I just returned from watching Peter Jackson’s film “District 9” and (apartheid aside) here’s a perspective:
I see everything through a kaleidoscope with colored jewels forming crosses in various shapes and colors, and so it is with District 9. If find it both refreshing and alarming that filmmakers and script writers tend to go with their intuition, even spiritual prescience, more than do most spiritual leaders of the world. Let me explain:
I believe that intuition is a faculty of the human spirit, just like conscience and communion. Because of our fallen humanity, or imperfection, people intuitively, as individuals and even on a national level, have an innate desire for a savior-hero. Thus the range of heroes from national epics down to folk-heroes. District 9 is awash in this intuitive impulse within humankind, as are many modern superhero films. Spiritual leaders, conversely, often get stuck in the sentimental platitudes and prosaic formulas of religion.
There are several symbols or motifs which I saw in this film which had messianic undertones. First of all is the search for and discovery of the indispensible fluid needed for joining the command module to the mother ship. The recovery of the fluid took over twenty years. The vial containing the fluid was to be protected at all costs.
The second strong messianic symbol was in the name of the one who gathered the fluid, along with the help of his son. Christopher Johnson is the alien hero the film. He leaves earth with a promise to return with help from his home planet in order to rescue his fellow aliens, derisively called prawns, and to restore the hero of the story to full humanity.
Wikus (pronounced Vih-cus), the protagonist of the story, is infected by fluid from the vial and his arm becomes alien. The arm becomes a rare commodity. The government wants to use it to fire the alien weaponry, and a Nigerian mafia boss wants to eat it in a witchcraft ritual for the same purpose. In a sense, Wikus suffers [vicar]iously because his arm is exposed to humanity.
Near the end of the film, a full long shot of the camera is on the side of a building painted with graffiti. The huge letters fill the background and spells the word “NAME” two times.
Finally, Wikus’ recovery as a human and his restoration to his wife has to be sacrificed for the race of aliens. Christopher has to use the fluid to power his ship’s return to his home planet for help rather than using it to save Wikus.
In summary: The fluid is what can save the aliens, like the blood of Christ saves humanity; Wikus’ [a vicar is a priest] arm is symbolic in that the arm and the hand (not the left, but the right hand in particular) are universal symbols of military deliverance and divine salvation, and especially in that the arm is exposed, or laid bare.
The alien Christopher Johnson (Christopher means “Christ bearing”) prepares 28 years for the fluid which will save his people, much like the preparation time of Christ. He survives a beating where blood runs down his face. Finally he escapes and leaves the earth with a promise to return to save his people, as well as the restoration of the protaganist, an shadowy allusion to resurrection, in three years, compared to three days of Christ’s resurrection.
You may think this is all a stretch, but remember this fact: an overwhelming majority of people think there will be some kind of apocalyptic [hero-revealing] event in the near future, something not even the churches are talking about much now, at least not until they see this extraordinarily crafted film.
This film is rated R because it deals briefly with prostitution and drops f-bombs in strangly-accented clusters.
That’s how I see it!
Lamar Howell's Weblog 
Wow, that’s awesome. That kind of blew my mind a little bit. I like what you said about intuition being a faculty of the human spirit. I’m impressed.
I have a theory that there is some sort of revelation given to outstanding writers (not all of them necessarily good writers). Many times movies and books portray deep truths quite powerfully, often in spite of the skepticism of their writers. I wonder if maybe it’s part of God’s plan, that he’s popping signs up in front of us like the guy in the fright wig and the John 3:16 sign who used to haunt baseball games. The culture tends to seize on those movies or those books because they speak to something we know down inside even if we disbelieve it on the surface. It can show up even in obnoxious shows like the Simpsons (although I don’t think Seinfeld ever rang any deep chords with me).
Actually it was Wikus left hand that was changed. How does this small detail change the analysis of the story. Secondly, they might have been aliens, but their oppression was still the more inhuman.
Oops!!! I was so over-the-top with my enthusiasm that I jumped to conclusions. Thanks. I agree, it was inhumane. The part that brought that across so poignantly was when the prawn was painted with a red X then shot like a firing squad would do to a political prisoner.
(Don’t take my analyses too seriously, after all, I’m not Christopher Kelly!)
I”VE STILL GOT LEAD IN MY HAND!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!:)
Why are all your analysis about religion? I has nothing to do with religion. That’s the only thing you can think about? So cliché.
