Social Knowledge

Social knowledge consists of two things: brute facts and institutional facts. The brute facts are the basic things an audience sees. For instance, during the film District 9 when the audience sees Wikus they may note that he is male, around 30 years old, has brown hair, a mustache, etc. These are the basic characteristics of Wikus. The institutional facts are situational and depend on the person. It is a person’s perception that has been shaped, allowing him/her to see certain things as something in particular. Now Wikus may be seen as a person who lacks willpower, has low self-esteem, or is overtly happy in order to hide his hatred for his job. All of these views of Wikus are possibilities that depend on a person’s social knowledge of the situation. What a person sees and perceives is often due to their background. This is why when watching sports some can see an intricate play while others only see random movement. The person who sees the intricate play has probably had some experience with the sport before. For instance, when first watching District 9 I didn’t see the apartheid metaphor right away. For me the metaphor of racial segregation stood out because I am an American and because of our countries past history. Basically, social knowledge isolates bits of information in order to give meaning and significance to something.

Metamorphosis

During the Film, Wikus begins to transform into an alien (which looks very much like insects) and by the end of the film his metamorphosis is complete. This film, specifically the metamorphosis, is very similar to a short story, The Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka. In this story, the main character Gregor wakes up one morning to find he has been transformed into a giant bug. From here his life is forever changed. After the initial shock, his family (especially his sister Grete) begin to take care of him but this becomes tiresome and eventually he is left alone in his storage filled room to die.

Both characters are extremely weak, tiredly trying to please others. For instance, even when Gregor is an insect he pleads with the chief clerk who visits his house looking for an explanation about his absence from work to spare his parents and that he will be present tomorrow. Wikus acts very similar to this and is constantly used as a scape goat. Before Gregor turned into an insect he was a door to door salesman who hated his job. This parallels to Wikus who isn’t shown to necessarily hate his job but is forced to work behind a desk making him seemed trapped due to duty and the circumstances involving his wife’s father. Both Wikus and Gregor become outcasts from the world and their families. As their bodies begin to change they start adopting a new lifestyle. Wikus begins to eat differently, he starts to enjoy cat food and Gregor begins to realize that his favorite drink of milk is no longer palatable. In the end, Gregor is left to die and Wikus is thought to be dead by his parents. After Gregor’s death there is great relief from his family as well as the parents of Wikus who say they like to think they never had a son.

In a weird way both men are more human after becoming something the rest of humanity finds repugnant. Wikus is shown to be most human when he begins his transformation. The viewer learns about his deep love for his wife and his emotions toward Christopher. Instead of being a drone living behind a desk with no agency he takes action and fights back. Gregor on the other hand, would have experienced a similar life if he remained a human. As a human his family would have progressively dehumanized him eventually leading to a sorrowful death. Gregor is stuck with a life that he hates, constantly being lied to by his family and having to provide financially for them. As a bug he beings to learn his family’s financial situation is a bit better than he was led to believe and he begins to realize how dependent his family was on him. Before this, he was unappreciated and used. Gregor isn’t necessarily more human as a bug but he was unappreciated and ignored as much as a bug.

Racism in District 9

District 9 is a politically charged film and it has created a bit of controversy. Many now claim (and I can see it myself) that the film is racist. For instance, the aliens (which are suppose to represent the oppressed black population) are disgusting creatures that eat cat food, live in filth, defecate on their own homes, and kill without remorse. At the beginning of the film, the audience is suppose to side with the MNU and their plan to remove the aliens from the city. Who would want this horde of destructive aliens living in their city among their children? I know I wouldn’t. Only later in the film do we begin to see how badly the humans treat the aliens and begin to have some sympathy for them. But this is only because of Christopher (the main prawn) and how he acts more like a human. A question arises about how these aliens could have all this high tech weaponry and still act like total savages. Supposedly, the aliens took all there lower class citizens and put them on a ship to earth because they were unsure if it would ever return. Christopher is the only educated prawn and was most likely the pilot of the ship. So, the aliens on earth are seen as stupid, destructive, and unclean. Only the one educated alien (Christopher) allows the audience to contain any sort of sympathy for the aliens.

I can see how this could be considered racist but that is only if the viewer believes the aliens are suppose to represent the oppressed black population directly. Making the aliens this way was most likely done to make the films visuals more gritty and scary and to get the bigger message of oppression out there rather than to be a direct representation of black people. Due to this, I do not believe the aliens represent the black population directly nor should it be considered racist.

