough for a compelling story. The mystery and tragedy of the first is part of what makes it so compelling.
I'm not saying that it excuses everything done to the Prawns, but there's also dialogue about how Prawns think that derailing a passenger train is a great practical joke....
I don't think you really understand the metaphor. When colonists sailed to Africa, Africans DID trade valuable assets for trivial ones. They DID live in relative squalor, and they WERE comparatively more primitive, less organised and less educated.
There's nothing inherently repulsive about these aliens, in a Star Wars universe they'd just be another species that everyone gets along with. What they are is different. Disorganised, impulsive, uneducated and easily manipulated. What you're trying to portray as some agenda driven bias is actually just artistic honesty.
Also newsflash progressives, not all metaphors are allegories. Not every story is a morality tale. This is fiction for adults that draws loosely on real life themes, what you take away from it says more about your own depth of historical understanding than anyone else's.
To your point about “District 9”’s lead being an asshole throughout: one of the things that’s always stuck with me about the movie is that the “hero” is still calling the aliens “prawns” at the end of the movie. We’re told, in no uncertain terms, that “prawns” is a slur. If this had been a movie about actual apartheid, and the white hero was still calling the black hero *the n-word* at the end, people would’ve lost their minds. But, because these are bug-faced aliens, it’s fine.
About anaptanium from Avatar.
Basically anaptanium is the super conductor (even in heat) and etc.
Basically x2 - the civilisation is on resource crisis and without anaptanium Earth civilisation shall fall.
There are a lot of lore there, just not in the film itself, in materials and such. Look it up, if u d'like
Great video about a good movie, on a great channel! Just found your channel and i look forward to more!
Interesting analysis. I never saw it that way but yeh you make some good points on its nuances in comparison to other films out there.
District 9 is about racism and transformation of the hero means a lot.
On another note, could you do a vid about Django Unchained (the new one obviously)
Interesting, I’ll consider it!
Hi! What is the Spanish Conquistador movie you show a few clips from??
With the genocide in Gaza dominating the headlines of late, this movie sprang to mind because I find that my attitude toward it has changed. When I first saw it, I enjoyed the spectacle, but that was perhaps all I felt about it. Now I realize just how closer to the stark truth of apartheid it was, though it's of course a bowdlerized portrayal of the horrible truth :(. At first I thought the metaphor was a bit heavy-handed, a bit much. Surely, people couldn't be THAT cruel to each other, right? And it's impossible for an entire nation to be indifferent to horrors being perpetrated on their very doorstep, RIGHT?
This is an awesome analysis! Thank you!! I loved this
Thanks so much!
Never thought that deeply in this. Wow…
This video is probably the best take on this particular subject I've seen so far. For the most part I'm optimistic about the direction Hollywood is moving in. By increasing the representation of film makers that are minorities, different perspectives can be introduced to the mainstream more naturally. Maybe the truly substantial arguments won't ever be put into blockbusters due to capitalism, but at least people will be aware of those ideas.
You're always so nice. 😊 I agree, capitalism will always influence hollywood to water ideas down for profit, and that's fine, I guess, but it's nice to see the barrier to entry for moviemaking lowered. So many more people can make good stuff outside the system these days
This movie is much more thought provoking and intelligent than I thought. Wonderful video! I love this movie to death. Would you like a sequel to this movie?
Thanks for the comment! I love it too. Sometimes I think I would love a sequel. Other times I think ending it with a whole new problem and possible war that no one knows how to address is a perfect lack of resolution 👌
The Morbid Zoo I would love a sequel. The movie ended in a bittersweet way, and on a bit of a cliffhanger. What would you want in a District 10 if it ever happened?
Ooh that's so hard to answer! More of a focus on the de facto ownership of District 10 by MNU and how its corporate interests effect the surrounding politics, maybe? I'd want Christopher Johnson to come back, but I don't know how they would do that effectively since he left the planet. :P you?
