Jul 30, 2008 05:00 PM
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Alien segregation plagued the halls of Comic-Con. Signs stationed near bathrooms and elevators marked certain facilities for "Humans Only." Where were these poor aliens supposed to relieve themselves? And why so much blatant alien hate? Apparently the con had fallen victim to a massive District 9 ARG. The new Peter Jackson produced mega picture is directed and penned by Smallville and Stargate visual effect guru Neill Blomkamp. District 9 has over four different ARG sites that tell the tale of rampant alien intolerance. Click through for more details on the alien equality resistance against the evil corporations MNU.
MNU stands for Multi-National United. Their site appears to be a completely legit corporation that excels in "space technology." But upon reading their propaganda you get the feeling of an extreme bias against aliens, as they keep repeating "human" help over and over. Also there are plenty of ads inviting you to join up with the MNU force, and you and I both know private security militias never lead to anything good. What do you want to bet MNU has a basement full of poor aliens being tortured and experimented on?
The District 9 rules and regulations page (which explains the ins and outs of Earth alien life) has both an entrance for both human and non-human users. When opened you can see the District 9 refers to an "alien only" district that humans are discouraged from entering and aliens are not allowed to leave. The MNU has a list of rules for both human and alien species ranging from what to so with unregistered eggs to urging humans to "refrain from the manufacturing or distributing of things that glorify non-human cultures."
You could spend hours exploring the many rules for dealing with non-humans or perusing the list of alien crimes. It looks like MNU is trying to keep a tight hold over their new alien residents, but makes no attempts to actually communicate with this culture. The site advises that "drawing pictures or using simple sign language is an effective way of communicating with non-humans, but should be used with caution."
For every overpowering government there is an opposition, which can be found at the MNU Spreads Lies blog. The author, George, writes in alien tongue, but it's easily translated. George writes about terrible injustice that happens behind the closed door of MNU, and how many of his fellow revolutionaries are "disappearing." His blog promotes alien-human equality and gives little hints about the alien back story. District 9 appears not only to be where the aliens are allowed to hang, but also a crash site. Perhaps our alien pals crash landed here by accident? Also there is a militant pro-alien movement called the Pro-Forma group. This group has lead many suicide missions and made the area close to D-9 extremely dangerous. George is constantly worried for his safety along with many of his friends.
According to his blog, he used to work for MNU but quit when the injustices started to happen. His job seemed to be linked to the "tags" that MNU requires everyone to have. George is mighty suspicious of these tags as well as the "egg registration" MNU forces the aliens into. "He" even goes as far to suggest that perhaps these alien babies are being disposed of.
Finally there is the Maths From Outer Space site, supported by MNU. This kid-friendly site encourages people to volunteer to expand their mind. Take a test and find out if you've got the goods to "enhance the spacial logic of the human body." Which seems to point directly back to the theory that aliens are being tortured for their superior technology and intelligence.
District 9 looks like it could be Peter Jackson's take on Guantanamo Bay mixed with the racial injustices and segregation that happened in America, but with aliens. It's actually pretty plausible because one of the things human know how to do best is destroy and control anything we don't understand. As long as D-9 demonstrates its motives without getting overly preachy I'm game for the alien revolt.
Send an email to Meredith, the author of this post, at meredith@io9.com.
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