District 9

[Relaxing Dragon]

Any film that makes me care about something that isn't real automatically gets my respect and approval. I loved Christopher.

Didn't take much time either. I started feeling for them when his friend got shot, pretty much all from his eye expressions.

And Little C.J. is adorable. Just sayin'

[Trumpysgirl]

Any film that makes me care about something that isn't real automatically gets my respect and approval. I loved Christopher.

Didn't take much time either. I started feeling for them when his friend got shot, pretty much all from his eye expressions.

And Little C.J. is adorable. Just sayin'

"We're the same...we're the same..."

So cute! And I loved the fact that C.J. is the one who saves their asses.

[NYFalcon1981]

I enjoyed this movie, it's nice to come to this message board as opposed to the IMDB board where trolls and haters just look for things they didn't understand and call it a plothole.

And as others have said it's pretty impressive if a movie can make you care about creatures that aren't real

Chris and C.J were great, their relationship felt so real.  The emotion shown through simple brow movements or body language was quite impressive.

All in all probably in my personal top 50, I know not everyone will like it, but for me it was a great time and I can't wait for the DVD.

[Variety of Cells]

I'm going to be a hater again for a minute.

This movie seems to be trying to make some sort of social cometary, I think that's pretty obvious to everyone.  Or at least that's how it started.  It's set in Africa, the aliens are being segregated and treated as less than humans, and they live in slums.  Things that seem to be connected to real world situations and the human condition and what not.  And many of you have pointed that out and applauded the film for being smart and deep and actually saying something and not being over the top comedy sci fi. 

But I ask this question, what the hell is the movie trying to say?  The film goes out of its way to portray the aliens and stupid, mindless, lazy animals that kill anything they can and just don't really care.  The only one that shows any human characteristics is the main alien, who is admittedly a likable character.  But the rest are too far removed from something human.

Which confuses me.  Without portraying the aliens as human, not necessarily likable but at least possessing redeemable qualities, I don't really care when they kick them out of their homes.  They don't even bother to rebel against the human with all the weapons they have.  So is the film supporting segregation?  I don't think so.  But why portray the aliens as blithering idiots?  I'm sure some of you have opinions on this.  If this film has a message, what exactly is it trying to say?

[TeamRAD]

...hahahahahaha! 

Come w/ me, Doc, it's in 3-D!!

*enjoys the Final Destination franchise*

Giant evil mouse trap in 3D!!!!!!! yay 

*cheers*



I'm pretty psyched for next weekend.

But I ask this question, what the hell is the movie trying to say? 

Apartheid, bad.

I'm sure it's just a coincidence.

But why portray the aliens as blithering idiots? 

Because it fit Blomkamp's hive modus operandi, they weren't anything but the drones (a liability & essentially useless besides mating). I wish there were a little exposition trickled onto the narrative w/ how the queen & workers of the hive ceased to be...but, oh well.

[Doctor Who?]

I'm going to be a hater again for a minute.

This movie seems to be trying to make some sort of social cometary, I think that's pretty obvious to everyone.  Or at least that's how it started.  It's set in Africa, the aliens are being segregated and treated as less than humans, and they live in slums.  Things that seem to be connected to real world situations and the human condition and what not.  And many of you have pointed that out and applauded the film for being smart and deep and actually saying something and not being over the top comedy sci fi. 

But I ask this question, what the hell is the movie trying to say?  The film goes out of its way to portray the aliens and stupid, mindless, lazy animals that kill anything they can and just don't really care.  The only one that shows any human characteristics is the main alien, who is admittedly a likable character.  But the rest are too far removed from something human.

Which confuses me.  Without portraying the aliens as human, not necessarily likable but at least possessing redeemable qualities, I don't really care when they kick them out of their homes.  They don't even bother to rebel against the human with all the weapons they have.  So is the film supporting segregation?  I don't think so.  But why portray the aliens as blithering idiots?  I'm sure some of you have opinions on this.  If this film has a message, what exactly is it trying to say?

You could say the say thing about any group of people who have been oppressed.  The Jews,black slaves,even Allied troops that were POWs in WW2,the fact is that(and this is a point I think the movie make brilliantly)uprisings need leaders.  Once a people have been beaten down to a point they tend to get an idea that they can't fight back and they just start trying to survive.  Also the weapons the aliens had were not perfect and they would not give them the edge needed for a full scale,long term war with the whole of the earth.  Also 1.8 million aliens Vs. almost 7 billion humans and the humans know how to fight wars.  I really don't thinks so,I really don't think so at all.

[Darth Geek]

I'm going to be a hater again for a minute.

