tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7704583061723470804.post1050409361283708359..comments2024-03-10T07:42:17.071-04:00Comments on The Film Doctor: The nature of oppression: questions about District 9The Film Doctor http://www.blogger.com/profile/03073505923746994988noreply@blogger.comBlogger16125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7704583061723470804.post-27491594917338058232010-03-09T13:09:40.259-05:002010-03-09T13:09:40.259-05:00the point about this being derivative in any way o...the point about this being derivative in any way of Enemy of the State and 1984 is not something I really agree with. I think it's just a convention of the mockumentary format that's been permeated a lot on TV, that the viewer's point of view is not entirely equal to the reality of the documentarian. You as the viewer are being shown more of a story than the documentary, and the documentary can be present as much as it wants. This happens in the Office or Parks and Recreation where not every single minute is told as a documentary.sophomorecritichttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14320637485303592977noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7704583061723470804.post-75926889641444023692010-03-09T13:09:27.111-05:002010-03-09T13:09:27.111-05:00the point about this being derivative in any way o...the point about this being derivative in any way of Enemy of the State and 1984 is not something I really agree with. I think it's just a convention of the mockumentary format that's been permeated a lot on TV, that the viewer's point of view is not entirely equal to the reality of the documentarian. You as the viewer are being shown more of a story than the documentary, and the documentary can be present as much as it wants. This happens in the Office or Parks and Recreation where not every single minute is told as a documentary.sophomorecritichttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14320637485303592977noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7704583061723470804.post-29097387013717400782009-08-30T10:23:55.575-04:002009-08-30T10:23:55.575-04:00Thanks for your comment, D. Harvey. District 9 ha...Thanks for your comment, D. Harvey. <i>District 9</i> has elicited a lot of strong reactions. I found it engaging in part because so few sci-fi movies focus on the poor, and in part because I know so little about the history of South Africa. Did you see the discussion of the real District 6 near Cape Town in the recent Newsweek piece? Here's the link:<br /> http://www.newsweek.com/id/213805The Film Doctor https://www.blogger.com/profile/03073505923746994988noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7704583061723470804.post-63262793917418088562009-08-28T14:37:52.960-04:002009-08-28T14:37:52.960-04:00Smut, nothing but sadistic, brutal and empty smut!...Smut, nothing but sadistic, brutal and empty smut! As an avid South African Sci-Fi geek this movie does nothing but hit on the theme of oppression (and very violently!). This country has endured this all too well. The intended humour (if one can call it that)is both baseless and mindless. The entire plot is simply black & white versus aliens, where, 20 years ago here in SA it was white vs black. The apparent attempt at 'triumph of the spirit' (Mr Wikus) does does nothing but make a mockery of this. 'Mr Flowercamp' has tried to monopolise on this through a 'supremacist' theme. Poor taste, bad effort and NOT WORTH THE EFFORT. Mr 'Flowercamp' needs to re-evaluate his ideas.D Harveynoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7704583061723470804.post-89910022644374631052009-08-22T08:50:22.105-04:002009-08-22T08:50:22.105-04:00Movieman,
That's an astonishing amount of ana...Movieman,<br /><br />That's an astonishing amount of analysis coming from someone who hasn't seen the movie. By all means, see it, and I'd like to hear more of your thoughts then. <i>District 9</i> has gradually developed its share of detractors, but I enjoyed the way it obliged a mainstream audience to consider apartheid at all, not to mention shanty towns, institutionalized racism, immigrants, and so on. I appreciate your discussion of the Other, but the film complicates matters by bringing Nigerian gangsters into the mix. I agree that the politics can be a bit murky, and the film is implausible in places, but it still seems to me that most alien/blockbuster/franchise/-type films tend to reaffirm the prejudices of its audience--such as in <i>G. I. Joe</i> and <i>Independence Day</i>. <i>District 9</i> does not, simply because it is set in Johannesburg, the kind of place more Americans would just as soon not know about at all. And I like the idea of aliens being treated as second-class citizens when they used to be given Godlike mystery and transcendence. Add in the metamorphosis theme, and you get an odd blend of the derivative and the original. I think I would have liked the film for its grunge use of special effects alone.The Film Doctor https://www.blogger.com/profile/03073505923746994988noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7704583061723470804.post-28683010909575598202009-08-22T02:51:40.723-04:002009-08-22T02:51:40.723-04:00And here's the rest:
