(”Come back later, I’m busy having sex with a Nigerian.”)
The Nigerian government is asking its cinema owners not to show District 9, which they say portrays Nigerians in a negative light.
“We feel very bad about this because the film clearly denigrated Nigeria’s image by portraying us as if we are cannibals, we are criminals,” said Information Minister Dora Akunyili. “The name our former president was clearly spelt out as the head of the criminal gang [The Malawian actor, Eugene Khumbanyiwa, plays a gang leader with the nickname of Obasanjo, also the surname of former Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo.] and our ladies shown like prostitutes sleeping with extra-terrestrial beings.”
But Mr Khumbanyiwa said Nigerians in the cast did not seem worried by the portrayal of their country. He suggested that the film, which depicts people wanting to eat aliens to gain the superhuman powers, should not be taken too literally. “It’s a story, you know,” he said. “It’s not like Nigerians do eat aliens. Aliens don’t even exist in the first place.” [BBC]
What the reporters don’t tell you is that Khumbanyiwa was pantomiming alien sex and laughing when he said that. In fact, in Malawi, sex involving an anal probe is commonly known as doing it “Nigerian-style.” Which Nigerians are none too pleased about. For perpetuating the stereotype, they say District 9 director Neill Blomkamp is now Nigeria’s public enemy number 2, just behind JuJu, the goat who causes miscarriages.
Since District 9 made back it’s entire budget and then some in its opening weekend, and the film had a relatively open ending [much like Zac Ephron, ZING!], it should come as no surprise that a sequel may be forthcoming. To read more about it, you can check out filmschoolrejects (possible spoilers in article).
The video below is Alive In Joburg, the 6-minute film District 9 was based on, both from the same director (Neill Blomkamp). More of his short films are available at buzzfeed. I’m not saying I’d drink Neill’s bathwater or anything, but he’s pretty cool, I guess. It’s whatever.
*continues writing ”Mr. Robo Blomkamp” in purple glitter ink inside Lisa Frank trapper keeper*
A lot of people are predicting Neill Blomkamp’s District 9 to be the sleeper hit of the summer, and now we’ve got a full-length trailer. (Trailer also available in HD at Yahoo)
Thirty years ago, aliens made first contact with Earth. Humans waited for the hostile attack, or the giant advances in technology. Neither came. Instead, the aliens were refugees, the last survivors of their home world. The creatures were set up in a makeshift home in Johannesburg, South Africa’s District 9 as the world’s nations argued over what to do with them. [Yahoo]
The film was shot documentary-style, and as you can see from the trailer, robots also seem to factor into the plot somehow. Anyway, the humans fear the aliens, so they marginalize them from society and control their movements, and the aliens’ frustrations eventually makes them violent, which only proves to the humans they were right to stick them in ghettoes all along. Anyone else smell a parable for Palestinians, or some other ethnic minority group? Then again, the director’s South African, so it might just be an allegory for how much he hates black people. They can get away with that in South Africa. Why? Diplomatic immunity.
I posted a trailer for Niell Blomkamp’s District 9 the other day, which a lot of people are predicting to be the sleeper hit of the summer. In the first version, there was a scene in which an alien was being interrogated and they had his face blurred like a cop show, which I thought was sort of charmingly goofy. But apparently that’s not going in the final movie, because in this trailer his face is unblurred and he has subtitles.
The only question now is whether I can take two hours of South African accents. It really is an awful-sounding accent. Or maybe it only sounds awful because of Lethal Weapon 2. Here’s a fun game: next time you meet a South African, no matter what they say, just point your finger pistol at them and go, “…It’s just been revoked.”
Neill Blomkamp is a dirty, stinky South African (I naturally assume the former based on the latter) filmmaker whose short films gained him a fan in Peter Jackson, who hired Blomkamp to direct the now-scrapped movie adaptation of Halo. This is a Blomkamp joint called District 9, and it’s a faux-documentary about an alien invasion. But, like, as a parable for race-relations and crap.
The film is done documentary style and tells the story of an alien race that comes to Earth for an unknown reason. They attempt to settle in South Africa but encounter fear, anger, and racism (speciesism?) from the locals. Like the short it’s based on, District 9 plays as a not-so-subtle analogy for past and present human race relations and segregation. [FSR]
Anyway, the effects look pretty cool, and judging by the alien-with-disguised identity interview at the 1:09 mark, it also has a sense of humor. Having a sense of humor about yourself is important, which is why I wear this foam cowboy hat during lovemaking. It says ‘#1 Lover’.
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