Religion is the most basic value of man, esp. when it comes to laying down your life. It ranks above patriotism and even family. It has been and always will be the value which will be defended and sacrificed for above all others. It is not only also cliche to rule out spirituality from life but it is also a sign of recklessness. Don’t make the mistake of marginalizing me and please don’t patronize me. Let’s talk to me civilly and intelligently.
I’m sorry to reply this late, but I just watched this movie last night.
I don’t agree on the religious tint that you’re giving the film, as I saw nothing in it that conveyed a religious undertone or symbolism. As I kept watching the film, I was shocked by the incredibly humane actions that gave the characters some credibility and helped me get immersed in its imaginary universe. The writers may have created characters or situations that mirror religious beliefs, but to be honest I didn’t see it.
Now, I’m not saying that you shouldn’t give the movie a spiritual meaning, that would just be stupid. Instead, I would like to elaborate on what you said above about putting religion in front of family and country, and explain what I saw in the same film that you reviewed.
The thing that gets placed in front of every character and situation is not religion, but rather selfishness. The prawns arrived, were given a place to stay and they behaved like mindless beasts. They traded guns for cat food because they really liked cat food, not because they wanted to help out humanity by giving it some technology. MNU and the Nigerians wanted to use alien technology for unknown purposes (I say unknown because they never get to really experiment with it and it would be stupid to assume that only war was on their minds.)
Wikus was carrying out a job that involved abuse towards another race. He was carrying it out because he wanted to be respected and admired by his wife and her father (who placed Wikus on said job.) His only intention was to excel at his work, regardless of what it meant to the alien race he was set to evict from District 9.
As the story unfolds, you can see how his selfishness is what carries him through the ordeal. He wants to go back to normal so he can go back to his wife; he is not on a mission to unify races, or to save the world. He’s in a race to restore his previous self and carry on with his normal life. He goes on a killing rampage to get the fluid because it was the only way he could go back to normal. He didn’t do it so the prawns could go back to their planet, he did it so he could go back to normal.
When they finally get the fluid, Christopher lets him know that he needs to help his race first, which is the first selfless action in the film. He will go back home so he can get help for his unfortunate brothers. Wikus flips out when he finds out when he hears the news, and is willing to leave every prawn to die on Earth if that’s what it takes to go back to normal. He knocks Christopher unconscious and takes his child, not because he cares, but because he’s the only one that can operate the ship.
From the very start of the film, you can see that Christopher’s only intention is to help out and get everyone out of Earth; out of the terrible conditions that they’re in. In contrast, Wikus doesn’t really help anyone until the very end, when his transformation is almost done. At first, he abandons Christopher when he had a chance to save him (and you can see Christopher’s disappointment when this happens, as if Wikus hadn’t learned anything yet) but then he turns back and saves him for a sure death.
Now, what I see in the movie is incredibly selfish people only looking to satisfy their own needs. It’s not until Wikus starts transforming into a prawn that he sees things differently and is willing to help others. At the very end, he sacrifices himself so Christopher can go with his child and return home… when Wikus’ transformation is almost complete.
Redemption doesn’t come until you can see a situation from another perspective, and help people achieve goals, even if that means that you won’t achieve them yourself. They portrayed us as monsters, not of the flesh, but of the soul.
“…intuition is a faculty of the human spirit…”. I believe in such a this as the experience fo a paradigm shift. We hope to achieve a paradigm shift when we learn the absolute truth and not a lie (hopefully). I like to use the MAtrix or should I say Platos cavern as an example to explain a paradigm shift. This can occur on many levels for example when you listen to a story that “touchs you”, that “moves you” like in the Qur’an or about an alien invasion or 2012. The story in district 9 is a story of a thousand names, another attempt at securing what is the human intuition. It has been given, traded, sold and told many times over.
In essence, a deity has to make the “right choice” in order to save X from Y. X are the aliens who are kept captive because of some weird addiction to cat food (Did I get that right?) , Y the certain humans whom want them there to obtain more power through their alien weapon technology and the deity is the human/alien who makes we hope the right choice for humanity. The deity is a two faced man, both physicaly and morally with a choices: to succumb to his love for his wife and become a human again and die, surrender his body to the psycho power hungry gouverment and die or to show compassion and help the visitors from another mother go home…………….and live? Okay, you got me! Three faced deity. Beat that Batman! :p With Great power comes great responsibility *rings a bell doesn’t it* So all in all, wether it’s one messiah or another, he/she/it makes the right decision thus enforcing again this same intuition that has been resonating under different story titles for ages. I like to say: ” music translates to us what others can feel and stories what they did with those feelings. ”
Do you think, that forced with a different species, humans would reject them naturaly or would they follow what our collection of stories have been telling us for ages ?
