District 9, a science fiction movie directed by Neil Blomkamp and produced by
Peter Jackson, is an action movie throughout. One could view the entire film without
noticing any sort of metaphorical depth, and simply enjoy District 9 based on the merits
of its wonderful visual effects, gore, vulgarity, and fast-paced content. In order to
achieve this blissful nirvana, the viewer would have to empty his mind of any knowledge
regarding the South African apartheid. The apartheid metaphor is so thoroughly
imprinted onto the plot, visuals, and characters of the movie, that anybody who has
studied South African history to any extent would be remiss not to take notice. The
presence of this metaphor attempts to create one of the hallmarks of good science
fiction: depth and meaning.
Classical science fiction often creates a metaphor for contemporary society. This
sort of story uses the science fiction setting as a protected soapbox from which
criticisms about modern culture can be made. George Orwell’s 1984 is perhaps the
most famous example of this, but more ordinary sci-fi comments also: popular shows
like Star Trek and Battlestar Galactica contain themes and messages that have clear
parallels to current events. District 9 is a movie with such a message, and its message
is about apartheid.
Director Neil Blomkamp is originally from South Africa, where District 9 takes
place. Blomkamp has said about the apartheid, “It all had a huge impact on me: the
white government and the paramilitary police [and] the oppressive, iron-fisted military
environment” (Qtd. By Lee). All of the themes Blomkamp has mentioned are very
strongly integrated into District 9, especially apartheid. The apartheid in ...
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...ff. "King Kong Faces Racism Charge." Altermedia news U.S.A. 18 Dec. 2005.
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District 9. Dir. Neil Blomkamp. Perf. Sharlto Copley. Sony Pictures, 2009. DVD.
Ebert, Roger. "District 9." Rev. of Movie. Sun Times [Seattle] 13 Aug. 2009. Web. 10
Nov. 2009.
King Kong. Dir. Peter Jackson. Perf. Adrien Brody, Jack Black, Naomi Watts. Universal
Studios, 2009. DVD.
Lee, Chris. "'District 9' and the alienation of apartheid." LATimes.com. 3 Aug. 2009.
Web. 12 Nov. 2009.
of-south-african-apartheid.html>.
"Nigeria denounces District 9 movie." CBC News. 19 Sept. 2009. Web. 10 Nov. 2009.
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Terman, Lewis M. The Measurement of Intelligence. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1916.
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Blomkamp incorporates many different techniques into the making of the 4 time Academy Award nominated movie, District 9 (IMDb). These techniques include the ethos and pathos of the film but also include the central theme of an animalistic society. These ideas and techniques are present in both District 9 and Less Than Human. Through his appeal to the emotions of the audience and his use of ethos, both within the film, and outside of it, this movie is deserving of being called an Academy Award nominee. ¬¬¬
“The Shame of The Nation: The Restoration of Apartheid Schooling in America,” is a book that tells the story of author, Jonathan Kozol’s, journey through the public school system. He looks deeper into inner-city, low-income schools and the re-segregation that has taken place. Kozol focuses on the struggles those children of poor and minorities face while trying to achieve equal education as those of the middle and upper class. This book gives a vivid description of what is happening in schools across the country and our failure as a nation to provide ALL students with the education that they deserve through the observations, interviews, and experiences of author Jonathan Kozol. Through this book he tries to shed light on what is really going on in schools across the nation and what most people are not aware of. “Many Americans I meet who live far from our major cities and who have no first-hand knowledge of realities in urban public schools seem to have a rather vague and general impression that the great extremes of racial isolation they recall as matters of grave national significance some 35 to 40 years ago have gradually, but steadily, diminished in more recent years (Kozol 18).”
the film has a message because he sets out to show the lack of morals
Every film can be related back to socially significant issues that occurred during the time it was released. It’s a snapshot of the issues during that time period. Film is not created in a vacuum. As described in our textbook, film “Conveys “the temper of an age of a nation” as well as that of the artists who produces it” (Belton 22). Films tend to reflect current society, country ideals or beliefs in order for the audience to relate. Some of those techniques used include, the American dream, family, corruption, divorce, and crime. If a director decides not include current social issues than it becomes harder for an audience to relate to the film because they will not be able to connect to the characters and get into their shoes. One film that encompasses all of these current social issues is American Hustle (David O. Russell, 2013). This film is a melodrama because of the context and social issues this film deals with. American Hustle has a social significance to today’s current culture, society, beliefs and social issues through the use of the American dream, corruption, divorce, crime and family.
