Ideology & Pop Culture Research Essay: Feature Film Director Neill Blomkamp (District 9/Chappie)

Through futuristic science fiction feature films, writer and director Neill Blomkamp attempts to suggest the near future of the human race is easily seen as a desolate one. An imaginary dystopian future adds aspects of excitement, and interest with the help of characters, a storyline, and a plot.

The definition of dystopian is...

A dystopia (from the Greek δυσ- and τόπος, alternatively, cacotopia, kakotopia, or simply anti- utopia) is a community or society that is undesirable or frightening. (Wiki). Dystopia originally derives from the concept of utopia, a term first coined by Sir Thomas More in his corresponding book, published in 1516 (see Claeys2010: xiv). It is a place which is a non-place, simultaneously constituted by a movement of affirmation and denial” (Academia/Sertel, 2009).

Film Director Neill Blomkamp:

Neill Blomkamp is a feature film writer and director. Blomkamp is best known for his works (among others) District 9 (2009), Elysium (2013), and Chappie (2015), all of which are films of a dystopian nature. He was born in Johannesburg, South Africa, which so happens to be the location of his creation, District 9. He immigrated to Canada at the age of 18, and in 1998 graduated from a 3D animation and visual effects program at Vancouver Film School. In 2010 he was considered by Time Magazine to be one of the most influential people in the world and is now one of the top writers and directors in Hollywood if not the world.

Blomkamp believes our human problems have grown to the point where they have become inherently unsolvable. He even goes as far as to say, "We need to change our genetic makeup or create computers that will think us out of it. I don’t think humans are able to deal with what we have." (IMDb, 2009). In other words, he thinks we (humans) are not capable to fixing our mistakes, and that eventually one day we will pay for them.

Blomkamp makes politically observant films for his audiences and repetitively bases ideas on passions and interests. He is most passionate about his home town, Johannesburg. He is passionate about immigration, and globalization. He is interested in many things, like science fiction, and dystopian government. Also, he enjoys working on projects in which others are scared, even unaware of attacking.

District 9:

(District 9 - Movie Poster)

An example of this would be his story of District 9 where global immigration became that of a universal immigration issue. Aliens were forced into camps, and their government turned inside- out, and demolished. "District 9 was a singular anti-Apartheid metaphor," says Blomkamp. "I think the world has a lot of interesting race and oppression-based ideas that I would still like to explore..." (IMDb, 2009). Hopefully one day there will be a sequel, 'District 10...'

The film features strong components of xenophobia, ethnic cleansing, and government control First off, there is a Nigerian gang associated with the District. They trick and rob the prawns (the aliens) by using various unopened cans of cat foods in trade for alien weaponry. While all the time, the governmental organization running the refugee camp/show (MNU) are more worried about 'naïve' prawns than the Nigerian antagonistic druglords. This displays aspects of both bigotry, and anti-diversity...

District 9 specifically dives into xenophobia (which is the fear or hatred of strangers) when the prawns are shown living in such a ghetto, and trashy run-down refugee camp. Note the alien race are named 'prawns,' thus an earthly creature in which humans are far superior to. Their society has crumbled and singularly they are left, with simply scraps, and trash. Their camp in far from safe, and is unprotected from the foreign elements (like weather). It's as real as an interpretation of aliens combined with humans, combined with human government, then adding some fear... "There is a statue in the first scene, which is briefly shown, that shows an idealistic representation of the prawn and human. They both hold hands and the term “Paving the way to unity” is inscribed underneath the two figures. However, the symbol of anarchy is spray painted on the side of it, which represents the more current situation the ideology is presented." (Marshall, 2009).

"Ethnic cleansing is a large component to this film; MNU wants all the aliens to die off so they do not have to deal with them anymore and refrain from spending any more money to keep them held in District 9. All of these themes are shown in this first scene and are built upon later in the film, which gives the film its predominating dystopian mood." (Marshall, 2009).

To be honest, District 9 takes an undeniably pro-life position... In a certain particularly upsetting scene, the main character 'Wikus' orders MNU human soldiers with flamethrowers to burn a pile of alien eggs. He then rips out an alien feeding tube and throws it to a soldier as a 'souvenir'... "Notably, this tube closely resembles a saline injector used in partial-birth abortions. The pitiful screams of the young – casually roasted alive – are genuinely heart-wrenching. This is a powerful, provocative pro-life statement." (L. Analysis, 2009). On a lighter note, and in regards to the ending of the film. "In the last scene however, Wikus metaphorically and physically embodies the oppressed prawns and sacrifices his human life to save the prawns from further cruelty." (Marshall, 2009). This suggests a possible 'utopic' future for South Africa, and brightly shines a possibility for hope.

