In 1982, a massive star ship bearing a bedraggled alien population, nicknamed "The Prawns," appeared over Johannesburg, South Africa. Twenty-eight years later, the initial welcome by the human population has faded. The refugee camp where the aliens were located has deteriorated into a militarized ghetto called District 9, where they are confined and exploited in squalor. In 2010, the munitions corporation, Multi-National United, is contracted to forcibly evict the population with operative Wikus van der Merwe in charge. In this operation, Wikus is exposed to a strange alien chemical and must rely on the help of his only two new 'Prawn' friends.
There are two layers in the film, the obvious, and the underlying layer. The first being the overall plot, which is how Wikus tries to evict the alien residences out of their current location, into a new, smaller location known as District 10. Everything seems to be going according to plan until he stumbles onto an alien chemical which thus turns him into a 'Prawn'. He then needs the help of the aliens he was just recently trying to evict, to return to normal. Then comes the second, deeper layer. The overall population of Johannesburg wants the alien culture to leave, because they think that they're using up space and resources. One woman even says, "They're spending so much money to keep them here, when they could be using it for other things...". Once Wikus starts to change into one of the 'Prawns' he then is hunted out by the government to see how his body has changed. This shows that the overall mission of the Multi-National United is not quite as helpful as it sounds, they want to know more about the alien technologie and weapons, for profit for themselves.
District 9 isn't your regular science-fiction film. I mean, sure it has aliens, and battles and such, but the whole sense of it all goes a lot deeper. The fact that the film is shot in a documentary style makes it that much more believable, as well as conveys the theme of darkness quite well. Also, the setting really does the movie well in terms of conveying darkness, due to the shanty town-like setting, it really makes everything so believable. One scene comes to mind, is that, this company who supposedly has "the best interest" for the aliens, is at one point shown through closed doors, that they're really using the aliens as human targets to figure out how the alien weaponry works. This really showed how this aren't always what they seem to be.
Characters can easily represent darkness by typically being the antagonist, or simply being an evil person. In District 9, it's all based on perspective to who the evil is. At the start of the movie, Wikus is trying to evict the aliens from their homes so he is evil to them, but the second half on the movie, he's fighting against MNU, the company he onced served, as so he is evil to them.
I was able to make numerous connections in regards to this film. A connect from text to text would be the film Law Abiding Citizen, where everyone is turned against the main character, and he is forced to fight and save himself. A connection from text to self would be how I hate going to the doctor. For example, if I start getting sick, then my mom will say "Oh maybe we should have someone check you out to make sure you're okay.", to which I usually reply: "No, I'll be fine.". This is essentially what happened in District 9, only on a much bigger scale. A connection from text to world, would be how hypocritical some people can be when it comes to certain things. For example is the overuse of resources on our planet. Some people go on and on complaining about how we need to find different sources of energy, and then they go and fill up their car with gas. This relates to the movie because they population of Johanessburg really doesn't want to put up with the new alien population.
Finally I connect this all to the essential question: How does the media shape our view of the world? This is where I found District 9 to be extremely powerful as a movie. There were advertisments everywhere saying this such as, "This area is for humans only" or things such as "10 non-human sightings today". These weren't only just in the film, but were used as real ads for everyday life in our world. It really showed how the Multi-Nation United company was influencing the population to believe that these creatures were bad and should be kept seperate from the regular public.
Wednesday, January 19, 2011
Sunday, January 16, 2011
There are a lot of secrets in District 9...
Movie in question: District 9
Questions:
What are the layers of context/setting in this film?
Well there is the layer of setting, because the whole movie is set in Johannesburg, which isn't the richest city in the world. As also mentioned in the trailer, one woman says "They're spending so much money on keeping them here, when they could be using it for other things...". This tells us that the context of the story is that the population is unhappy, they don't want this foreign life invading their space. Also mentioned in the trailer, is that the aliens "came here 28 years ago". This tells us that the governement has been putting up with them for a long time, and is possibly getting frustrated with the lack of progress.
How does the filmmaker convey evil or darkness? Is it through the plot, imagery, characters, setting? What expressions of darkness had the most impact on you and why?
District 9 isn't your regular science-fiction film. I mean, sure it has aliens, and battles and such, but the whole sense of it all goes a lot deeper. The fact that the film is shot in a documentary style makes it that much more believable, as well as conveys the theme of darkness quite well. Also, the setting really does the movie well in terms of conveying darkness, due to the shanty town-like setting, it really makes everything so believable. The express of darkness which had the biggest impact on me, were the people. It shows how hypocritical we can all really be, and how we all have this incredible fear of the unknown.
How can a character represent darkness? Who or what is evil in this film? From whose perspective or in what context?
Characters can easily represent darkness by typically being the antagonist, or simply being an evil person. In District 9, it's all based on perspective to who the evil is. At the start of the movie, the main character is trying to evict the aliens from their homes so he is evil to them, but the second half on the movie, he's fighting against MNU, the company he onced served, as so he is evil to them.
What factors contribute to the character's evil actions? What patterns in society or contexts help and/or hinder and/or change his behaviour?
