District 9 vs. Avatar

Mind you, this part is real

Now all writers have their strengths and weaknesses when it comes to focuses of writing. Actually that is true of all writers, but internet reviewers like me are especially prone to stylistic polarization in this degree because of the hilariously low standards we are held too. The most common method for a reviewer, and forgive me if I am just getting the hang of this, is to be hilariously critical towards everything, spurt a lot of curse words, make some hilariously offensive comments to piss people off and finally some veiled comments about sexual inadequacy. And like more critics, I am far more qualified for negative reviewers, through unlike most that is not because of my lacking a soul but instead from my absurdly high standards (and great sense of modesty to go with that). I’ve always had a talent both for blowing my own trumpet, and for articulating what is wrong with a movie, book, video game or what have you. But my weakness is positive reviews, because I tend to take ages to explain why something is good (See my M review) due to how hard it is for something to appease my unreasonable standards. So instead of trying to improve my writing talents through repetition and practice, I’m going to give in to sloth like most teenagers and so I’m not going to review Distract 9 directly but instead just show how it is better than Avatar to explain why it is good. Horary, underachievement. So, after a second brief introduction, the ten reasons why District 9 is better than Avatar.

So lets talk about the District 9. Like Avatar it is a film about humans interacting with an alien species and the humans come off as the evil ones. Underlining themes include culture shock, veiled racism and the somebody being turned into an alien. However, unlike Avatar, District 9 seemed to have people on the team who actually considering plots important rather than just subtext, and while Avatar is the cheap pornography of the science fiction world (through very good porn, but still would bore the fuck out of me), District 9 is….I’m not going to keep this metaphor going actually. Anyway, unlike Avatar District 9 is actually good, which isn’t saying very much but what ever, but even on its own it is a good movie. And so, lets have the contrast

1) Concept. Now neither film is really a paragon of originality. Avatar is just Dances with Wolves with aliens and District 9 is the South African Apartheid all over again but with aliens. Actually just that is a sigh of why the latter wins, because quite frankly, exploring the themes of racism and African culture interest me more than watching Kevin Coster’s hypocrisy combined with James Cameron’s talent for self indulgence in 3-D. But even my own massive personal bias aside, the way its done is far more interesting. Avatar is just the basic “evil military shows up, and oppresses noble natives on super special awesome sci fi world”, while District 9 is about a bunch of aliens who land in Johannesburg, South Africa, starving and on the verge of death. Lacking any real awareness of how they got there, being basically drones nor knowing hot to use any of their own technology, they are then put in the slums. Now that alone is intriguing, because…come on, that explores something human. Also, the more movies in Africa the better I say. When I heard the premise, I was honestly intrigued, even if they didn’t pull it off I was certainly into the theme, because there is so much more room for complexity in this one. And while both movies are about aliens seeing us as monsters, stand ins towards the US military have been done

2) Setting- Yeah, yeah, Pandora is an alien world full of crazy monsters and weird environments but we’ve seen that before. Now that’s fine, if they added something new, but apart from ripping off the matrix, it doesn’t really have anything to it. Now, South Africa, that I find interesting, because I’m always fascinated by human nature, and in our sheltered First World, people don’t normally don’t realize the full extent of horribleness that is African slums, and also because unlike Pandora, this isn’t just escapist fantasy, there is a lesson here. District 9 was filmed in an actual South Africa slum during an eviction, and is therefore touching a real and complicated issue, instead of simply the fantastically problems of Pandora

