An Unchallenging, Simplified View of Racism Leaves Much to Be Desired

Rating: 4/10 (19 July 2014)

After I watched District 9, if you told me that it was considered a decent, lesser-known sci-fi action film, I'd be moderately impressed. The setting of the South African ghettos is unique for this genre and well-executed, and the CGI is quite good for the time and budget. But I can't disagree more with those claiming its one of the best sci-fi films of all time. To say it is an accurate allegory of human racism is like saying Salon Kitty exposes the flaws of the Nazi regime.
Prejudice does not grow on trees. People don't hate everyone that's different from them. There are centuries of cultural evolution and conflict behind people's perceptions. While some people see other races and ethnicities as dumb or savage, they rarely treat everyone with disdain. For example, a white person who hates "ghetto" culture may find the work-ethic of East Asian nations admirable. Its a complex, important topic that needs to be addressed to break the barriers between us, yet District 9 contributes nothing to the conversation but villainous stereotypes.
As far as I know, the Prawns have done nothing to even agitate the human race. Yet the South African government, completely unimpressed by the appearance of intelligent life from a distant galaxy, does not show a shred of humanity. They send the Prawns to ghettos, kill them in weapons tests, and even abort their unborn without a second thought. They are just as bad as the Nazis, but without centuries of prejudice to support their actions. Yet barely any time is devoted to explaining this xenophobia. The government is evil for the sake of being evil, and is thus unrelatable to prejudices seen today.
Just because the film brings up racism in a new context does not mean it should get a participation trophy. Its ultimately as safe as an episode of Sesame Street, allowing its audience to pat themselves on the back, never thinking of their own prejudices. Nor would they think in Neill Blomkamp's next film, Elysium - a practical remake of District 9 with changed nouns, discussing economic division only deep enough for it to be a plot point. The 10% of the world could pat themselves on the back, knowing that, no matter how greedy they can be, at least they're not the 1%!
I suppose it can still hold up as an action film to some degree. But when all the praise seems so misplaced, its hard to ignore the bad world building and stock, two-dimensional characters. Its an alright popcorn flick, but even among action films, you can find many with better plots and characters. I personally wouldn't even recommend it to sci-fi fans, who usually seek films with intelligent writing, not a generic action movie with a sci-fi coat of paint. A lot apparently liked District 9, but I feel that's settling when we deserve much more depth than black-and-white, good-vs-evil.