SOCIETY

Will District 9 explore the classic "other" theme?

From July 2009

"It's going to be quick. It's going to be clean. It's going to be quiet."

Those are the words spoken at the end of one of the trailers for the new film District 9 which is out in theatres on August 14.

Directed and co-written by Neill Blomkamp, the film takes place in South Africa where aliens are refugees, having arrived on Earth 28 years ago as the last survivors of their home world.

The film looks promising. The storyline centres, like many storylines, around greed and corruption as certain factions on Earth want to tap into the potential of the alien technology which the aliens are apparently not so willing to share. The aliens are segregated to an area called "District 9" where those who are "not human" live and those who are human avoid.

The words "not human" are quite common in a science fiction film. However, the film may also explore another major theme in most good science fiction: the "other."

Science fiction has always been a clever vehicle in challenging societal norms of the day. Famous science fiction writers such as H .G. Wells have explored the struggle of co-existence between the "other" (whether it be alien, technology, etc) and human beings. Many times this exploration was also a direct comment on what was happening in society, or about our human nature or our history (or all three).