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stillsostrangeHe found that years of being taught in lit classes had finally paid off in the form of a feature film.
(Might be a tiny bit spoilery)
On the one hand, District 9 is a fabulous movie. Fabulous. It hit my transformation and redemption squids like it was made for them. It did something that I often think can't be done: invest me in the redemption of a character who starts out a bigoted douchebag. That is almost on par with making me invested in a child molester. (Peter Watts managed that.) And the prawns were beautiful. And and, it had the added bonus of not featuring America at all. Yes, the world does not revolve America. Thank you.
On the other hand, the Nigerian Problem. Which, yeah. Oh my god, that is stupid and offensive and then more offensive. I didn't mind having bloodthirsty superstitious criminals as characters, but they are identified only as "Nigerians". Because everybody knows that all Nigerians are like that... Yeah. Stupid, offensive, thoughtless shit, that only takes five minutes to think past and correct if you put even that much effort into it.
So, yes, a problematic film, but in the end my affection for Christopher-the-prawn will make me see it again. And probably binge on Alien Nation in the near future, too.
I am now inspired to work on Salvage, my theoretical SF novel. It features a world-weary cop on the verge of retirement, her crooked partner, a plucky journalist looking for a story, a criminally connected priest-with-a-past, and a desk-jockeyYautja alien who survived the crash of her ship. Set on an ocean planet to facilitate speed boat chases. Elevator pitch: Predator meets Miami Vice. But not in a way that turns into Predator II.
But instead I'm going to crawl back to Bone Palace and try to describe a creepy ruined castle and demon birds.
(Might be a tiny bit spoilery)
On the one hand, District 9 is a fabulous movie. Fabulous. It hit my transformation and redemption squids like it was made for them. It did something that I often think can't be done: invest me in the redemption of a character who starts out a bigoted douchebag. That is almost on par with making me invested in a child molester. (Peter Watts managed that.) And the prawns were beautiful. And and, it had the added bonus of not featuring America at all. Yes, the world does not revolve America. Thank you.
On the other hand, the Nigerian Problem. Which, yeah. Oh my god, that is stupid and offensive and then more offensive. I didn't mind having bloodthirsty superstitious criminals as characters, but they are identified only as "Nigerians". Because everybody knows that all Nigerians are like that... Yeah. Stupid, offensive, thoughtless shit, that only takes five minutes to think past and correct if you put even that much effort into it.
So, yes, a problematic film, but in the end my affection for Christopher-the-prawn will make me see it again. And probably binge on Alien Nation in the near future, too.
I am now inspired to work on Salvage, my theoretical SF novel. It features a world-weary cop on the verge of retirement, her crooked partner, a plucky journalist looking for a story, a criminally connected priest-with-a-past, and a desk-jockey
But instead I'm going to crawl back to Bone Palace and try to describe a creepy ruined castle and demon birds.