One could easily dismiss movies as superficial, unnecessarily violent spectacles, although such a viewpoint is distressingly pessimistic and myopic. In a given year, several films are released which have long-lasting effects on large numbers of individuals. These pictures speak
District 9 is a science fiction film produced by Peter Jackson (2009). The story is established through a mix of third person camera and documentary footage that takes place in present time. This is a twist of regular science fiction that typically takes place in the future. The film takes place in a “colony” of alien refugees (Prawns) are forced by humans to live in a South African slum. This is an example of social satire as it presents a critique to the injustice with which we treat those who are different from us. The nature of racism is shown by the metaphors of science fiction with the ideology and discourse to deal with those who are different than us whom we fear or despise. The low budget film has no flair no big budget special effects, casts no name actors and is generally considered an anti-Hollywood film. The story line is that of an extraterrestrial race that ultimately makes contact with Earth and the relationships between these aliens and humans within society.
Apartheid has had a negative, long-term effect on the over-all health of all the people residing in Cape Town. This has therefore greatly inhibited the quality of education, employment, economic status and financial longevity (Bray, 2008). Apartheid has had a ripple-effect on all South Africans that is still evident in today’s society, emphasized by the high unemployment rates, prevalent inequality and discrimination, elevated crime and increase in mass poverty.
...the predominant theme of disorientation and lack of understanding throughout the film. The audience is never clear of if the scene happening is authentic or if there is a false reality.
Source A gives a view on the South African governments control over its people and racial discrimination. It is a biased view and makes the South African government seem cruel and racist. It states that the governments "politics are determined by the colour a persons skin". As this is a statement it gives the impression that it is a fact and by giving this impression it also communicates the idea that the South African government IS racist, rather than the South African government COULD be racist. This comes as no real surprise as the advert has been paid for by the ANC (African National Congress), who are a very anti - South African government organization.
... is the brutality of hate and racism. The emotions running high in the movie makes it powerful and moving and the death of Derek’s younger brother Danny Vinyard is shocking enough to bring tears to many viewers’ eyes. The movie ends with Danny’s voice reading his paper out loud and he ends his paper with a very important quote by Abraham Lincoln. This quote shows how Danny’s, as well as Derek’s, mindset changed from the beginning of the movie to the end. When hearing this quote it leaves the viewers in awe that Danny finally started to look past his hateful ideologies but ends up dead because of the lifestyle him and his brother decided to lead. “We are not enemies, but friends. We must not be enemies. Though passion may have strained we must not break our bonds of affection. The mystic chords of memory will swell when again touched, as surely they will be by the better angels of our nature”.
“We fight each other for territory; we kill each other over race, pride, and respect. We fight for what is ours. They think they’re winning by jumping me now, but soon they’re all going down, war has been declared.” Abuse, Pain, Violence, Racism and Hate fill the streets of Long Beach, California. Asians, Blacks, Whites and Hispanics filled Wilson High School; these students from different ethnic backgrounds faced gang problems from day to night. This movie contains five messages: people shouldn’t be judgmental because being open-minded allows people to know others, having compassion for a person can help people change their views in life, being a racist can only create hate, having the power of the human will/goodness to benefit humanity will cause a person to succeed at any cost and becoming educated helps bring out the intelligence of people.
The main subject that is in the film is racism. The one of the two concepts I learned was within a busy city people’s lives collide with one another. Another concept is that everyone has different amounts of racism in them ranging from prejudice to full out racism. I felt much emotion while watching the movie as struggle added up for all the characters. I mostly
the ban on the ANC, the PAC and the SACP, he announced the release of
on him or her. Unless it was stamped on their pass, they were not allowed to
A Brief History of Apartheid in South Africa Apartheid is not a new thing. Ever since Dutch colonists landed in 1652, "Blacks" and "Whites" have lived apart in South Africa. Officially started in 1948 when the Afrikaner Nationalist party came to power, apartheid is a system of racial laws devised to "Preserve and promote a white majority over a black majority. " It has a lot of opposition and it led to an international boycott of South Africa because of it. When the Dutch first landed and established a strong colony there, they got on relatively peacefully with the natives.