It was extremely clear how District 9 was able to really portray all of the genocides we have studied over the course of eight years. What it shows me is that it all seems to come down to appearance. Well, physical appearance and cultural standings and beliefs. The people who don’t fit into the mold that others have made for them are immediately cast out and in the most extreme of cases, tortured and killed.
They’re not good enough, not fast enough, not light enough, not Christian enough, not beautiful enough, not straight enough, not human enough…
Excuse me, what? Not human enough? Aren’t we all human beings? I mean, we all look too damn alike to be anything else. But what District 9 portrayed was that these people, who were just a little different, just a little bigger than the tiny box they were being squeezed into, were looked at like aliens, like beings that didn’t deserve love, compassion and equality.
I look at the film Bent and Good and see men who were treated like aliens, like beings that didn’t deserve to life because of sexual preference. They looked the same as everyone else; you probably couldn’t tell one of these gay men from their Nazi counterparts, but they were persecuted and executed for not fitting in the box.
I look at Hotel Rwanda and see Africans against Africans, Africans against their own people (as if there aren’t enough problems in Africa threatening to wipe out thousands even millions every day). No, let’s kill each other off because some of us have been treated better. Let’s kill each other off because you’re lighter skinned or your nose isn’t quite as long as mine. Because, as Wikus Van der Merwe would say, you are a prawn.
It’s disgusting.
Prawn, a derogatory term used by the non-aliens in District 9, funny because it’s like Judenscheisse, Hitler’s personal favorite to use towards Jewish people. It’s also like cockroach, a term used to address the Tutsi people. Have I forgotten redskin, injun, Uncle Tom? All terms meant to dehumanize.
And what is more disgusting is that all of these genocides, the Holocaust, Rwanda, the Native American genocide, Apartheid, all of these attacks against other human beings keep happening and they keep destroying the good in people. All of these disgusting names and terms keep happening as we are constantly faced with the need to bring ourselves above everyone else and as we continue dehumanize people.
As said in the “Native American Genocide” article: “For us the shadow is psychic energy that may take on negative qualities that manifest outward as acts of violence and fear when inner knowing and responsibility fail. Acts of genocide and oppression can be seen in this light”.
When there is fear because we might not be the ‘big man on campus’ or because we see something that is different or that goes against what we might think is right, this is where we make the mistake of thinking that there is only one select way that people can be.
I think your analysis of the metaphor of the prawns representing black Africans under Apartheid was very apt. A blunt way of putting it that I respect. What's worse is that these black South Africans were made into aliens in their own country. 85% of the population was black and they were squeezed into 20% of the land, most of which wasn't arable. I get those percentages from Dr. Fiddler, of Loyola's history department. These genocidal actions really do destroy the good in humanity, as you point out. The entire society becomes engulfed in the hate, and like it or not, the guilt of not doing enough to prevent, questioning how your own views may have contributed to the environment, and even the guilt of surviving once the genocide has ended are real issues that people in these events must deal with.
ReplyDeleteLastly, I'd be remiss if I didn't address your use of "Uncle Tom" as a genocidal epithet. That isn't accurate. Uncle Tom comes from the book Uncle Tom's Cabin. It is meant to represent an African-American person who feeds into the white slave owner's, or now, white society's wills. It would mean someone who is turning their back on their own people & culture, & embracing white culture & power. It would be similar to "house n*****." There are however, many different epithets for African-Americans that, it can be argued, constitute the type of genocidal language we see throughout the course.
I agree. Watching all of these movies and reading these assignments realize that this all exists today! I see it in a variety of forms. Genocide is the final step, but it all begins with identification and exclusion. Does this ring a bell? BULLYING! Every day in school people are identified as lesser and excluded. For example, someone overweight or a different color or even a different sexual orientation. This is how it begins, or even the Ku Klux Klan, they would have had a genocide of blacks if possible. This mentality is everywheres and that is what is scary. This is how it starts, so what exactly stops a genocide from happening? The Rwandan one was not stopped, yet the Ku Klux Klan and Westboro Baptist Church (pickets military funerals and hates homosexuals) are stopped. This movie was a powerful allegory to show how these small steps are warning signs that a huge problem is about to occur, such as a genocide.
ReplyDeleteWhen I look at the image you posted of the “aliens not allowed” sign “for humans only, it seems comical. But the reality is significant in that this is how the world treats people that it decides are too different from the majority. It is as though they were creatures so vastly different from ourselves, such as the aliens in the movie. But even in them we see a life like unto ours taking care of their families, hunting for food and supplies, being creative, getting angry, showing compassion. Perhaps we need to be blind to the exterior, to see the true value of another, “to walk a mile in their shoes,” as the saying goes. It may be childish, but when I hear people talking about another race by their color, I interject, “We are all just shades of brown.” But after studying the holocaust so intensely, perhaps it isn’t so childish after all. Especially when I think of the Rwandan genocide and part of the brutal mass murder was attributed to another being a little lighter shade of brown. That is totally not alien! Maybe it is in such simple ways as helping others to realize right her e at home that we shouldn’t sweat the minor differences or fear them. But be open and sensitive to the walk others have had to walk and appreciate where they come from rather than shun them. Maybe we can even lend a hand and encourage others if needed. And share a smile.
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