Racism in Science Fiction Movies - Research Paper Example

? Racism in Science Fiction Movies Racism in Science Fiction Movies Introduction Racism has attracted a lot of attention in the last century. It has been criticized, debated, argued, fought for and even sometimes supported but it has never been able to subside into the back drop. There has been evidence across the globe that racism still prevails in today’s 21st century modern world. One of the elements of the modern society that has attracted some criticism with respect to racism in the last few decades is ‘science fiction movies’. Science fiction movies have been criticized by many for being racist and sending the wrong message to the next generations. Some have argued that science fiction movies depict white genetic superiority. Some science fiction movies portray Asians and whites as more intelligent naturally than Hispanics and blacks (Neighbors & Rankin, 2011). As it can be seen in many science fiction movies, African Americans are not shown as practitioners of science or creators. The role that they play in these movies is of the alien “Other” or in other words plays an inferior role to that of the main white protagonist. It can be noted that science fiction movies have been exclusively white dominated. It is in very few films that a black character plays a prominent role (Neighbors & Rankin). Asian Americans have been a target of discrimination and Native Americans have been shown as savages in science fiction movies (Lavender). Movies like The Brother from Another Planet are an example of how racism in science fiction movies wherein a black is cast as an alien slave. There are many more examples like this from movies such as Alien, Preadtor, etc (Westfahl). This paper is a compare and contrast essay of three science fiction movies with respect to racism. The subject of racism in these movies may not be subject to criticism but be on a positive note identifying the racial practices and flaws in our society. The three movies that will be discussed are District 9, Brother from another Planet and Starship Troopers. The main thesis behind District 9 is that it is basic human nature to be racist. If we know that we are dominant or can dominate, we tend to exploit the weak. The movie shows the danger of this nature through its main character, story, slums, etc. The thesis behind Brother from another Planet is that as a result of racism precious human talented and skills are being wasted. This is shown in them movie through the main protagonist who has special talents but they go unutilized as a result of racism. Finally, the thesis behind Starship Troopers is that racism only leads to destruction. Racism is depicted in an entirely different form in the movie that we do not notice easily. It is the practice of racism by a state on its citizens. Each of the three movies try to depict that racism inevitably leads to loss. Brother from another Planet Brother from another Planet revolves around an alien who crash lands on earth. The alien ends up in New York City. The alien is a slave who is trying to escape from intergalactic bounty hunters whose job is to re-capture slaves who have escaped. The alien resembles an African American male and is mute. The alien has some extraterrestrial powers such as telekinetic powers. The alien has extremely large feet which he hides. Social services send him to live in Harlem. The alien discovers that his color tone is a major disadvantage here. The movie is a social commentary on life in the society of the time. The movie shows how the racial divide still exists in a city like New York. It addresses issues such as differences between social classes and racism. One of the main criticisms about the movie is that main protagonist who is an alien slave is shown as an African American and the bounty hunters are whites. To some extent it might be trying to reflect the hard realities of the society. It shows that whites are considered superior even in the context of extra-terrestrials and blacks are treated as inferior. The discrimination based on the color was not taken well by many and the film was criticized for practicing racism and sending a wrong message about superiority of a race based on color. On the other hand, the movie is about the life in America. It is not a political statement or practice of racism but an effort to create a realistic picture of life with racism in America or for matter of fact any other part of the world. It deals with how African Americans were treated at the time in the city. It is also about how due to discrimination based on racism, human potential is being wasted. Attributes such as talent and skills have been sidelined due to racism. This is depicted in the movie through the alien, who has extra ordinary skills but is required to hide them because of what is happening around him as a result of racism (Ryan, 1998). The movie also tries to say that the racism may not be intentional but does exist. It enables audience to think of the issue of racism in more focused context and analyze it. District 9 District 9 is a science fiction movie which deals with racism at various levels. The story starts with a massive alien ship showing up in the skies of Johannesburg, South Africa. The ship is silent and shows no activity or intention to be here. When humans enter the ship they find out that, it is filled with aliens who are weakened and appear to be working class with no leadership. The aliens are named prawns due to their physical resemblance to ‘prawns’. The aliens are given permission to take shelter in a town that is barb-wired and 20 years later it has developed into a slum. The movie deals with interaction between the localities, gangs, government, etc with the aliens. In general, it shows how humans react when they are confronted with newcomers who are less powerful than them. The aliens are mostly peaceful in