The Morbid Zoo Well I would definitely love for Christopher to come back. Maybe with an army or something. But I don’t know if Chris is the type of guy for revenge. Didn’t seem like it. I do love how Blomkamp tied political and social commentary into his first two films (I don’t know what the message behind Chappie was. All I know is that it sucked). I’d like him to explore the consequences whistleblowers have to face, since at the end Fundiswa (the guy who exposed MNU’s illegal actions) was the one in the orange jumpsuit and NOT Piet the crook behind MNU. I’d love to see how Wikkus has adjusted to his life as a Prawn. Maybe we could get a scene in the movie where Tania comes to realize that the Prawn giving her metal flowers is indeed Wikkus. There’s so many possibilities. Sadly I doubt it’ll ever happen. I’m still holding out hope though!
Yeah, I kind of think Blomkamp blew his chances for a sequel with his subsequent work. That's why, as I said, I think the awesomeness of District 9 might have been an accident, haha. I don't think Chris is a revenge guy either, but it's possible his opinion might be overridden by the prawns back home, which would be another interesting thing to explore. Totally agree about Fundiswa, every time I watch this movie I want to know more about him!
From a structural perspective it is very annoying to how Avatar functions around coming over to the Na'vi's side when everything about their presentation directs the audience to immediately sympathize and side with them. District 9's success in at the very least giving the audience a journey to siding with the "Prawns" was the cause of at least 100 hours of arguments I had with fellow college students who preferred Avatar at the time of both films' release.
I didn't see the aliens as mindless monsters
I might just be dumb but I didn't really understand how racism affects the perpetrator, the negative effects the main character got was because he became a prawn and was subjected to xenophobia.
interesting video, i feel like i disagree with some of your points but I see where you're coming from on them.
Thanks for the watch! Complete agreement with my points not necessary :)
@@themorbidzoo another thing i thought of is that i feel like district 9 is more of a tale of human nature than an allegory, it shows how selfish everyone is, mnu confining the prawns, Christopher johnson only helping wikkus if it means he can escape earth, wikkus only helping johnson for his own benefit, i don't think there are any real saviors or good guys in this film and i think almost everyone is out for their own gain
@@stanley6440 I agree, all of that is what makes this movie great, but I think it all works *despite* the director, who transparently wanted to make an apartheid allegory, not because of him. I think this is further evidenced by his extremely heavyhanded subsequent movies. District 9 itself is wonderful, but only if we separate it from the intentions it was made with, imo
@@stanley6440 additionally, i think the things you described are what make this an incredible allegory for colonialism in general, but not apartheid in particular. Large social failings are caused/supported by small individual failures given too much power, like wikus' selfishness, dumbness, etc. I love this movie, but not in the way I'm "supposed to" I think
@@themorbidzoo totally Agree, I can't wait to see what the sequel will bring and whether it will flop or not, what do you personally think it will be about?
What an underrated channel
I mean, it's clearly biased and filled with political agenda but alright. Pawn
Honestly, my biggest issue with this video is, it seems like you are trying to say that you shouldn't make a story that is logically self consistent, if by being so, it makes it somehow "not work as an allegory of *insert random thing here*". Mostly with your Avatar example, everything in the movie makes complete logical sense based on how humans have acted to each other in the past.
If we found an alien planet with intelligent life, with a primitive society, and they were sitting on top of a super valuable resource, based upon how we as humans have interacted with each other, OF COURSE we would treat them like shit and see them as lesser. And of course, there would be a subset of people who actually see their treatment as awful and want to help, so the movie having a set of characters wanting to help the aliens makes perfect sense. Whether Jake had been white or some other race, if he had the same personality, he would have still wanted to help the Navi. And the movie would have went in the exact same way it did.
(of course stuff like the Navi being humanoid and them even being able to win in the first place, is what you can genuinely criticize. If the movie had been completely realistic, they would have lost)
It feels kinda... absurd to want to change certain things about the movie all because you don't like how it works out as an allegory. If anything, the story of Avatar is TOO simple and should have had more added to it to give it more depth. But the main backbone of it makes complete logical sense for why people did what they did.
This is an interesting comment that I think is worth addressing. The problem I have with these plot tropes is not that they're logically inconsistent. My interest is not in their internal cause and effect, my interest is in the implied ideology behind what kind of stories Hollywood prefers to tell and how that might or might not affect popular understandings of how racism and colonialism function.