3) The aliens- Yeah, know that James Cameron wrote like a 300 page document explaining the Na’vi and how his planet works, but honestly, any fan fic writer could do that and still not be impressive. Within the world, the Na’vi are simply disinteresting because they lack depth. There culture is just a mix of Native American and African cliff notes, created to fulfill the “oppressed native” stereotype more than anything else. Because beyond there own language and internet like nature powers, they really don’t have any real alien trait them, they are just humans in weird bodies, nothing about them feels really alien. In contrast, the Prawns are distinctly inhuman. While they share some traits with humans, they also are just really weird. The aliens who land for the most part simply want to eat cat food and wander aimlessly seemingly lacking the ability to think on a long term (with a few exceptions). The Prawn have these weird technologies, but they trade them like they are nothing, and don’t’ know how to control their own ship. Being insect like, they are also kinda scary, or at least disturbing. When the film’s protagonist finds the eggs of these creatures and casually burns the larvae, there is enough moral distance that the audience can at least understand his callousness. The creatures also are never really explained, the humans seem to think that they are just listless or stupid biologically, however that could just be general stereotypes towards creatures who lack any education or prospects. One alien is clearly intelligent, is he just proving that they are in fact quite intelligent naturally or is he a different caste, the way drones are different from workers in a been colony. I mean, their inability to speak English is so much more real than all of the Na’vi contently knowing English in that broken “me proud native” sort of way.

4) Humans being shown as the real monsters- Both movies are remarkable because they are about showing a culture class between aliens and humans, and the humans are seen as the sinister monsters. In Avatar through, this isn’t really developed beyond the stereotypical “white imperialists attack noble savages” cliché that we seen in Dances with Wolves. No effort is really made to explore why the humans are so sinister beyond the general idea of them having guns and some veiled references to George W. Bush. The humans aren’t really that scary, just incompetent, as the Na’Vi are so similar to us in terms of thought process intelligence and mannerism. In district 9, humans are legitimately scary because we are held in a sharper contrast to the aliens. Like the Na’Vi, the Prawn are physically more than a match for humans, being at least eight feet tall with incredible armor and strength. And unlike the Na’V, they have technology that can tear apart anything humans could find. And yet, they are in the slums, because the Prawn lack the human ability to organize and think long term, and thus we dominate them. The Prawn are just individuals and listless, they don’t really identify with each other as a society, the largest group of them is about three guys and even then they have trouble coordinating (such as being unable to hide there precious fluid at all intelligently.) The humans are also legitimately dangerous because they actual display real human ruthlessness. This might sound cold, but honestly, the humans in Avatar were playing with the kiddy gloves on. Seriously read what societies will do if we really want something, Napalm, and smallpox come to mind. Now in District 9, humans are using methods that they we actually have used on minority groups. Those slums you see? Yeah, those exist, in South Africa, right now, where people live in pretty much those conditions. Forced eviction and massive camps full of segregated oppressed minorities who are considered inhuman? Yeah South Africa did that. Cannibalism? Not as much as western racists would want you to think, but it does happen, for example, Albinos can be in trouble in some countries. How about human experimentation. Well les discount Africa, and look at Dr. Manglia., who is much worst than what could happen in the film. When it comes to being villains we are able to do so much worst than simple Hollywood villain laughs.

5) Racism. Yeah let me say it, Avatar is a racist patronizing film. We have the old stereotypes of the Mighty White man who leads the Noble Savage to bring down his White Guilt. The natives are a bunch of Generic Native American/African tribes and the Whites are basically culturally imperialists. In the District 9 movie through, there is more than just a bunch of stereotypes. Yes, it’s a massive parallel to the South Africa Apartheid, and it’s the exact same dichotomy of oppressive Boer Neo Nazis oppressing the impoverished minority. And yet, unlike Avatar’s metaphor for imperialism, this movie actually explores the real racism of that situation For example, in real life, there was a big problem with casual racism, IE even those whites who weren’t out killing blacks still regarded them patronizingly at best and with disgust at worst because of their extreme poverty and ignorance. We have the UN who are trying to “help” the Prawn, but mismanagement and lack of interest (subtle racism) actually makes things worst, and we have advert racists who are then shown to have more positive aspects. And more importantly, its somewhat realistic, the scientists who are experimenting on Wikus are horrible, but they are doing what most incompetent dictatorships (yeah I mean you South Africa) would do. Its more real. Also the whites, while horrible, aren’t total monsters, we see there personalities in the start when they are talking to the documentaries. And we see the main character chatting casually with the ruthless enforcers, indicating that for all of the horrible things they do, the Boers are still people, they have families and loved ones and a sense of humor. Even when the protagonist is trying to help the Prawn, he clearly views that am an inferior people. And the Prawn aren’t shown as ideal either, while they are clearly the victims, they are still kinda disgusting, and for the most part pretty stupid. Also they do bad things, mostly in reaction to oppression, but still bad things, like randomly burning down houses and getting involved in gangs (alien prostitution ewwwww). There is a moral grayness and a examination of racism rather than exploiting it