"The more I think ...And here's the rest:<br /><br /><br />"The more I think about it, the more the whole aliens-as-apartheid theme bugs me. The ONLY way I can see it working is if it's presented, like Starship Troopers (or part of Starship Troopers, anyway), as a slyly subversive take on fascism from within the fascists' mindset. In other words, if what we're supposed to be seeing is a racist Afrikaner's paranoia filtered through sci-fi.<br /><br />That's not the sense I get from the hype (maybe I'm wrong, and someone who's seen the movie can enlighten me). It's nice that the film sympathizes with the victims of segregation and oppression, but by casting them as outsiders it is perpetuating the myth of the black African as "other" - when in fact it is was the Europeans who were the natural "others" in South Africa.<br /><br />This is not to say the "other" is always morally superior or anything, but it's a crucial fact in understanding apartheid that, it bears repeating, it was the NATIVE population, the MAJORITY of the country (do the aliens outnumber the humans in this film?), which was held down by a minority from elsewhere. When the film repurposes the scenario, it obscures an extremely important element of apartheid."<br /><br /><br />"Yeah, it's worth pointing out that I don't have a problem with movies being politically incorrect, so to speak, I just can't stand hypocrisy. Many great films are morally and/or ideologically dubious, but none that fudge or hedge on what they're about (which has aesthetic implications as well as ethical ones). So my doubts about District 9 (and they remain just doubts at this point, since I haven't seen the movie) have twofold implications. One, as you point out, is the film's moral duty - people thinking they will be getting history served through sci-fi are ill-served and those looking for a penetrating if indirect reflection of apartheid will be duped.<br /><br />But, ultimately I am more interested in the aesthetic implications of this stance. A movie's ill-conceived politics or irresponsible omissions and transformations have no real bearing on a film's worth, I think, except indirectly. Which is to say that the film's interpretation of apartheid may reflect most poorly on the film not because it's wrong but because it's intellectually lazy and, here's the real kicker, LESS INTERESTING than it would have been to show the aliens as not yet another oppressed minority (which has been done to death) but a mass suppressed by an elite group, made to feel like an "other" when, in fact, it's imprisoned in its own homeland.<br /><br />This is primarily where my doubts about District 9 arise from: it seems allegorizes history by making said history less compelling, and its treatment of the fundamental issues at stake seem sloppy and vulgar. From a distance - this is a judgement of how the film has been presented more than the film itself, obviously.<br /><br />I guess that's a little overboard, especially for a film I hadn't seen, but I wanted to make it clear that I don't think a film has to automatically be either PC or faithful to the historical record; however, creative decisions have results, and sometimes they can be poor."Joel Bockohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11238338958380683893noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7704583061723470804.post-16393992624162641042009-08-22T02:51:20.480-04:002009-08-22T02:51:20.480-04:00I'll repost what I wrote on Tony Dayoub's ...I'll repost what I wrote on Tony Dayoub's blog about this movie. I have not seen it but am skeptical based on what I've heard:<br /><br />"A friend of mine, who ended up loving the movie, described its plot to me and I have to say I was somewhat incredulous. My problems actually begin with the premise, not just the film's deviations from it (which I wouldn't know about, having not yet seen it). Why represent the victims of apartheid as outsiders, when the whole irony of apartheid was that it subjected the MAJORITY (the NATIVE majority, no less!) to rule by the few and the foreign. And why actually set the allegory in South Africa - wouldn't it work better if the setting was indeterminate?<br /><br />I have a feeling Armond White's arguments run along the same lines - I used to love reading him until his entirely predictable contrariness became as tiresome as the mindset he was reacting against.<br /><br />Anyway, I'm with you on the bait-and-switch. I felt Pan's Labyrinth did the same, albeit on a higher level: I went to excited to see a film which combined mythology with the Spanish Civil War, but while the mythical creatures were fantastic, the historical portrait was cartoonish and hence the tension between "reality" and fantasy was slack.<br /><br />I think film style has become too synthetic and screenwriting too facile to grapple with the implications ambitious mainstream filmmakers like to raise."Joel Bockohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11238338958380683893noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7704583061723470804.post-87635686168993565902009-08-19T10:33:53.584-04:002009-08-19T10:33:53.584-04:00I'm glad that you liked it, Sam. I've not...I'm glad that you liked it, Sam. I've noticed that this movie has polarized critics more than most. I've seen some persuasive posts (by Jason Bellamy and others) pointing to the movie's lack of plausibility in areas, and other problems. As much as anything, I found <i>District 9</i> so thought-provokingly different from the usual fare, I was more willing to ignore the film's weaknesses as a result.The Film Doctor https://www.blogger.com/profile/03073505923746994988noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7704583061723470804.post-20348583100500057472009-08-18T20:09:17.261-04:002009-08-18T20:09:17.261-04:00I am not pepared yet to get into this, but I loved...I am not pepared yet to get into this, but I loved the movie, and consider it one of the best films of the year. man's inhumanity to man was given a powerful treatment here in this emotional film.Sam Julianonoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7704583061723470804.post-33344711983079357152009-08-17T12:37:29.369-04:002009-08-17T12:37:29.369-04:00Such interesting look into racism, slavery and the...Such interesting look into racism, slavery and the workings of the government all mashed into one...I definitely recommend this movie..!!Cherrie Piehttp://www.vacationrentalsad.