Where the racism occurs is with the black Nigerian gangsters. The racism occurs when we learn the Nigerians are cannibals who sell Nigerian prostitutes to the aliens. This becomes racist because the Nigerians are already shown as despicable humans; the cannibalism and prostitution are unnecessary and even create some plot holes. Why have the main Nigerian gangster be a cannibal? When he finds Wikus he wants to cut off his arm and eat it in order to become more powerful, risking the only asset he has to the use of alien weaponry. I understand the gangster probably isn’t the most intelligent guy but he has been shown eating alien flesh before with no result. A better option for him would be to cut off the arm and use it to shoot the weapons or try and force Wikus to use them. Having the Nigerians be cannibals only makes them look that more bloodthirsty and really has nothing to do with the story.

This is also seen through Nigerian prostitution. The MNU as well as South Africa knows there are human prostitutes having sex with aliens and therefore know it is most likely impossible for a human to transform into an alien due to sexual contact. An ad is shown warning other South Africans to stay back from Wikus because his STD is contagious and if they see him to call the MNU. Although it is unclear if the general public knows that he is transforming into an alien, the viewer is led to believe that some people do know. During a conversation with his wife Wikus states he is going, “To make himself better” and “Turn things back to the way they use to be” leading the viewer to believe she knows of his metamorphosis. So why include Nigerian prostitution? The viewer knows as well as South Africa that sexual relations have been going on between the aliens and humans but now suddenly there are alien STD’s that are contagious and can possibly transform a human into an alien? The cannibalism and prostitution by the Nigerians is only included to add to the gruesomeness of the Nigerians and this is why they have become so upset about it.

Wikus a metaphor for Jesus??

The main metaphor in the film is so obvious it is interesting to look at other metaphors that don’t quite fit. For instance, I found that some online bloggers see a resemblance to Jesus in the skinny white character Wikus. They argue there is a Messianic narrative tied into the film through Wikus and the main prawn in how they liberate a population (or we are led to assume they will eventually). Wikus is put in a position of power where he is in charge of evicting the prawns and moving them to a new area. After he begins to morph into a prawn and change his way of thinking a Christ figure emerges that is split into two characters: Wikus sacrificial human body and the prawn Christopher Johnson, the soul. So, Wikus’s human body is sacrificed like the story of Jesus on the cross and his soul is Christopher who descends into the sky and is a representation of the resurrection (or at least that’s what I think they are getting at no one goes into much detail). In order for this metaphor to work, at this point in the film, Wikus and Christopher essentially become one character. When Wikus is defeated Christopher ascends into the cross shaped alien mothership, vowing to return in three years to rescue Wikus and turn him back into a human. This is a view held by some online critics of District 9. Some believe that all the self sacrifice that eventually leads to a cross shaped space ship to fly away and free the aliens is a Messianic symbol that is to blunt not to notice.
After reading a few of these suggestions I can’t help but think this metaphor is stretching it a bit too far. There is some convincing evidence that Wikus could be a Jesus metaphor but it becomes cloudy because he only resembles Jesus in one scene. Throughout the entire film he is apart of the oppressive MNU relocation program and he even takes pleasure in alien pain (he finds amusement in the sound of popping alien eggs when they are burning). Only when he decides to sacrifice himself is there any sort of resemblance to Jesus. Even then, in order to make the metaphor work it must be split into two characters, Wikus and the alien Christopher. Also, upon watching the scene where the spacecraft ascends into the mothership, the cross symbolism is pretty weak. I do agree there are some ties to Christ, for instance, when (Christ)opher vows to return in three years to save his people. But this was most likely done so Blomkamp could make a sequel. There are some distant ties but one really has to look deep (and make some stretches) in order to find them, to the point where I feel Blomkamp had no intention in making Wikus a Christ figure.