"Complete closure to the issues presented in the film does not occur. Most textual elements suggest a livable future, but at the same time, nothing good has changed for the prawn." (Marshall, 2009). The variance of social injustices suffered throughout District 9 gave birth to a violent storm of hatred that should never have formed in the first place.

There are many different theories out there, regarding certain aspects of the story... One is that Wikus the main character's pain he felt during his transformation resembles that of a religious Christian story. This is rather meaningful. "What if the aliens, seemingly so foreign and worthy of extinction, are a metaphor for something else? Perhaps such as people are to the Church?" (L. Analysis, 2009).

The protagonistic aliens, or 'prawns' originally planned to remain innocent, though were exploited by those who unlawfully had taken advantage of them. They (the aliens) showed undying signs of love, compassion, and honour towards the humans and humans around them are simply too blind to see it. It's just sad... "In the same way, God’s people have never been truly understood by the rest of society, they are often persecuted by hostile forces and constantly maligned by the media. The process of entering the Christian life just like Wikus’ transformation into an alien may be agonizing at first, but ultimately, our faith and practice separate us from the rest of the world." (L. Analysis, 2009).

“In District 9, class as the indicator for segregation has been replaced by race. The declaration of the prawns as a subordinate race forms the key component in the justification for their mistreatment and oppression. The prawn doesn’t really understand the concept of ownership of property. So we have to come there and say, “Listen, this is our land. Please will you go?”(10:20)." (Academia/Sertel, 2009). "As the social illegitimacies are a direct result of political operations, it can further be labelled as a polit-dystopia." (Academia/Sertel, 2009). "Only be crossing over the sea, either real or imagined, we will eventually be able to realize that ‘They’ is only a sort of ‘We’." (Academia/Sertel, 2009).

Chappie:

(Chappie - Movie Poster)

Chappie (2015) is a film of dystopian nature which shows the portrayal of a futuristic government and their need for power and control. They use advanced technology, robotics, and bioengineering to produce robots assigned as Police Officers. The Officers/robots/units are highly effective at neutralizing the city's wrong-doers and drug dealers and do their best to keep it at it's best. The story develops when a Police Officer unit becomes conscious and begins to make decisions on his own. The orchestrating government demand the robot be destroyed and in turn attempt to prove their power. "These robots replace the police force, meaning that they don't have any sort of human-like skills to make judgment calls. These robots do such a good job, though, that other countries start placing orders for something similar." (TechTimes/Burke, 2015).

Science fiction is entirely capable and commonly used when exploring and exposing social problems." (Wsws/Schofelt, 2015). Other science fiction films may include Star Wars, Star Trek, even the comedy, Fifth Element. In regards to Chappie, "at the scripts core is the philosophical quandary of whether Chappie can develop a mind and conscience of his own?" (Variety/Chang, 2015). It is a similar reworking of Isaac Asimov's 'Three Laws of Robotics.'

"The world of Chappie is similar to our own, but with attack robots dealing with crime. As long as those robots do their job effectively, maybe this world wouldn't be such a bad place to live in." (TechTimes/Burke, 2015). The two main antagonistic gangsters in the film are played by none other than Ninja and Yo-Landi of the globally popular band, Die Antwood.

Kicker/Other dystopian feature films:

Click here for a list of other dystopian films: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_dystopian_films

Sources/Works Cited:

Definition of Dystopian. (n.d.). Retrieved April 14, 2016, from https://www.google.ca/

webhp?sourceid=chrome-instant

District 9 Paper by Professor. (n.d.). Retrieved April 14, 2016, from https:// view.officeapps.live.com/op/view.aspx src=http://www.akastatistic.org/ WikiCoursesPapers/2011SCMC350L/ Marshall_Justin_Paper1_District9_TextualAnalysis.docx

Looking Back At Hollywood's Recent Dystopias And Post-Apocalyptic Futures. (2015). Retrieved April 14, 2016, from http://www.techtimes.com/articles/108207/20151119/ breaking-down-hollywoods-bleakest-dystopias-post-apocalyptic-futures.htm

Movie Review: “District 9”. (2009). Retrieved April 14, 2016, from https:// literaryanalysis.net/2009/10/03/movie-review-district-9/

Neill Blomkamp. (n.d.). Retrieved April 14, 2016, from http://www.imdb.com/name/

nm0088955/

Variety Reviews: Chappie. (2015). Retrieved April 14, 2016, from http://variety.com/

2015/film/reviews/Chappie

When Class Becomes Race: District 9 as Polit-Dystopia. (n.d.). Retrieved April 14, 2016, from - http://www.academia.edu/11257105/ When_Class_Becomes_Race_District_9_as_Polit-Dystopia

World Socialist Web Site - Chappie. (n.d.). Retrieved April 14, 2016, from https:// www.wsws.org/en/articles/2015/03/21/chap-m21.html