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Sunday, August 16, 2009

District 6

I'm an alien, I'm a legal alien, I'm an Englishman in New York... (Sting and Police)

I saw District 9 this weekned and at first I wondered, "where are they going with this alien ish"? I was not even sure if I liked it and would have left the cinema if we had not paid for it. After the first 15 minutes however, I started wondering if it might be a satire and decided to think of it as such. Apparently, the eviction and relocation of the aliens is based on District Six, a former inner-city residential area in Cape Town, South Africa. The district was declared a 'whites only' area by the apartheid government in 1966 and the population of 60,000 forcibly removed to Cape Flats, 25 kilometres away during the following years.

This movie really got me thinking about Zimbabwe's current situation too. There are so many individuals and organizations with good intentions but when good intentions go bad, who remains to clean up the mess? Ever heard the saying " the road to hell is paved with good intentions? I think various international aid groups need to watch this movie. Sometimes, I feel like everyone wants to do so much good that they forget about the needs of the people in need.

I also begun thinking about America with it's non-immigrant laws which don't really seem to make much sense to me sometimes. At times, it feels almost as if once you are not born here, you are an inferior breed. I wonder if any of those law-makers have any non-immigrant relatives and if they have ever bothered to ask about the challenges of these people. I almost understand why there are so many illegal aliens! I do! How do you pay for legal fees that run in the $1000s and forms that cost an arm and a leg when you are unable to work legally? hmm... The focus of ones help can never be put above the needs of the person in need. Every now and then, we need to evaluate and re-evaluate our decisions. I'm still in thought. I could be wrong.

ps: If you're Nigerian, you MUST see this movie!...lol...
pss: 50th post! whoop, whoop!

8 comments:

MIghTy African said...

lol, thanks for not giving the movie away. I caught a couple of minutes of it this weekend when I sneaked in to watch it after I'd seen G. I. Joe. Will blog about it after I see it, the little I saw created some chatter already.

lol #2 at the Nigerians. As if they weren't troubled enough in Jerusalema, now District 9? http://mightyafrican.blogspot.com/2009/05/south-african-movie-jerusalema-issues.html

I have to watch the movie to see the whole immigrant issue stuff but yes, the anti-immigrant laws need to be checked and re-evaluated.

Sweetnothin' said...

congrats on your 50th post.....

nice.. you should get a job as a movie critic. I don't think i will be watching this movie. Me and aliens just don't work

Kwegyirba said...

I've seen the trailer of this movie over and over on TV but it has never appealed to me. Now that you think of it as a satire, I'm keen to watch. Immigration always is a big issue for the developed 'world'. But really, maybe if we stayed home more and put more effort into nation building, we won't give them cause to throw their weight about. It can be viewed from both angles... Whaddya think?

Unknown said...

@Mighty African- You have to think of it as a satire to get the whole immigration drift I think...
@Sweetnothin'- Job as a movie critic? hmmm...well thanks ma dear!hehe
@Kwegyirba- Wouldn't that be a perfect world? Where no one travelled to anyones country and we all stayed in our wonderful bubbles!?!...hehe...It could be looked at in both ways I'm sure! Go watch the movie, girl!hehe

Roc said...

Never have been a movie buff..
But on this review I just might look out for it..

Unknown said...

@Roc- Glad I got you sucked in!I see to many movies...hehe

Boakyewaa Glover said...

I watched it too. the first 15mins was slow though. But I did like the rest of it, esp since the lead character wasn't perfect. he harbored resentment for the aliens, not violent per se, but he still disrespected them, even after he started to change. so he wasn't this deeply emotional and sensitive guy.
I think thats deep. Its like inter-racial kids, there is always that one side that is so strong, that even though you're part of multiple things, you always tend to align with one side more.
There is a message in the movie, and its subtle. And its like Peter Jackson said in an interview, you don't need to blow things up for 2 hours (Transformers) to make a good movie. Even the black people in SA who had suffered apartheid and been forced to live in camps and shanty towns were against the aliens. One guy said 'if they were from earth fine, but they're not'. So there is always some group that you just dont wanna deal with. Its always, well if there were from my town fine, or if they were from my country, or continent, etc.
Human beings are affilial, we only feel complete when we align with some group or something.
just the way it is.
Good movie though, interesting one.

Unknown said...

@Boakyewaa- True words. Someone once told me, everybody needs somebody;there is always the need to belong :)