Film Medical Theme: Xenophobie

District -9

Language : English

Year : 2009

Medical Theme : Xenophobia / Social Segregation

Actors : Sharlto Copley, Jason Cope, David James

Storline : Xenophobia is defined as the fear or hatred of foreigners and their culture. District-9 an Oscar nominated movie presents xenophobia on a larger scale where you do not find aliens or predators attacking planet earth but how we human beings entangled in our fears make matters worse for ourselves. An alien space craft with creatures locally referred by the residents as “Prawns” hovers over Johannesburg. At District-9 these creatures are provided with accommodation and shelter and soon the area becomes a slum, their growing number becomes a cause of worry for the people of Johannesburg. A mission to clear them to a larger space is handed over to MNU, a private military company. The story takes a twist when the lead star Sharlto Copley gets infected by the liquid secretion of the prawn in an interview that turns violent. His body soon begins to transform into a prawn and he becomes a huge asset for bio-technology researches which would require his body being torn apart for study. Sharlto as Wikus survives the battle with the help of some prawn friends and waits for his remedy, to become human again. Wikus becoming humane while he becomes less human is the irony that district-9 presents to its audience.