Theme Thursday Sign

Until the Academy Awards this year, I had never heard of the movie, "District 9". I was downloading movies of interest to our Netflix account when the film came up for its first award.  I added it to the list.

My husband and I viewed the movie this weekend and it literally took my breath away.  It is not what it seems; not overblown science fiction, not a cheap thriller or creature feature. This story has depth, emotion, pathos, moral choices, political content. It's about discrimination, racism, isolation, persecution, genocide, torture. It's a futurist morality play that echoes our mutual pasts.  Boy, is that scary.

What does this have to do with signs, you ask? The dvd opens with a sign of side by side images, one that looks like a men's bathroom logo, the other bug-like and unexplained.  Unlike the video game screen shot above,  there is no writing on the movie screen shot to tell you what to do or why you are staring at these images.  We eventually tried highlighting one and found ourselves on PLAY".

The importance of the signs is made clear a bit later.  Without destroying the movie for you, let's just say it's a must see for anyone with a thinking mind.  It isn't pleasant and there is no fairy tale ending.  The director manipulates the audience with skill, shifting emotions back and forth between characters.  No clear hero or anti hero although at times they come close.

Some of the signs used in the movie were also used as a means of advertising in certain cities.  The signs apparently went viral.  More importantly, it's what they reveal about the content.