spite of having access to more advanced weapons than humans. The aliens are ostracized from the humans. They are also not allowed to indulge in most of the businesses. And more importantly the people near them react negatively by discriminating them and wanting them to leave. The government and its agencies on the other hand, treat the aliens as slaves and exploit them. Their life is not valued and the aliens, in most cases helpless, are abused by the soldiers. They are constantly mistreated and the new place that they are asked to relocate in the movie is supposed to be worse than the one they are in now, more on the lines of a concentration camp. The treatment of aliens can be compared to that of many societies or races in our own history where the more powerful dominates and exploits the weaker. Discrimination in Africa, native America and other minority groups/races can be compared to that of the aliens in the movie. The movie in particular is different from the racist depiction that is discussed in the introduction of this paper. The introduction discusses racism being practiced or followed (intentionally or unintentionally) in science fiction movies. But in this movie, it is a deliberate effort to showcase racism present in the societies of today and recent past. In particular, it tries to convey a message about racism in South Africa, mainly apartheid repression. It is an attempt to understand or figure out apartheid. Unlike many other science fiction movies (barring a few), aliens are not the all-powerful and violent creatures. There are at the receiving end of human violence. The situation of the aliens in the movie is similar to that of oppressed minorities or races that are evident in our history. The movie shows both sides of human nature and affliction towards racism. The natives of Johannesburg who were once victims of racism now show no concern towards a minority and weakened group. They themselves indulge in discriminating the aliens. The movie raises numerous questions, on different levels, on human nature. Through the main protagonist the movie tries to put us in touch with our own humanity. The protagonist witnesses both sides of the coin. On one hand, he himself actively indulges in discrimination and on the other hand he also suffers from it. He is pulled into the vortex of human cruelty and racism (Teays). Therefore, the movie is a reflection of the society that we live in and our dominant nature. The movie is also an honest effort to force the audience to think about their actions. It encourages them to analyze how prejudice is still part of our world (Furze et al). The movie does not fall into the regular realm of practice of racism in regular movies but use science fiction to put forward a point against racism in the society. Starship Troopers Starship Troopers is a futuristic movie wherein humans are governed by fascist government and fight alien bugs on a distant planet for survival. In the distant future, school kids are encouraged to join the military in order to become citizens. There is a war taking place between alien bugs and the military for survival. The bugs are intelligent and have colonized many planets and are now trying to do the same with earth. They are attempting to exterminate humans. The movie was criticized for the depiction of fascist government and also various other elements of the movie. The movie can be clearly viewed with the context of Iraq War at the time. In the movie the government is in control of all aspects of the country including complete control over media and information. This control is used to exploit media by fabricating the information and encourage/motivate the youth to join and fight a war against an appointed enemy. In the movie, the war is waged and supported by numerous false claims by the government and citizens are not aware of the ground realities. The media is fabricated and depicts information age captivity. This can be seen as a satirical take on the Iraq war at the time. The main reason behind the invasion of Iraq was the claim than Iraq had in its possession weapons of mass destruction but there were no such weapons found. Also another important aspect that depicts fascism is the ideology that the state is more important than the sum of its parts. Therefore its citizens are expected to serve the country and make the necessary sacrifices in order for the state to take care of its people. With respect to this paper, let’s discuss criticism with respect to racism in the movie. Humans in the movie believe that they are superior to alien bugs and hence they are destined to spread through the galaxy. This results in them indulging in war and acting violently. This shows how any conception of being superior in humans leads to violent and exploitative behavior (Hassler, & Wilcox, 1997). Also some critics such as John Brunner and Robert Peterson argued that use of words such as “Skinnies” and “Bugs” also has an overtone of racism in them. Also there are various instances where the use of word “Jews” also attracted criticism. On a whole, the movie unlike the other two films discussed here does not have any positive impact on issue of racism. It is more on the lines of a war movie with real or no importance on pressing a positive message on racism. Comparison on Contrast All the three movies discussed in this paper deal with racism in some way or another. District 9 and Brother from another Planet are similar in the context in which they deal with racism but Starship Troopers takes a different perspective. The former two movies try to reflect the hard realities in today’s society with respect to racism through imaginative story telling trying to make it as close to reality as possible. Starship Troopers on the other hand, makes no such attempt but instead glorifies the reasoning behind racism. It is a movie purely made for entertainment in which racism has ended