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7704583061723470804.post-13065445030238430082009-08-17T10:35:38.451-04:002009-08-17T10:35:38.451-04:00It's interesting how our responses went in two...It's interesting how our responses went in two different directions. The documentary beginning and the emphasis on slum conditions led me to take the film very seriously, probably more so that the filmmakers intended. I found myself brought up short by the familiar science fiction elements, especially the <i>Iron Man</i> get-up and the <i>G. I. Joe</i>-like weapons, but I understand that they were included in part for commercial reasons. I also liked dwelling on how many other movies include the "suicide mission" on the enemy compound. There's <i>The Wizard of Oz</i>, <i>Star Wars</i>, and especially <i>Independence Day</i>, just to name a few. It seems to me that ideologically, <i>Independence Day</i> is the opposite of <i>District 9</i>, but otherwise they are very similar.<br /><br />By the way, thanks for the link on your blog.The Film Doctor https://www.blogger.com/profile/03073505923746994988noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7704583061723470804.post-50286150035498523012009-08-17T01:57:44.455-04:002009-08-17T01:57:44.455-04:00FilmDr - Your analysis of Wikus is probably more w...FilmDr - Your analysis of Wikus is probably more what the filmmakers intended than mine, but I felt his nerdy cluelessness was so over the top that he came off as funny. This might have been intended as irony - nevertheless, his character didn't quite work effectively for me in the first third of the movie. <br /><br />Then, as he transformed, I couldn't help but empathize with what was happening to him while, at the same time, I enjoyed his transformation for all its ironic significance.<br /><br />I'm still mulling over how I feel about this movie. I found myself enjoying the more generic sci-fi elements of the film: his transformation; his alliance with Christopher; the commando raid on the institution; the attempted escape in the shuttle; Wikus's last stand in the robot armor - more than I liked all the pointed commentary on segregation and heartless bureaucracy in the first third of the film. Though, I guess, I wish those parts had worked better for me.Richard Bellamyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12397053921647421425noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7704583061723470804.post-68225638408149564122009-08-16T18:30:56.577-04:002009-08-16T18:30:56.577-04:00Thanks, Hokahey. I didn't find Wikus Borat-li...Thanks, Hokahey. I didn't find Wikus Borat-like because much of his behavior can also be understood in terms of his xenophobia. Even though he's part of this supposedly benevolent bureaucracy, he still uses terms like "prawn" in a kind of unconscious speciesism (or whatever you call it). He also blithely laughs at the roasting alien embryos, not at all understanding what the aliens feel. He doesn't begin to learn what they feel until he's obliged to shoot one of them. He also has a kind of cultural blindness that one could find comical if it didn't happen all of the time in other contexts. In his ignorance, he wants to laugh at the "primitive" natives. He's a clueless bureaucrat, but his kind is needed to fulfill the larger power agendas at work in the movie. Especially when he began to wander the shanty town on official business, completely unaware of the lives he's endangering, he seemed too true to life to seem that funny.The Film Doctor https://www.blogger.com/profile/03073505923746994988noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7704583061723470804.post-45732386923609030262009-08-16T18:18:52.936-04:002009-08-16T18:18:52.936-04:00worked.
I'm done now.worked.<br /><br />I'm done now.Richard Bellamyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12397053921647421425noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7704583061723470804.post-12066840529397584712009-08-16T18:13:01.863-04:002009-08-16T18:13:01.863-04:00Uh, last line should read: not sure all of it work...Uh, last line should read: not sure all of it work.Richard Bellamyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12397053921647421425noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7704583061723470804.post-18265731191304177312009-08-16T18:11:49.810-04:002009-08-16T18:11:49.810-04:00FilmDr. - A lot of great questions here. I saw it ...FilmDr. - A lot of great questions here. I saw it last night in a packed house - looking, as you said, for summer movie thrills, but rather encountering some pretty serious shit. I saw girlfriends burying their faces in boyfriends' shoulders. I heard winces and "yuks" in response to the rather noisome visuals: vomit, piss, rotten meat, blood, garbage, mutilated alien corpses, severed limbs both human and alien. Most of that stuff appears in the first half of the film - which raises all the serious issues you present here; the second half reverts more to the typical summer movie action. (My wife also referred to the robot thing at the end as being "just like <i>Iron Man</i>.) <br /><br />But here's a question for you - I noted intentional and perhaps unintentional humor in the first half that seemed to jar; I'm not sure it worked. What do you think? First of all, Wikus is supposed to be a nerdy, bungling guy - but he seemed so over the top. I called him a South African Borat - and he's just like Borat - with the live camera going - when he goes to shanties and spouts his knowledge but unexpected things happen. I will write more about this in my own post.<br /><br />Yes, of course, all the historical parallels are there - and yet the film becomes less about those issues and more about the human's transformation - which I enjoyed. I liked a lot of aspects about this film, but I'm not all of it worked.Richard Bellamyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12397053921647421425noreply@blogger.com