Blomkamp and South Africa

When discussing his creative vision and where it came from, in a recent interview Blomkamp stated that the apartheid was his, “most powerful influence.” Also stating that "It all had a huge impact on me: the white government and the paramilitary police -- the oppressive, iron-fisted military environment.” What Blomkamp witnessed in his younger years has shaped who he is and how he identifies with the world. As humans we bring value from our experiences and it is quite obvious that because he lived in segregated South Africa he values social equality more than most leading him to make a film about it. But Blomkamp moved to Vancouver when he was 18 where he experienced a totally different world. It is interesting to wonder if Blomkamp had strong concerns for equality while he was in South Africa or if this only occurred from spending a lot of his life in Vancouver and how different of a person he would be if he would have stayed in South Africa. This move totally changed his reality and it changed the framing of the film. If he wouldn’t have moved the film could have kept along the path that the aliens are creatures not worthy of rights or freedom straying from the apartheid metaphor. But because he did spend so many years in a segregated country what he emphasizes in the film becomes quite obvious. He emphasizes the white upper class and their brutality to the aliens because these are things he has witnessed firsthand.

While the film was shot on location a lot of the film was shot using green screens and special effects. But the area that Blomkamp decided to use for the ghetto of the aliens was in one of Soweto’s poorest neighborhoods. As the film crew began shooting they noticed smoke clouds and choppers flying overhead. South African groups began to lynch and burn other African groups, there seemed to be fighting between Zimbabwean refugees and the South Africans. The films basic themes were still happening all around them, Blomkamp noted that they were witnessing, “black on black xenophobia.” Because of these events he was making a film not only about the past apartheid but about present South Africa as well. Events like these definitely shaped what went into the film. At the beginning of the film there is a scene where smoke is flying up into the sky from a number of different locations and choppers are flying overhead. He most likely included this as a reference to the present struggles in South Africa and because he experienced it firsthand.

Hierarchy

As humans we live in a hierarchical society where everything is ranked. Many of our decisions are made because of how we rank certain items. For instance, where we prefer to shop for food or personal products is often due to a personal ranking that we have made and placed a certain store or product in. When applied to humans hierarchy often creates a system of oppression that separates people into different classes. The job one works and the money they make is often a large factor that determines which class one will belong to in a society. The United States as well as most other parts of the world have a hierarchy which in the past was due to racial segregation. In the film District 9 it is quite obvious what the hierarchical structure is. At the top are the white upper class and governmental workers while at the very bottom are the aliens. Although the aliens are physically more powerful they are deemed as dumb/poor and therefore gain no respect and are expected to oblige by the rules of the wealthy upper class and humans in general. This led to the aliens becoming a “scapegoat” for the humans and any problems that they were having.

When dealing with hierarchy Kenneth Burk noticed two common themes that occurred: action and motion. Motion is essentially the non-symbolic features of the world that helps structure our way of life while action involves the symbolic capacities of people. In the film, the aliens themselves would be considered motion meaning the aliens alone are non-symbolic but when different species become categorized it turns into action. So when the aliens become categorized as aliens or “prawns” and become a separate group this is when hierarchical action begins to occur. It essentially occurs when the human society begins to use ultimate terms in their rhetoric when describing the aliens. It is obvious that the humans believe their race and culture is superior to the aliens and this can be seen through a number of different actions like the signs that prohibit aliens from entering certain human dominated areas. These actions by the humans are what begins to structure a hierarchy of oppression where one specie or race is favored over the other because of who is in power and the hegemonic ideas that flood the media.

Memory

Memory is a construction of the present. What we remember is because of what is presented to us which is often created for a certain purpose. For instance, the Helen Keller memorial was put up recently because we are more sympathetic to disabled people today and because the people who put up the memorial want us to remember her and her struggles. Also, much of our memory is created by the media and what they decide to include. The film A Beautiful Mind left out the fact that he had homosexual tendencies because we as a society want to remember him for his brilliance not for other factors that could possibly cloud his achievements. District 9 emphasizes past mistakes in order to create social meaning and serve a political interest. It focuses on the experiences of South Africa’s past in order to send the broader political message of tolerance.

Generations that experience certain events remember those events differently than present generations. Present generations only remember past events from what the older generations retain from the situation. Memories often become cloudy as individuals become older and what is preserved for future generations can begin to move further from the truth. Often, what is retained is what society wants or needs at that time. Blomkamp experienced the apartheid personally and what he experienced he showed through his film. But his memory of experience is that of a young white kid and his memory could be very different from others. The media he makes is created from his memory but for people who haven’t experienced the apartheid our memory of what it may have been, is solely based off his. Obviously, it’s a fictional setting and not shot in real documentary form but his recollection of what happened was influenced everything done in his film. Because of this, his view is most likely the view of present whites (that separation is bad) in the official culture but this view would have been the vernacular view years ago. This shift towards tolerance let Blomkamp make a political film with a message while still being able to enjoy success in South Africa. This success would have been difficult without society’s current tolerance which is due to our recollection of the past.