For example, your issue with my thesis here is an argument from realism, right? "If this actually happened, this is how it would go." But these are movies. Someone made them up, they can only be called "realistic" in the sense that they broadly refer to our general familiarity with the violence of colonialism as an concept, as your point about the Navi being absolutely incapable of winning that fight illustrates. As with all film, the point of these stories is not to reflect reality, it's to be emotionally satisfying enough to make people spend money, a task which is much more easily accomplished with a "universally" relatable white savior figure than not. Avatar and Elysium are both perfectly functional narratives, there's nothing wrong with them plotwise, but it's in bad faith to both claim that these movies are true to history and human nature but also that it's inappropriate to question whether or not they work well as allegories, since allegories are transparently what they are. District 9 offers limited emotional satisfaction and a main character that to me embodies a much more honest depiction of the colonizing mindset. There are lots of Wikuses, but I don't know of a single Jake Sully. It's disturbing to me that emotional satisfaction is so often the metric by which we judge the truth, or "realism" of a story.
Thanks for the watch and comment! I hope my tone is coming through-- everything I say above is intended with all good will. :)
Lawrence Of Arabia isn’t a white savior story. It is an adaptation of a true story.
This is a great exploration of the movie! District 9 doesn’t come across like typical feel good white savior movies, nor did it feel like an allegory intended to be a 1:1 sci-fi stand in (despite it being set in South Africa.) Also, I think there’s too much nuance in the characters (especially Wikus) for its qualities to be accidental IMO.
You're my favorite RUclipsr.
Wonderful work this was brilliant an awesome analysis,i agree with every single point you made! You really adressed the elephants in the room. Keep up the good work!
Just subscribed 👍
The elefant in the room. White people sucks....
I don’t believe we were ever supposed to root for Wikus. He was unlikeable from the start and even towards the end after his journey, he almost abandoned Christopher to the army men and tried to steal his ship.
Great videos, great analysis, deep insight and information. Upload more content! Would like to see your perspective about these movies and they themes:
- The Host from Bong Joon Ho (maybe there is something in it with this covid invisible monster lurking the world right now)
- Attack the Block from Joe Cornish
- Colossal from Nacho Vigalondo
- It follows from David Robert Mitchell
- The Babadook from Jennifer Kent
- Let the right one in from Tomas Alfredson
I´m asking too much? XD You can do it!! Keep that good work!
And thank you!
Thank you so much! I've got a running list of potential topics. Those are all great ones, thanks for the suggestions! :)
@@themorbidzoo you're welcome! I like to suggest you also the creation of an instagram account (for the igtv) and a discord channel, where you can build up a community for discussion, sharing articles, movies, etc. Your little monster has to grow! XD Have a nice day, best regards from argentina!
Wonderful ideas, if I can just not be lazy about it! We'll see if I can come up with the energy haha. Saludos desde los EEUU!
This movie still has problems obviusly but I knew there was a reason I enjoyed it more than Avatar and this video and some of the comments here explain it perfectly.
There is something about District 9 that feels very personal to me. But, for the name of me, I can't quite put my finger on.
Anyway. Good video. Great insights to mull over. Keep being insightful in interesting ways.
😂😂😅
Thanks so much! I expect you to reclaim the honor of the van der Merwe name, it's on you now.
Thanks for this video.
I'm writing a story that involves some subtextual references to old colonialism.
In some ways I've avoided White Saviour tropes, but this video's made me realise that, as with Blomkamp, half of those were by accident.
I'd um'd and ah'd on getting a sensitivity reader, but the light this has shone on my ignorance has made it clear that that is absolutely essential.
I don't remember the prawns ever being portrayed as violent. Don't they trade all their tech and weapons for food in the beginning, when they obviously have superior military tech to humanity? (Being a casually spacefaring race)
I like that their design is hideous. They immediately come across as mindless, evil, scary, ugly bug things, which puts the viewer in the same mindset that the people in the story have.
Perfect analaysis. Its why i really wasn't a hige fan of the the story that avatar told, but loved district 9. It kinda flips the white savior narrative on its head.