A lot of the movie I found to be karma, which lead to the overall plot of the story. The main character was in a sense, a bad person because of what he was trying to do to all the aliens. But when he became one of them, then he begs for them to help him. A lot of issues that are in society came up, but the biggest two are being hypocritical and having a fear of the unknown.
What are the roots of this person's choices/evil/dark behaviour? What are the choices he/she makes or could have done differently?
Mostly, the darkness came from simply doing the job he was given. I can understand that the majority of the population was fearful of the aliens, considering that they knew little to nothing about them, but that shouldn't have given them the right to evict them of their temporary homes. I think that if our main character had noticed the problems he discovered later in the movie, sooner, then this could have ultimately lead to an uprising of resistance to help protect the aliens from the problems they were about to face.
How does this character/plot/setting symbolize the darkness in all of us? In humanity?
I think the main character easily symbolized the darkness in humanity, due to the fact that he easily demonstrated our great fear for the unknown.
Trailer:
What are the layers of context/setting in this film?
Well there is the layer of setting, because the whole movie is set in Johannesburg, which isn't the richest city in the world. As also mentioned in the trailer, one woman says "They're spending so much money on keeping them here, when they could be using it for other things...". This tells us that the context of the story is that the population is unhappy, they don't want this foreign life invading their space. Also mentioned in the trailer, is that the aliens "came here 28 years ago". This tells us that the governement has been putting up with them for a long time, and is possibly getting frustrated with the lack of progress.
How does the filmmaker convey evil or darkness? Is it through the plot, imagery, characters, setting? What expressions of darkness had the most impact on you and why?
District 9 isn't your regular science-fiction film. I mean, sure it has aliens, and battles and such, but the whole sense of it all goes a lot deeper. The fact that the film is shot in a documentary style makes it that much more believable, as well as conveys the theme of darkness quite well. Also, the setting really does the movie well in terms of conveying darkness, due to the shanty town-like setting, it really makes everything so believable. The express of darkness which had the biggest impact on me, were the people. It shows how hypocritical we can all really be, and how we all have this incredible fear of the unknown.
How can a character represent darkness? Who or what is evil in this film? From whose perspective or in what context?
Characters can easily represent darkness by typically being the antagonist, or simply being an evil person. In District 9, it's all based on perspective to who the evil is. At the start of the movie, the main character is trying to evict the aliens from their homes so he is evil to them, but the second half on the movie, he's fighting against MNU, the company he onced served, as so he is evil to them.
What factors contribute to the character's evil actions? What patterns in society or contexts help and/or hinder and/or change his behaviour?
A lot of the movie I found to be karma, which lead to the overall plot of the story. The main character was in a sense, a bad person because of what he was trying to do to all the aliens. But when he became one of them, then he begs for them to help him. A lot of issues that are in society came up, but the biggest two are being hypocritical and having a fear of the unknown.
What are the roots of this person's choices/evil/dark behaviour? What are the choices he/she makes or could have done differently?
Mostly, the darkness came from simply doing the job he was given. I can understand that the majority of the population was fearful of the aliens, considering that they knew little to nothing about them, but that shouldn't have given them the right to evict them of their temporary homes. I think that if our main character had noticed the problems he discovered later in the movie, sooner, then this could have ultimately lead to an uprising of resistance to help protect the aliens from the problems they were about to face.
How does this character/plot/setting symbolize the darkness in all of us? In humanity?
I think the main character easily symbolized the darkness in humanity, due to the fact that he easily demonstrated our great fear for the unknown.
Tuesday, January 11, 2011
Who leaves wine at the end of a dark tunnel?
What are the layers of context/setting in this film?
Well, first off there is the obvious layer, which is the setting of the carnival/festival and the the ancient catacombs, and I think the whole thing takes place in Venice? As well in this layer, is the characters, with the one who wants revenge and the one who is getting what he deserves. Then there are the actions of each of the characters, what they warrant for what the get. Then there is the second layer which is the feeling, which is revenge, and darkness and deception. This helps take the mood to a whole new level of darkness, which is shown through the darkness of the setting and the themes. Then there is the final layer, which is, how is it created? Everything in the story is put there for a reason. For the majority, every part of this makes it dark. The characters, the setting, the theme, the mood, it all adds to the to the creation of the story.
How does the filmmaker convey evil or darkness? Is it through the plot, imagery, characters, setting? What expressions of darkness had the most impact on you and why?
Practically every part of hte story added to convey the darkness. The plot, the imaging, the characters, the setting, all of it was part of the grand master plan which made the story as dark as it was. The expression that had the most impact on me, we're the characters, and how cunning one of them was to plan the entire series of events out and make everything happen for a reason.
How can a character represent darkness? Who or what is evil in this film? From whose perspective or in what context?
A character can represent darkness, usually through evil, or simply being the antagonist in the story. The entire story itself was evil. Every bit of the story added together to create the whole dark atmosphere, but it was the characters who held the evil with them. They held it in the context of revenge, and insult to one another without much remorse.What factors contribute to the character's evil actions? What patterns in society or contexts help and/or hinder and/or change his behaviour?