Narrative

Aristotle believed that narratives mimic reality. Blomkamp had a different idea and created a fictional story, with different life forms our world is unfamiliar with in order to recount the apartheid in South Africa. He used the form of narrative to his advantage by: astatically creating a fictional world with alternate beings, instrumentally depicting a story that he could use to make a point, and constitutively by hopefully transforming how some see their world.

The story is told in a documentary type fashion through the character of Wikus, a white, pro contamination, ordinary character that the audience is suppose to relate to. Wikus is in charge of relocating the aliens to what seems to be a concentration camp and at the beginning of the film this seems reasonable because who would want to live among the trash eating aliens? But as the storyline moves forward it becomes apparent that Blomkamp is using the narrative in order to change our way of thinking. As the character Wikus progresses his way of thinking begins to change and he begins to feel for the aliens, just because they are different they shouldn’t be treated as disposable lives. The differences between the aliens and humans is apparent and over dramatized in order to make the point that if Wikus can overcome these drastic differences of how is it possible for humans to hate other humans merely because of their race?

Often a narrative is made to help society understand a way of thinking but as Blomkamp shows it can also be used to change a way of thinking. I believe that this films narrative does both. In America and many other societies people are becoming more accepting to alternative lifestyles, race, and homosexuality. For this group, the story reinforces the idea of acceptance and helps strengthen this way of thinking. But for others it was made in order to change their way of thinking. For instance, in 1973 the General Assembly of the United Nations submitted a draft on the Suppression and Punishment of the Crime of Apartheid (ICSPCA) which declared apartheid to be a crime against humanity and went far beyond South African. 76 nations signed on but the United States along with Canada, France, Germany, Israel, Italy, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, Australia, and New Zealand would not sign, believing that a crime against humanity must be elaborated further than apartheid. Its situations like these the Blomkamp is trying to change.

Empathy

At the beginning of the film it’s hard for the viewer to have any sort of sympathy for a creature that a human cannot relate to. The aliens are disgusting and malnourished beings that live off trash and are shown to have no human characteristics whatsoever. This is why it was necessary for Blomkamp to add an element to the film that I (along with most viewers) did not see coming. The transformation of Wikus from a human to an alien. His transformation puts the viewer in the perspective of the aliens which helps the viewer fully understand their situation and allows them to feel empathy. Movies like Independence Day, Alien, and other films containing aliens often don’t want the viewer to feel anything but fear for the aliens. Fear that they are going to ruin our existence and way of life. There is no need to understand another life form when all they want is destruction. District 9 turns this idea upside down, displaying humans as the creatures that only want to destroy life. The only way to make a film that would allow the audience to feel for the aliens was to put a human in the alien’s shoes and have him tortured and experimented on by his own kind. In the end his only sanctuary is among other aliens and they are the only ones that will take him in. The transformation of Wikus was an effective way for the viewer to begin to feel empathy for a race that humans have no connection with besides the fact that every creature has a natural habitat, has certain needs, and wants/deserves to be treated a certain way.

Just Another View

District 9 opened on August 14, 2009 with massive success, ranking #1 in its first weekend at the box office with an opening gross of $37,354,308 and is currently up for 19 Emmy nominations. As of August 30, 2009 it has grossed an estimated $90,813,000 in the United States and $105,149,708 worldwide. The film also did extremely well in South Africa, grossing five times better than the award winning film Tsotsi. But Nigeria was not so thrilled about the film’s release. Throughout the film the Nigerians are depicted as gangsters who live among the aliens, selling them cat food, and other paid services such as weapons and prostitutes. Dora Akunyili, the information minister for Nigeria, expressed his concern in a recent CNN article by Faith Karimi, he said, "Why do they want to denigrate Nigerians as criminals, cannibals and prostitutes who sleep with extra-terrestrial animals? We've had enough with the stereotypes they have branded us with ... we are not going to sit back and allow people to stigmatize us." Akunyili also expresses concern about the name of the top gangster which is Obesandjo the last name of former Nigerian president Olusegun Obasanjo. Because of outcries like Akunyilis the film will not screen in Nigeria unless Sony apologizes or edits any Nigerian references. But not all Nigerians express the same view as Akunyili like actor Eugene Khumbanyiwa who played in top gangster in the film. He suggested that he was just playing his character to the best of his ability and was surprised by the reaction of many Nigerians because his Nigerian co-stars had no problem with the film or their roles. Others argue that Nigerians are such a minuscule part of the film it is pointless to get upset. The Nigerians only make up around 10 minutes of the 113 minute film. Again, this is just another example of looking at a film from other perspectives and the wide range of views that are expressed.