This movie seems to be trying to make some sort of social cometary, I think that's pretty obvious to everyone.  Or at least that's how it started.  It's set in Africa, the aliens are being segregated and treated as less than humans, and they live in slums.  Things that seem to be connected to real world situations and the human condition and what not.  And many of you have pointed that out and applauded the film for being smart and deep and actually saying something and not being over the top comedy sci fi. 

But I ask this question, what the hell is the movie trying to say?  The film goes out of its way to portray the aliens and stupid, mindless, lazy animals that kill anything they can and just don't really care.  The only one that shows any human characteristics is the main alien, who is admittedly a likable character.  But the rest are too far removed from something human.

Which confuses me.  Without portraying the aliens as human, not necessarily likable but at least possessing redeemable qualities, I don't really care when they kick them out of their homes.  They don't even bother to rebel against the human with all the weapons they have.  So is the film supporting segregation?  I don't think so.  But why portray the aliens as blithering idiots?  I'm sure some of you have opinions on this.  If this film has a message, what exactly is it trying to say?

You could say the say thing about any group of people who have been oppressed.  The Jews,black slaves,even Allied troops that were POWs in WW2,the fact is that(and this is a point I think the movie make brilliantly)uprisings need leaders.  Once a people have been beaten down to a point they tend to get an idea that they can't fight back and they just start trying to survive.  Also the weapons the aliens had were not perfect and they would not give them the edge needed for a full scale,long term war with the whole of the earth.  Also 1.8 million aliens Vs. almost 7 billion humans and the humans know how to fight wars.  I really don't thinks so,I really don't think so at all.

Yeah, the aliens weren't "blithering idiots" they simply were not educated and capable of the organized rebellion necessary to free themselves, untill Chris came along. Oppressed minorites without acess to any education, like those under apartheid, would act the same.

[TeamRAD]

I'm going to be a hater again for a minute.

This movie seems to be trying to make some sort of social cometary, I think that's pretty obvious to everyone.  Or at least that's how it started.  It's set in Africa, the aliens are being segregated and treated as less than humans, and they live in slums.  Things that seem to be connected to real world situations and the human condition and what not.  And many of you have pointed that out and applauded the film for being smart and deep and actually saying something and not being over the top comedy sci fi. 

But I ask this question, what the hell is the movie trying to say?  The film goes out of its way to portray the aliens and stupid, mindless, lazy animals that kill anything they can and just don't really care.  The only one that shows any human characteristics is the main alien, who is admittedly a likable character.  But the rest are too far removed from something human.

Which confuses me.  Without portraying the aliens as human, not necessarily likable but at least possessing redeemable qualities, I don't really care when they kick them out of their homes.  They don't even bother to rebel against the human with all the weapons they have.  So is the film supporting segregation?  I don't think so.  But why portray the aliens as blithering idiots?  I'm sure some of you have opinions on this.  If this film has a message, what exactly is it trying to say?

You could say the say thing about any group of people who have been oppressed.  The Jews,black slaves,even Allied troops that were POWs in WW2,the fact is that(and this is a point I think the movie make brilliantly)uprisings need leaders.  Once a people have been beaten down to a point they tend to get an idea that they can't fight back and they just start trying to survive.  Also the weapons the aliens had were not perfect and they would not give them the edge needed for a full scale,long term war with the whole of the earth.  Also 1.8 million aliens Vs. almost 7 billion humans and the humans know how to fight wars.  I really don't thinks so,I really don't think so at all.

Yeah, the aliens weren't "blithering idiots" they simply were not educated and capable of the organized rebellion necessary to free themselves, untill Chris came along. Oppressed minorites without acess to any education, like those under apartheid, would act the same.

They so were. 

[Doctor Who?]

Not being educated and not having enough people to fight a war is not the same as being an idiot.  Under that logic anyone who is ever enslaved is an idiot and deserves to stay a slave.

[TeamRAD]

They were idiots because their existence solely was based on moseying around and finding food. That's exactly what the Prawns exhibited in the movie, and fits the classification of the drone perfectly.

[Doctor Who?]

Sorry but I don't except that just because a people are oppressed to the point that it takes all of their energy just to get enough food to survive that they are idiots.  The fact that they are able to survive in a garbage dump points to the fact that they are smart they are just using everything they have to keep from starving to death.

[Tripe]

OK I've not seen this yet, but if the filmmaker shares some of the views of apartheid that many of his fellow countrymen do (and did since a few that I'm thinking of are no longer with us)  it's possible that the message could just be "just because many of these people aren't paragons of virtue doesn't mean they should be oppressed. Likewise just because you are oppressed it doesn't mean you are a saint/genius".

One of my mother's aunts is coloured (using that term with its specific SA meaning* there), she got the crappy end of the stick from all sides during Apartheid. Is she the most virtuous person ever? No she's a fairly average individual with both nice characteristics and bad ones. Is she especially clever? Well I think she's pretty funny and quick witted but education wise, I don't think she went to school past about 15 or 16.

