An interesting take on a sci-fi film which uses the narrative structure of Alien invasion as a metaphor for South African apartied. The film was made with real footage of segregation issues in Johannesburg which adds to the documentary style of filming and gives it the ability to make a social commentary on the human concept of ‘aliens’. The use of ‘mockumentary’ also helps to foreshadow that something has happened to our protagonist Wilkus.
Right from the start the narrative sets up two combative elements and gives us a protagonist who is shown to be what most liberals would consider a huge asshole, but who some people would commend. This made me wonder about the audience’s relationship with the bad guys. The Nigerian warlords, the aliens and the police/army are all seen as ‘bad guys’ from different points of view. So depending on what background and beliefs the viewer has, the person they connect to or see as the ‘bad guy’ is subjective.
The writing slowly introduces the audience to how many traits they share with the aliens, the first time we are introduced to a family it’s an alien family. For the audience it’s fairly clear that when they raid the alien’s shack with all the equipment, that they are trying to get home, so we’re left screaming at our protagonist to wake up. But he is unable to see them as similar to his until he has to ‘Walk a mile in someone else’s shoes’
It was so powerful to see him clearly being tortured but none of the scientists or leaders care because they don’t see him as human anymore. It throws back to near the start when our protagonist speaks about murdering all the alien offspring as if it’s just a building being demolished.
There are many elements of this story that I can relate to my own film and narrative constructs from both Dramas and Documentaries mixed in with the Sci -Fi elements. I noticed that the Hero’s journey was used to some degree with Wilkus who goes through many of the elements throughout his transition. When he finally accepts what he is becoming and choses to help the aliens, it gives them hope and they stick up for him too.
I found myself desperately wanting a happy ending even though you know deep down that the world that has been created in the narrative has no happy endings. What District 9 manages to do that I would like to emulate, is to give the protagonist an emotional journey where he learns something new about himself but still at the end the world has not really changed that much. It manages to have a message of hope and development but without changing the status quo of the miserable existence of the larger world around the main characters.
I found it interesting watching this movie after Covid 19 as this change in how we view sick people shaking hands and blowing out birthday candles will mean that writing any narrative with a sick person will have to include very different reactions front he characters around them. Most people nowadays would also know that calling off a mobile when hiding out is not a good idea due to the ease of tracing calls.
I’ve gone slightly off topic, as the point in watching District 9 was originally about their interesting promotional tactics in the run up to the premiere, which sound both effective and imaginative. To promote my story I could set up different social media accounts as each of my different characters and post as them about the types of things they believe in as if it were before the incident.
