Actor slams District 9
2009-09-02 09:24
Johannesburg - The depiction of Nigerians as "blood-suckers and prostitutes" in the science fiction film District 9 will not just be seen as a depiction of Nigerians' behaviour, but as that of all Africans.
Furthermore, said the Hotel Rwanda actor Hakeem Kae-Kazim, due to the fact that the eyes of the world will be on South Africa next year during the World Cup Soccer tournament, Africa can't afford to have a bad image in the rest of the world.
On Tuesday Kae-Kazim explained, via telephone from Los Angeles, why he had fumed on Facebook last week about how Nigerians are depicted in this film, which was a box-office hit upon its release two weeks ago.
On Facebook he wrote, among other things, that the scene where Nigerians are depicted mainly as prostitutes for the alien beings, could reinforce negative perceptions about Nigerians and even fuel xenophobic violence.
"If the African continent truly wants to be liberated, we cannot sit back and allow this depiction of a 'few rotten apples' to be spread across the world," he also wrote.
Upset
"I have lived in South Africa. The country has so many beautiful things to offer, but its problems can't be ascribed only to a small group of people," he said on Monday.
The actor said he wrote this commentary because "so many Nigerians" were upset about that aspect of the film. He feels the "case" reaches far deeper than merely the manner in which they were depicted.
"The idea that it's not only Nigerians, but all Africans who behave in that way, will be spread across the world. I find that to be a painful thought.
"I understand the comparisons because I lived in South Africa for years, but many foreigners do not understand the subtext."
"The manner in which the Nigerians are depicted, cannot be justified," he said, regarding the Film and Publication Board, who said on Monday that the film is not xenophobic because it has a positive resolution.
Certain scenes in the film, which was directed by South African born Neill Blomkamp and produced by the Oscar-winning director and producer Peter Jackson (the man behind Lord of the Rings), was shot in December 2008 at the faculty of veterinary science at the University of Pretoria. Some of the faculty's anatomy halls were turned into "science fiction laboratories".