What are the roots of this person's choices/evil/dark behaviour? What are the choices he/she makes or could have done differently?
How does this character/plot/setting symbolize the darkness in all of us? In humanity?
Well, first off there is the obvious layer, which is the setting of the carnival/festival and the the ancient catacombs, and I think the whole thing takes place in Venice? As well in this layer, is the characters, with the one who wants revenge and the one who is getting what he deserves. Then there are the actions of each of the characters, what they warrant for what the get. Then there is the second layer which is the feeling, which is revenge, and darkness and deception. This helps take the mood to a whole new level of darkness, which is shown through the darkness of the setting and the themes. Then there is the final layer, which is, how is it created? Everything in the story is put there for a reason. For the majority, every part of this makes it dark. The characters, the setting, the theme, the mood, it all adds to the to the creation of the story.
How does the filmmaker convey evil or darkness? Is it through the plot, imagery, characters, setting? What expressions of darkness had the most impact on you and why?
Practically every part of hte story added to convey the darkness. The plot, the imaging, the characters, the setting, all of it was part of the grand master plan which made the story as dark as it was. The expression that had the most impact on me, we're the characters, and how cunning one of them was to plan the entire series of events out and make everything happen for a reason.
How can a character represent darkness? Who or what is evil in this film? From whose perspective or in what context?
A character can represent darkness, usually through evil, or simply being the antagonist in the story. The entire story itself was evil. Every bit of the story added together to create the whole dark atmosphere, but it was the characters who held the evil with them. They held it in the context of revenge, and insult to one another without much remorse.What factors contribute to the character's evil actions? What patterns in society or contexts help and/or hinder and/or change his behaviour?
What are the roots of this person's choices/evil/dark behaviour? What are the choices he/she makes or could have done differently?
How does this character/plot/setting symbolize the darkness in all of us? In humanity?
response
I like how you have taken a different toll and approach to darkness. Good support at brining in specific examples to back up what you are saying adn your points are well explained and understood. Good insight into the topic.
Monday, January 10, 2011
Why do we have darkness in our world?
Well before answering this, we must have a firm grasp on what darkness is. It can take many different forms, and has many different meanings to different people. First off, there is the standard, and most logical factor; darkness is an area which is absent of light. This is caused by the science which involves light and colour waves and how the are absorbed or reflected off different surfaces, but overall it's a very dull and boring thing to talk about, so we move on. Next up, is the fact that darkness can be used as a sense of unknown. For example, if your teacher we to instruct you as to how to write an essay, but didn't tell you how to quote, your knowledge of quoting in regards to essay writing would be in the dark. Needless to say, this makes knowledge, light, and a very powerful tool against darkness. Which brings us to our third and final point which is that darkness is often used in the sense of moral values. There is always a struggle between what is good and evil, light and dark. This is due to the fact of the ever shifting list of priorities in regards to how we see ourselves morally.
Now, this brings us back to the original question, of "why?". Well, that is quite simple in fact, if you recall back to what we've just gone over. In the first sense, it's scientific, we have legitimate proof to show that there will always be light and darkness to do the very fabric of nature, and we can't change that because we can physically bend light without breaking the laws of physics. Secondly, the idea of knowledge. We have this area of darkness which shrouds our knowledge which is light. There is but one simple key to this, knowledge itself. No one can possibly ever know everything that there ever is to know, it's just impossible. So there is no way to remove this sense of darkness around things we don't know, and perhaps never will know. Third and finally, the sense of moral values. This one is a little bit more tricky, and you have to be open minded to accept the idea. Think of it like this, everyone has certain values, and certain moral instincts that go with those values, correct? And yet, we all want to make a world free of all problems, where everything works out perfectly, in the sense that we would then have a perfect world, correct? Well then, if everyone has different values, and different morals, that they feel should be prioritized in this "perfect world" then how do we create perfection? Something that suits everyone's needs and desires? It's impossible, therefore, there will always be darkness. But look on the bright side, there will always be light to in contrast with this darkness.
Now, this brings us back to the original question, of "why?". Well, that is quite simple in fact, if you recall back to what we've just gone over. In the first sense, it's scientific, we have legitimate proof to show that there will always be light and darkness to do the very fabric of nature, and we can't change that because we can physically bend light without breaking the laws of physics. Secondly, the idea of knowledge. We have this area of darkness which shrouds our knowledge which is light. There is but one simple key to this, knowledge itself. No one can possibly ever know everything that there ever is to know, it's just impossible. So there is no way to remove this sense of darkness around things we don't know, and perhaps never will know. Third and finally, the sense of moral values. This one is a little bit more tricky, and you have to be open minded to accept the idea. Think of it like this, everyone has certain values, and certain moral instincts that go with those values, correct? And yet, we all want to make a world free of all problems, where everything works out perfectly, in the sense that we would then have a perfect world, correct? Well then, if everyone has different values, and different morals, that they feel should be prioritized in this "perfect world" then how do we create perfection? Something that suits everyone's needs and desires? It's impossible, therefore, there will always be darkness. But look on the bright side, there will always be light to in contrast with this darkness.
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