When the guy finds the fluid, just before he opens the capsule that infects him, I paused it. On the wall was a newspaper, upside down and on it said
“It takes one symbol to signify a cause but many to champion it”
Just thought I would mention it.
Thanks
Awesome and powerful observation! I checked it out, and found it!
Also in this movie, did you notice MNU phone number, 866-666-6001. A 666 reference. Not that I am religious in anyway but this stuff is appearing far too often for my liking.
Also notice at the end of this movie when Wikus has an alien eye, well muslims believe in something called the dajall, which is and correct me if I am wrong, the anti christ. They say that this anti christ will have be blind in the right eye which looks like a bulging grape.
Maybe it’s just me. What does anyone else make of it?
It was his left hand that became alien and his left eye.
There’s also a “baphomet” in an upside-down pentagram on the human “stormtroopers” breastplates. What’s up with that??
I do not know but these observations can be seen not only in movies, but also in pop music videos (exlcuding most metal videos/music for obvious reasons) and cartoons. I don’t know why but if I was a religious person, then I would say that there is some kind of secret war on our brains, and I don’t think it’s the good guys pulling the strings.
Cynic, I would say you’re onto something. And, as you demonstrate, it doesn’t take a religious person to recognize it.
District 9 is about apartheid and District 6 were the occupants were forced to leave their homes for a “better place”. The fluid which took 28 years to prduce parrallels Mandelas imprisonment. Even the spacecraft which “finally showed a sign of movement after 2 decades” represents Mandela’s release from Robben island. And “Everyboody will be waiting to see what will happen next” is the expectations of him running for president. The entire film reaks of the apartheid system, the methods used to remove the prawns, betrayal and bending of rules within MNU protray the corruption that took place.
John
I agree John, the movie is not of major religious significance and the comment somewhere above of religion being put before family and anything else was a load of crap. (I don’t mean that offensively but there’s so much to go against what was said that it made me pissed off the guy even said it) The article was well written in layout and style however i think your over examining. There is allot of evidence to support the idea of its links with apartheid that John mentioned, as well as the fact that the WACE examinations of Year 12 students in Australia involve essay topics upon apartheid and District 9, nothing on religion or spirituality. Also the fact that the Nigerian government banned district 9 and sent strong messages to the place of its creation, (South Africa) was not for religious reasons but because it portrayed the likeness of the Nigerians in the film with what the Nigerians did in real life with District 6. (Flip the 6 and you get a 9, wullah! :p) I also liked what the other guy sad about selfishness, that is a pretty recurring theme if you think about it, and definitely supported within the text.
It’s fun seeing all the perspectives about the analysis. You have to realize though that the more biblical knowledge people have, the more they can see that literature and stories, including screenplays, are laced with spiritual motifs. Rather than our own opinions guiding our interpretations of meanings, we must not fail to consider the preponderance of historical and literary precedent. Sadly, some people have limited knowledge of the Bible, its cultural and historical derivation, or its place in history and contemporary culture, so it is only natural that they will not see spiritual analogies or allusions. But to ridicule those who see them seems dishonest. Surprisingly, Hollywood sometimes has more intuition than we give them credit for, and they are well-educated enough to recognize heroic, sacrificial themes of Scripture, themes which can never be even approximated again.
By the way, the fact that the movie is about apartheid really goes without saying. Why state the obvious?
I just think the film’s a commentary on immigration and the old favourite, ‘mans’ inhumanity to man’. Quite loved the ironic line ‘If they were from another country we might understand…’ near the beginning.
And I think another overiding message is that there is no escaping corruption.
That is the most far fetched conclusion I have ever seen. Don’t make links from god to the film, make links from the film to god. Almost anything anyone says/does can be bent to fit a religious box but that doesn’t make it true. Even if god did exist.
Speculating that God does NOT exist doesn’t serve to strengthen your point. What is your point? I am not trying to PROVE anything. You would have to ask the creator of the film what his symbols meant. I’m only saying it is a medium to point out biblical themes and motifs. If someone is not versed on the preponderance of literature and widely-known symbols out there which are derived from the Bible, would it be academic or professional to bash the perspective of someone who is?
Why no sequel?