up being a major part of the story line. District 9 and Brother from another Planet both try to use the medium of movies (mainly science-fiction) to show the basic principles and behavioral traits of humans behind the ideology of racism in the real world. They try to bring the issues of racism to the mainstream and open up the discussion to the whole world. There are many parts of the world that still suffer from racism and these movies highlight them. For example, use of South Africa and Harlem in District 9 and Brother from another Planet respectively. They show the struggle and discrimination suffered by the victims of racism through their protagonists and main characters in the movie. In District 9, the main protagonist gets to see the both sides of racism where in the earlier half of the film he indulges in discriminating the aliens while later, he ends up being the victim. In Brother from another Planet, the alien is at receiving end of racism due to his color. Irrespective of having special talents, he is seen as unimportant due to the color of his skin. This highlights how racism is eating up precious human potential. District 9 and Starship Troopers glorify violence in the movie but Brother from another Planet touches upon the more delicate nature of humans in highlighting racism. Irrespective of their approach or intention to show racism in the movie, all three movies succeed in conveying the negative results of racism. In Brother from another Planet the talent and skills of the alien, that is considered extraordinary in comparison with humans, is of no value as the alien ends up being a victim of racism. The same talents and skills if it were not subject to racism could have been used positively and constructively. Hence, it conveys that precious human talent and potential is going unnoticed and unused due to racism. In District 9, the technology that aliens have is far more advanced than that of humans. The technology of humans could have been used for the development and welfare of humans. This would have required co-operation from the aliens. But as humans indulge in racist discrimination against the aliens and mistreat, the aspect of so-operation is not raised. If humans had treated the aliens properly and tried to co-exist in a better way, humans could have used their advanced technology to create a better world. This again shows that racism does not lead to constructive outcome. Finally, in Starship Troopers the outcome of racism is violence at it darkest. Racism leads to war and human life is lost in great number. Precious resources are consumed with no positive outcome and any room for mutual co-existence is risked. Racism inevitably leads to a violent outcome. Therefore, even though the movie ends on a positive note, the hard reality of many lives lost and the war fought cannot be ignored. As mentioned earlier, Starship Troopers also is a satirical take on fascist ideology and mainly on Iraq war at the time. These issues deal with racism at a different level. It tries to show how there could be racism between a state and its people due to wrong ideology. In the movie, the people live in a make believe world that is completely in contrast with actual reality. All information available through media is fabricated and this jeopardizes the fundamental rights of the citizens. Citizens are exploited by their own government and the youth of the country is forced into the war to attain citizenship. Their lives are of no value and this highlights racism in a form that might go unnoticed by its victims. The movie was criticized by many as a movie targeted for 11 year olds, it unintentionally throws light on racism that most of us ignore or not realize as racism. Conclusion Racism in science fiction movies should not be treated only as fiction but should be seen as a shadow or extension of the societies that we live in. Movies depict very closely the social structures of the present day societies. Therefore this cannot be discarded but must be analyzed and acted upon to eradicate racism from the modern societies. The movies discussed in this comparison and contrast essay show how racism is still prevalent in our societies. Each movie has a different take on racism. District 9 showcases how it is embedded in our nature to be violent and exploit a weaker species. It is evident in real world how we exploit other leaving beings due to our intellectual superiority. The same can be applied to racism. The stronger tend to exploit the weaker. The movie brings this concept to light and forces us to question ourselves. Brother from another planet deals with racism in a much sensitive way. It tries to highlight the losses as a result of racism. Starship Troopers on the other hand, unintentionally brings to light a kind of racism that has we have failed to address. That is, the practice of racism by a state over its citizens wherein the victims themselves are unaware of being racist victims. These need to be taken more seriously if we intend to establish racist unity in the world in the near future. References Hassler, D. M., & Wilcox, C. (1997). Political science fiction. Columbia: Univ of South Carolina Press. Lavender, I. (2011). Race in American Science Fiction. IN: Indiana University Press. Nama, A. (2008). Black Space: Imagining Race in Science Fiction Film. TX: University of Texas Press. Neighbors, R.C. & Rankin, S. (2011). The Galaxy Is Rated G: Essays on Children's Science Fiction Film and Television. NC: McFarland & Company, Inc., Publishers. Ryan, J. (1998). John Sayles, filmmaker: A critical study of the independent writer-director. NC: McFarland & Company, Inc., Publishers. Teays, W. (2012). Seeing the light: Exploring ethics through movies. NY: John Wiley & Sons. Westfahl, G. (2005). The Greenwood Encyclopedia of Science Fiction and Fantasy: Themes, Works, and Wonders, Volume 3, CT: Greenwood Publishing Group. Read More