I too suffered from the oklahoma education system as well lol
Thoughts and prayers for your recovery 😔🙏🏼
@themorbidzoo I've always had an interest in stuff like history philosophy and science and some of my teachers were cool and lend me books and stuff that the school didn't have or we would talk for hours about any subject especially my current issues and events teacher perfect time for that class since it was during the election run of 2020
“Prawns are nearly unrecognizable as humans: they are hive minded, impulsive, and apparently prone to violence”
Did you… read that sentence before recording it? This is literally describing most humans.
guys please know that it is pronounced A-part-Tate
I really need to watch District 9 again. I remember really enjoying it. It's definitely messy and viewed as part of Blompkamp's body of work it looks messier or more accidental for sure. I wish we could really know how much Elysium is Blompkamp's vision versus studio notes: The movie because it takes everything that was good in the messiness of District 9 and planes it down into one of the most generic and least enjoyable of the blockbuster movie whose message I generally agree with, capitalism and segregation bad. I haven't seen all the Oats stuff, but it does seem that left to his own devices he gets weird and messy again for better or worse.
Really well done analysis
Maybe partly but by no means wholly on accident. Looking back at it years later District 9 has become a cult film despite its awards and I think this video makes plain the reasons why.
It's not political in the way of a bill or peer reviewed paper.
But it's political in the way of a 4 minute punk song.
That’s the best analogy I’ve ever heard lol
By accident
I'll sub for the work min this. good job !
Its better as a side by side with Alien Nation, where the Newcomers were physically and mentally superior to humanity.
Jack Nicholson said it best you can't handle the truth
I'm sorry but blomkamp is a personal inspiration
Another great commentary. The Nigerian warlord guy was, in my opinion, depicted in such an over the top racist way, that it killed any legitimate social commentary the film had. Speaking only for myself of course.
District 9 was his best movie, not much after that .
The other side of the coin is the magical negro trope, in which a black character, typically imbued with some sort of supernatural ability, helps a white character solve a problem. Steven King has written a few of these characters. And now that I think about it, I think he might be a latent racist.
District 9 was way better than Avatar
I don’t think this was accidentally better than most “white savior” movies. For one, during the dismantling of apartheid, many of the white people went ip to microphones and apologized for their complicity. Conversely, many of the indigenous people would listen and attempt to forgive. It seemed fake to most Americans, but if you take that demonstration of contrition, it can be profound.
Additionally, this movie borrows, almost literally, the phrase, “walk a mile in their shoes”. Whereas turning into an alien/human hybrid isn’t exactly wearing shoes, Wikus is forced to live their lives as he slowly turns into one of the “prawns”.
This movie would be potentially unintelligible if the story didn’t have a white protagonist focus. Where Elysium had a frustratingly ignorant casting, I think the followup, “Chappie”, shows that “District 9” wasn’t accidental.
I couldn’t make it through this video
Yeah, you lot are notoriously sensitive
@@ShirleyTimplenah it's just a flawed video
I don't understand if you're woke or sarcastic, I absolutely loved your Thing analysis, so I'm checking your other stuff. I just wanna say one thing here, I know Nigerians very well, I have many friends and dealt with so many others, and I had the chance to see how their mafia operates, and I can say pretty confidently that Blumkamp's depiction was rather spot on, with a few cinematic additions, because it's a movie after all, but the violence and complete disregard for human life are a mind numbing scary thing in real life, the reasons for which are unimportant in this context, so the criticism and racism accusations fall absolutely flat. I find it a shame how the new generations can't handle the truth, and even worst, find it controversial, which is half way being the opposite of truth.
District 9 is not a documentary, it’s fiction, and Blomkamp can arrange real-world truths any way he wants. My criticism is not based on some starry-eyed naivety of what gang violence is like lol, it’s about what one chooses to include in the two hours one has to tell a story, especially an allegory, as Blomkamp has repeatedly said District 9 is. To illustrate, I’m much more familiar with the nihilistic evil and cruelty of Mexican cartels than I’d like to be. Its annoying enough that Latin people in Elysium aren’t the agents of their own salvation in that movie, but if the only Latin presence at all in an obvious allegory for Mexican-American border immigration were the cartels, I’d wonder why, and consider it even more garbage than it already is.
