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"District 9" -it's FEMA once again.

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Jonatan K Posted: Mon, Nov 2 2009 9:37 AM

Upon finishing watching "District 9" I've dsecided on short review of ideas in the movie, without any plot spoilers. 

From the beginning of the movie, it was assetred that the miserable existance at District 9 is due to the population been dim-witted lof-lifes. The fact that the smae population was able to manufacture soficticated  bioi-tech weaponary revealed later, but the viewer is already absorbed in the drama. But really, why Distrcit 9 looks like that? Tha answer is so plain, that it appears from the very start of the movie. The whole thing was handled by a goverment agency , MNU. We see their helicopters, armored cars, clercs. District 9 is result of 20 years of govermental "humanitarian" (hehe) aid. The result is simple - the only sturcture to enter the district to form some alternative to MNU is the Niggerian Mob. And those guys , who do arrange services and trade, are not really inot opening Wal-Marts, only High-Risk/High -Profit ventures like bio-weaponary.

The tragedy of the main hero, caught between the corrupt goverment agency and ruthless mob is the main theme. 

"We are nothing. Mankind is all. By the grace of our brothers are we allowed our lives. We exist through, by and for our brothers who are the State. Amen."

 

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solos replied on Mon, Nov 2 2009 9:42 AM

seriously? it's commentary on apartheid in South Africa. 

 

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Andrew replied on Mon, Nov 2 2009 10:27 AM

solos:

seriously? it's commentary on apartheid in South Africa. 

 

You can read a lot into the movie : apartheid, holocaust, UN, ect.

Democracy is nothing more than replacing bullets with ballots

 

If Pro is the opposite of Con. What is the opposite of Progress?

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Marko replied on Mon, Nov 2 2009 10:29 AM

There was a topic about District 9 already, you may want to look for it...

Personally I liked the movie (with reservations) because of two things:

1.) No more interchangeable aliens. No aliens who are aliens but actully might as well be human for all the differences. These aliens are dumb, irresponsible, aggressive... finally some originality.

2.) Without perhaps even being aware of it the movie shows that even in situations where there is ton of potential you will end up with the worse possible scenario if you have a buerocracy handle it. We get a visit from the aliens, we find out that we are not alone in the universe, we see proof of them possesing more advanced technology, there is so much potential for learning... Two years later, what have we gotten out of this wonderful opportunity? Well we gained a concentration camp! Yippie!


solos:

seriously? it's commentary on apartheid in South Africa.

 



Actually it is not. It is a Malthusian tale about population explosion. That is what the director has said himself. And it is a let down...

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Kakugo replied on Mon, Nov 2 2009 11:46 AM

The only thing I can say about District 9 is this: it cost 15 million US $ to make. It features acceptable actors, decent script and stunning visual effects. Hollywood'd better start taking notice because Tim Burton and Clint Eastwood won't always be around to save the day and people outside of the US is getting tired of films being made to appease the ego of useless "superstars" and keep writers' unions members into their cushy jobs. Unless of course Obama bail them out too... Hmm

 Yes, it's time for the Dr Goebbels show!

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solos replied on Mon, Nov 2 2009 1:05 PM

Marko:


Actually it is not. It is a Malthusian tale about population explosion. That is what the director has said himself. And it is a let down...

 

okay, I rarely watch movies beyond the trailer so I'll take your word for it.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/District_Six,_Cape_Town

 

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Marko replied on Mon, Nov 2 2009 1:25 PM

solos:

okay, I rarely watch movies beyond the trailer so I'll take your word for it.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/District_Six,_Cape_Town



Yeah, I wouldn`t know about it either but for a link at The American Conservative website.

 

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MNU wasn't a government agency, as far as I know. It was a multinational corporation of some sort hired by the South African government to manage and administrate the Poleepkwa (alien) issue.

They are a great example of what I would term a "pseudoprivate" entity, an I.G. Farben of District 9's near future.

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Exelent. What is the difference between govermental agency and goverment-granted monpoly?

"We are nothing. Mankind is all. By the grace of our brothers are we allowed our lives. We exist through, by and for our brothers who are the State. Amen."

 

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Marko replied on Tue, Nov 3 2009 2:27 PM

The later is profit driven.

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Nielsio replied on Tue, Nov 3 2009 7:53 PM

Government itself is a monopoly too. So to say that handed out monopolies are profit driven but the government itself is not profit driven is contradictory.

 

Violence is predation. That's why government exists: because some people benefit from it.

 

If you think the government is not profit driven then I'd like to know how Obama is paying for his groceries.

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Jonatan K replied on Mon, Nov 9 2009 11:07 AM

Does it make them any better? 

(Mercantilism, of course)

"We are nothing. Mankind is all. By the grace of our brothers are we allowed our lives. We exist through, by and for our brothers who are the State. Amen."

 

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I believe the MNU thing was written in as the director couldn't get the co-operation he needed from the South African police and military. I believe the original conception was for the camp to be run solely by the SA government...

I drink your milkshake!

 

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solos:

seriously? it's commentary on apartheid in South Africa. 

I wouldn't say it's an outright parable about Apartheid. Sure, the situation of the aliens in the film does mirror some instances of Apartheid but I believe the director was using this as an ironic allegory to recent events in South Africa:

A few years ago violent riots broke out across the country with black South Africans protesting against so-called "illegal immigrants", foreign black Africans, living in South Africa, stealing the jobs of South African citizens etc.  It was an ironic thing to occur in a place which had endured segregation and racially-motivated paranoia for so long so this translates into the situation of the interstellar aliens of District 9.

I drink your milkshake!

 

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