District 9

I know, this is a bit late and you have most likely already seen and loved this movie, and probably for a list of other reasons why. Either you enjoyed it for the political statement or you similarly have an alien hobo village in your country, or if you are like me, you just saw a big awesome sci-fi flick with people who sound funny.

PLOT Much like how my neighborhood began, an alien ship stalled above Johannesburg, that’s in South Africa by the way, and didn’t make like it was going to leave any time soon. So up we go to investigate and find a ship full of aliens who are sick and dying. Given them asylum, a shanty town was created and they located and rehabilitated the “Prawns” in what is referred to as District 9. Over the years these multi-armed creatures allow the village to fall into disrepair and it quickly becomes a slum where alien fights alien for a can of cat food.

People see their property tax fall because let’s get serious, you know you have someone just like this on your block and you bloody hate them, and the government build another reservation further away and gather a group of operatives led by Wikus van de Merwe to get the Prawns relocated to the shiny new District 10. Shockingly, not all of the Prawns are thinking this a good idea and soon Wikus runs into a Prawn who is gathering and storing a mysterious fluid that explodes onto Wikus.

Soon Wikus begins to mutate and in turn finds himself on the other end of the law and joining forces with the Prawns to which he is slowing morphing into.

FINAL THOUGHT This was basically a movie about racism and xenophobia. Using the Prawns as symbolic representations of those we commonly consider as disserving of less humanity than we ourselves receive. It took about an hour for the movie to pick up the pace and reveal itself, but it was worth accidentally buying a ticket for.