She, like almost everyone under apartheid was a average person shafted by a horrendous system.

Now having said all that I'll have to go check out the film (I was going to at any rate I just haven't got around to it) and see if that tallies.

* Outside SA she might have been thought of as Biracial.

[Plastic Self-Cleaning Duck]

Ahh....people discussing the movie in detail without the Spoiler button....

How nice.   

[Variety of Cells]

Good good.  Glad to see responses, and keep them coming.  I still feel that the movie begins to say something and make a social cometary but gets lost in being an action movie and never finishes its sentence.  I have to leave to see Rifftrax live though, so I'll expand on that thought later.

[Variety of Cells]

Alright, I have some time now. 

Because it fit Blomkamp's hive modus operandi, they weren't anything but the drones (a liability & essentially useless besides mating). I wish there were a little exposition trickled onto the narrative w/ how the queen & workers of the hive ceased to be...but, oh well.

This makes sense, and is sound reasoning.  Only when you are making a social cometary, which I think we all agree it's trying to do, it's not such a good idea to compare a group of people to useless drones whose only purpose is mating.  I feel that the movie does do this, there are no redeemable human qualities to the aliens and they come off as worthless drones that cause a lot of death and destruction and harm.  But what sort of social cometary does that make? 

You could say the say thing about any group of people who have been oppressed.  The Jews,black slaves,even Allied troops that were POWs in WW2,the fact is that(and this is a point I think the movie make brilliantly)uprisings need leaders.  Once a people have been beaten down to a point they tend to get an idea that they can't fight back and they just start trying to survive.  Also the weapons the aliens had were not perfect and they would not give them the edge needed for a full scale,long term war with the whole of the earth.  Also 1.8 million aliens Vs. almost 7 billion humans and the humans know how to fight wars.  I really don't thinks so,I really don't think so at all.

Ok, uprisings need leaders.  A valid point, and you could say that the movie starts to say this, but it doesn't finish its thought.  These are a bunch of leaderless beings... and they remain leaderless throughout the film.  I'm not quite sure that can be considered the point.  There was no leader, and there was no rebellion.  You could argue that the film is trying to be deep and say "sometimes there are no leaders, isn't that horrible?"  But I'm not so sure I'm ready give the film that much credit.  That point is never really made, it's just left for people to guess at.

Also, I don't think it's fair to compare the prawns to jews and slaves.  There wasn't a risk of them eating their captors. 

Yeah, the aliens weren't "blithering idiots" they simply were not educated and capable of the organized rebellion necessary to free themselves, untill Chris came along. Oppressed minorites without acess to any education, like those under apartheid, would act the same.

First off, when did they start to organize?  There was no leadership.  They just noticed their ship moving and then started eating a few people.  And again to my point about eating people, oppressed minorities don't eat people.  They may rebel, and do some horrible things in that rebellion, but they don't treat their oppressors as food. 

They were idiots because their existence solely was based on moseying around and finding food. That's exactly what the Prawns exhibited in the movie, and fits the classification of the drone perfectly.

Not being educated and not having enough people to fight a war is not the same as being an idiot.  Under that logic anyone who is ever enslaved is an idiot and deserves to stay a slave.

Alright, I'm going to respond to these two and Tripe's long one at the same time, because they are similar.  My point is, they are nothing more than idiots and savages because that's all the film is telling me they are.  The film never makes an attempts to humanize them other than the main alien.  Sure, during the scene where the main character is aborting the eggs I could see people feeling something, but that's only because that scene was crying out "Hey look, I'm aborting babies and laughing about it!  It's that evil?".  But that still didn't do anything to humanize the aliens, it just demonized the humans.

The film didn't do anything to tell me that these aliens were actually worth protecting and not just drones.  For the most part I feel the audience just assumes that they are basically good people, but that's just not in the film.  Same with the message that the film was trying to get across; it just doesn't exist.  It started out well enough but then lost its way in the action, and became a more personal story about the two main characters, which is fine, but it never went back to say anything further about the social cometary it started with.  It has a good start "These aliens are being oppressed and..."  ...and what?  "...and that is bad because these aliens are really just people like you and me"?  No, that never really comes across.  "...and that is good because they are mindless drones"?  That never really comes across either.  All I came across with was "These aliens are being oppressed and power can go to your head but friendship is more powerful." 

Though I will say this, the film does a great job of looking like it's saying something while at the same time being an entertaining action flick.  People who don't like them 'message films' can't really complain because there was no real message other than a personal one, so they can just sit back and enjoy people exploding.  While people who do like message films are free to put their own message on it.  You don't hear people saying "I disagree with what the movie was trying to say" because it wasn't saying anything.  And yes, I wish it would have taken more of a step toward "these aliens are people worth freeing from oppression."