JOHANNESBURG. South Africans say that District 9 has taught them that xenophobia is bad, adding that without the sci-fi blockbuster they might never have understood that setting foreigners on fire is upsetting to them. “You only really understand something when you see it translated through the medium of high-budget special effects,” explained one former xenophobe.
District 9 has stunned international audiences, many of whom had no idea that Johannesburg was so ugly, and it has been praised for confronting current South African realities like xenophobia, racism, high-explosive weaponry, and the fact that Gauteng is literally the worst place in the universe to get stranded in.
However local audiences have conceded that the film has been more than Hollywood entertainment, and have credited it with teaching them that murderous xenophobia is “wrong”.
According to South Africans who saw advance screenings this week, District 9 had managed to help them see the humanity in otherwise “degenerate crustacean-like auslanders”.
“Special effects blockbusters have always been crucial in helping us gain insight into the human condition,” explained one viewer.
“Seeing people explode really makes you value the small things in life. For example, everything I know about love and loyalty I learned from Transformers.”
Another fan echoed his sentiments, saying that he had only truly understood the concept of self-sacrifice “when Bruce Willis blew himself up on the asteroid”.
According to most audience members, District 9′s subtle metaphors and existential questions had hit home.
“We saw those prawns and someone said, ‘Hey, it looks like that Rwandan guy from the corner shop!’” said one viewer. “We all laughed because it was true. And then we realised, hey, that Rwandan guy didn’t ask to be born a prawn.
“And we got really sad.”
Audiences said that the film would make them treat foreigners with “a lot more respect”.
“Except if they try to muscle in on our movie industry,” said one. “If they try to do that we’ll probably set them on fire.”