6) Better characters. As I mentioned before, everybody in Avatar is a stock character who lacks any originality or depth, and most importantly has been seen before. None of the characters are ever conflicted or taken outside there cliché comfort zone. The characters in District 9 are more fleshed out. Lets compare Wikus and…Mini Mel. MM also goes into an alien culture and tries to live among the natives, but at no point does he seem anything other than the ideal Christ like hero. He makes a few mistakes, but he instantly realizes it and repents and is never really conflicted, nor does he show any weakness. Wikus on the other hand is very human, in that he is kinda pathetic. He is socially awkward, nervously high strung, hilariously cowardly, and pretty inept. Besides that, he is a racist, a selfish bastard, and a willing member of the oppressor’s regime. The character is almost the quintessential pencil pusher (he has a calculator in his bullet proof vest for gods sake). And he isn’t even a kinda badass evil protagonist, but kinda embarrassing just watching this incompetent goof screw up in every scene. And yet, that makes him very sympathetic and actually complex, selfish bigot he may be, but he honestly loves his wife, and even as a member of a corrupt organization, its implied that he makes some basic effort to care for the Prawn, limited as it might be. Wikus isn’t a great person, but the thing is, I can imagine people like him, hell I know people like him. He is far more sympathetic and more realistic. If you had to face living your life as an alien life form and giving up your comfy old government life, would you be happy? Hell no, and he isn’t. He also betrays his comrades for his own best interest, which makes sense when you realize he only just met them and doesn’t give a damn about their cause. His somewhat loose regard for morals is actually somewhat enlightening, such as when he kills a guard in debatable self defense despite telling his comrades that there would be no killing. “He shot at me” and honestly , most people would do the same. And when he does do something decent, it stands out more, like his risking his life to tell his wife he loves her. Badass heroics are meaningless if they lack context, and Wikus for all of his many faults, is still a good person at heart. This extents to the other characters, Wilku’s wife is a bit of a moron, but she has a good heart, the corrupt father in law is shown as thoroughly evil, but still has some humanity in him when he is with his daughter, the Nazi Captain is…well a Nazi but he is a total badass in how he defeats the aliens by being clever. Here is the thing, humans aren’t ideal and don’t do the right thing, humans are weak, awkward and morally flexible. But we are also brave, selfless and thoughtful.

7) The storytelling. Do I even need to explain.

8) The graphics. You know what, considering that one had 130 million dollars and the other had 20 million, District 9 gets the cake, because I find the real world much more fascinating than CGI fantasia.

9) The style. Maybe I’m a sucker for hand cameras, but the way the story is told is far more intriguing, we aren’t subject to a bunch of macho voice overs, but we have a quisi documentary style (which I wish they kept up…somehow) and a much more intelligent explanation of how the aliens live

10) The moral. Avatar doesn’t have a moral, it has a plot that serves a purpose. Imperialism is bad, and cat people are perfect yeah we know its BS. District 9 gives up its storyline about half way through, but the main moral is still there, the effects of poverty and misunderstanding upon racism. Is it as clear cut or heavy handed as Avatar? No, and that’s why its better, it presents the situation, shows it from different perspectives, and lets me understand a real life situation in a real place. So not the movie for a quick three word moral (IMPELRALISM IS BAD) unless you want (AFRICA SUCKS WHITY). All in all…better movie.

from

EE