Polysemy

Like any great form of media many texts are open for interpretation. Polysemy is when a sign or a text is open to many different levels of understanding and often has certain levels of ambiguity. The film, district 9, has underlying themes that are not ambiguous but how they are interpreted can be. Being an American, the first time I saw the film I instantly thought of immigration problems in the United States and I later learned more about the apartheid and saw strong ties to that as well. Blomkamp had a desired message for the film that was mainly directed to be about the apartheid but because it is a fictional, sci-fi action film, it only contains underlying messages that are left to be interpreted by the viewer. Does this film also have something to say about racism or segregation in general? Absolutely, it need not be constrained to a single countries struggle or a societies problem. General message like xenophobia can be interpreted many different ways and can pertain to many different situations throughout time.
There are many ways this film can be interpreted even among South Africans. Steve Sailer for Takimag.com believes that Blomkamp made the film in order to show, “black South Africans saying the same intolerant things that his own people were universally condemned for saying…” He goes further quoting Blomkamp as saying, “Another part of recent South African history that isn’t world news is that the collapse of Zimbabwe has introduced millions of illegal Zimbabwean immigrants into South African cities. Now you have this powder-keg situation, with black against black … [W]e woke up one morning to find out that Johannesburg was eating itself alive. Impoverished South Africans had started murdering impoverished Zimbabweans, necklacing them and burning them and chopping them up.” Sailer believes the film can mean a number of things but one thing he is getting at is that Blomkamp may have made a relation between the black South Africans and the aliens to historical events between Zimbabwean immigrants and black South Africans. This can easily be seen in the film from its documentary style of shooting. Almost all of the civilian actors that interact with the aliens (the Nigerian gangsters) as well as the general public are black. I personally don’t know if this is right but it is an interesting view of the film and proves the point that all texts are polysemic and can be interpreted a number of different ways.

Sailers article can be read at http://www.takimag.com/article/alien_nation/.

District 9

It is my personal opinion that the new film District 9 is a revolutionary film of our time because of how its filmed and its politics. The way in which district 9 is filmed is revolutionary because of its style. It is filmed in a documentary fashion and contains many actors who are unknown to the American public but yet still evoke emotion and the responses they want from the audience. Having no name actors allowed Blomkamp to focus most of the finances on the graphics and other visual aids. For instance, a main focus of the film are the aliens which Blomkamp wanted to make look insectile but bipedal as well. He did this so people would be able to relate to the aliens. Although the aliens look nothing like humans they still are two legged bipedal creaters that speak their own language, allowing humans to relate to them more so than say an animal. The documentary film style of District 9 lets the characters evolve and become more loveable. Like most critics the characer Wikus and the aliens arent the most lovable characters to begin with but the documentary style allows the characers to talk directly to the audience and really let them know what their thinking. This was done in order to create a connection between Wikus and the audience as well as allow the slow change of opinion about Wikus and the aliens throughout the film. The second reason why District 9 is a revolutionary film is because of its story and underlying political themes. The film was shot in Johannesburg, South Africa which has had a long history of racial tension. South Africa is also where Blomkamp is from making the underlying themes a bit more personal. Between 1948 and 1994 the National Party of South Africa implemented a "apartheid" or racial segregation. Some 60,000 residences were forced from their homes and moved to an area called district 6. The government segregated education, medical care, and other services providing blacks with services inferior to whites. Blacks were also denied citizenship and were not allowed to urbanize or move into white areas. Because Blomkamp was from this area he found it fitting to create a film about it. It began with his short film "Alive in Joburg" and after Blomkamp became more renouned he was able to make the story into an actual Hollywood movie. It has been a little while since a film has come out with so many underlying political themes and thats why Distict 9 is a revolutionary film. What I hope to do with this blog is to further research the film and political themes, explaning and theorizing on them.

Here is a link to his short film Alive in Joburg.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W3bN64ISyUA