@@themorbidzooexcept it isn't and most of the time throughout history, the oppressed were helped by people of the higher class and the Mexican American border situation can only be resolved by both sides working together. Elysium shows this as matt damion ends up as nothing but a weapon and tool for another charecter to help his people. Yes he had a hand in saving them, but it wasn't just him. I'm not white and find it absurd how quick some are to call a movie white savior simple because the main charecter is white especially when the movie doesn't focus on thier race or their whiteness which I admit some older movies do. District 9 is not a white savior movie nor is something like the last samurai or Lawrence of Arabia. Even avatar is only considered white savior because the main charcter is white which is ridiculous beyond belief as race isn't a factor in the movie. Yes he saves them and is a white man but so what? If you take out your obsession with race you find a movie about a human going native and falling in love with another culture and people and fighting to help them. Yes is it a bit wish fufiliment and abit power fantasy and basic, sure, but some of the best stories every written are.(I don't think avatar is a good movie but not because the main charecter is white) I can't take you seriously when you're unable to comprehend that this is not a white savior movie. 99% of people of all colours hate the main charecter and by the end only marginally like him more. No white person goes "Oh yeah go Wilkus be white and help them woohoo" or "see that's a white man right there."
People project onto things, I've noticed this. A white character helping or saving an oppressed group of people doesn't automatically mean white savior, that's just pure foolishness.
@@themorbidzoo If someone actually thinks that a white character helping or saving someone automatically makes them a white savior, they need some serious help. I watched avatar as did most of my friends and family, and none of us even once thought about race or white savior and most people didn't and from what it seems it's only the political types did and then complained about it. I'm kurdish my people have been oppressed for hundred of years and still are in many places where up until relatively recently, couldn't speak our language or use out symbols or even call ourselves kurds, instead we were mountain turks and we've had genocide committed against us many times. my own mother and other family were kept in a camp during the anfal massacre and I sympathize a lot with native and oppressed people. I understand that these people only want to help, but this whole white savior thing is stupid. I've only ever come across a few movies that i could considered calling white savior films and intent is important, but avatar? district 9? the last samurai? these are just poorly made movies about colonalism where I wouldn't view race as a factor. They could have made all the humans brown and black and that wouldn't change anything at all. Also it's not just white people who have colonised places and oppressed people. I understand to a degree why some people dislike avatar and see it in the way they do but i feel as though they are held in a chokehold by the past and even though i find it honestly ridiculous, may be offended that a white person is doing the saving when they did the damage in the first place but that's also just boiling things down to race and that everyone person of a race is responsible for the actions of anyone in that race or even the majority of that race. I've been abused by turks quite a bit and experiences a lot of racism here in the UK, mostly by white people, after moving here as an immigrant from Iraq because of the American invasion, but never have I allowed myself to think in shades of black and white. One of my best friends is a turk and my current gf is white. i think you mean well, but i disagree a lot about this whole white savior thing. I could say more but i think I've already written enough. I wish you well in the future and hope you have a nice day.
@@ibrahimsimko8039 Sorry to here about your troubles. I'm on a similar page aswell. I do also agree that thinking a character is a white savior simply because they save or help a group of oppressed people is ridiculous, even when done like avatar or something more wish fulfilment and power fantasy like. I feel like when its a movie that takes place on Earth and about real native tribes and oppressed people, its a bit more risky and more questionable tbh but something like avatar? I don't view it as white savior at all and no I'm not white though I am pale-skinned. Also last samurai? Do some people actually think it's white savior? Have they watched it?
This movies oh so rightly deserves to be in avatar’s place over avatar
I think you dearly missed the point of this movie and the point of Wikus.
6:10 Oh, it gets even worse in the sequel where it's never brought up again! Heheheheh..... hahahahaha...... HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I don't think it was by accident. District 9 has always felt, to me, like it was very intentional in what it was portraying (as far as messaging goes anyway). I've always enjoyed Wikus being a piece of shit and non traditional protagonist because that's exactly what, I think, Blomkamp wanted to portray. At least it would make sense anyway since white people created apartheid and this is an allegory for that. Even as a young teen watching it for the first time I rooted for the Prawns and hated the humans and by the end of the movie still hated Wikus.