Rhetorical Analysis of District 9

Neill Blomkamp directed the film District 9 which was released in 2009. This South African science fiction action thriller was Blomkamp’s first feature film and is an extension of a short film, Alive in Joburg, Blomkamp did in 2006 (IMDb). In the film, aliens have invaded earth and are wanting to live among the humans, but the humans, being the xenophobic society that they are, discriminate the aliens; the aliens are then lead to a ghetto, known as District 9, in which they are to live. As the film progresses, one of the humans (Wikus Van De Merw) is sprayed by some alien chemical and begins to turn into an alien. The film then goes on to show Wikus’ struggle to cope with being half alien. Blomkamp evokes both ethos and pathos to show how the animalistic contemporary society has turned through the geography, film style and character development.

Blomkamp builds the movie’s credibility by demonstrating and providing many accurate depictions of geography. Blomkamp does by extrinsically because he is a South African-Canadian who was born in South Africa and spent the first 18 years of his life there (IMDb). After moving to Canada, Blomkamp continued to visit his hometown yearly. This builds his external ethos because he is able to know exactly what the country is like when it comes to geography, and what the country has gone through in the recent tough times that have hit both Johannesburg and the rest of the world. Andrew O’Hehir of the Salon says that the movie shows the “social realities of contemporary Johannesburg, South Africa” (O’Hehir). This played a role in the making of the film because Blomkamp was able to capture the realities that Johannesburg was going through due to his prior knowledge of the area and history.

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...t was the thought that the aliens looked so different. When the kid alien said that line, it made my heart stop and think how adorable it was. I picture a little boy at the park going up to his dad and saying something really cute. I believe that Blomkamp did this in order to make that connection with his audience and think about their own childhood or their kids.

Blomkamp incorporates many different techniques into the making of the 4 time Academy Award nominated movie, District 9 (IMDb). These techniques include the ethos and pathos of the film but also include the central theme of an animalistic society. These ideas and techniques are present in both District 9 and Less Than Human. Through his appeal to the emotions of the audience and his use of ethos, both within the film, and outside of it, this movie is deserving of being called an Academy Award nominee. ¬¬¬