A Nice Analogy About Racism and Oppression

Rating: 7/10 (4 January 2010)

An alien mothership hovers over South Africa, and millions of aliens, starving and weak, spill out. They are put into camps in District 9, a section of shacks that is poor and largely run by gang members. Weapons and food get traded on the black market. What is to be done? As I type this (January 2010), this film is ranked #102 of all time. It's a fine film, but really? Almost top 100 of all time? That seems a little fishy to me, and I suspect if I ever revise this review, it will drop to 200 or lower.
Writer and director Neill Blomkamp has taken some good science fiction -- aliens, genetic manipulation, advanced weaponry -- and combined it with a subtle, or maybe not so subtle, message about racism and South African apartheid. While there is clearly a difference between aliens and people, is it that much different from the divide amongst races? After all, the prawns in this film clearly operate on at least our level.
The apartheid analogy gets a bit muddled with the genetic aspect... I don't see white South Africans turning black, especially after ingesting fuel. But it's a story, and a well-written one at that, with no predecessors that come to mind. Blomkamp has really unleashed a unique piece of film here. Thank you, Peter Jackson, for producing this one.
If you haven't seen it, I recommend you do. Science fiction fans will obviously enjoy it, but it goes beyond that. One friend of mine, who I would not suspect is a sci-fi fan, really loved it for the message of family. Even aliens have families in District 9. I would gladly watch this one again, though I'm still confused about the interspecies prostitution.