Derogatory Terms In 'District 9'

“Language shapes the way we think, and determines what we can think about.” This was said once by Benjamin Lee Whorf, a highly regarded American Linguist. Over a million words make up the English language, and the ones we hear and say affect much more than we think. The movie "District 9" addresses real issues in its themes hidden in this science-fiction action thriller. In the movie, the race of aliens are persecuted by the Humans, who see them as nothing more than an inconvenience in their lives, even constructing signs to mark where the non-humans are not welcome. The aliens are referred to by nothing more than a slur for their appearance. These derogatory terms and treatment of the aliens are a conscious parallel to real life, where such terms are not uncommon. Just as you think before you speak, the language you hear affects how you think. The casual use of derogatory terms in our language detaches the word from its degrading meaning and has a damaging effect on the lives of marginalized people. To illustrate how these slurs originate, District 9 takes us all the way to the start, when a ship of insect-like aliens mysteriously lands on Earth with no explanation aside from the malnourished and starving aliens inside. A government organization called MNU takes action to relocate and

Nowadays, slurs are even used in casual context such as shows, songs, rap and comedy. Normalizing these slurs is dangerous, to put it simply. It creates a barrier between speaker and the real meaning of the word, allowing them to ignore any racist or homophobic connotations it may have. In the movie, the alien eggs are referred to as 'popcorn', originally for the bursting sound they make when lit on fire. Instead of seeing this as horrifying, the term for them is almost silly, and allows the speaker to detach from the reality of