District 9
Dominique Butler
Dr. Frentz
April 28 2015
District 9 As with any facet of American culture, race has always been a prevalent factor in separating people. In science fiction we see the same trend withstanding. Science fiction has ultimate coded the ever familiar and present “alien” as black. Known as the “other” in many SF texts. SF texts such as Ridley Scott’s “Alien” show an evident decoder for how white culture believes and perceives fear from the alienated lower-class blacks. Movies, which project the alien to possess a likeness of blackness such as “Predator”, show blackness to be deemed as violent and barbaric. Roberts explains to us that a member of society, which has already been deemed as the ultimate other is also put into that same category in SF. Of course for many authors, as Roberts explains to us, dissecting the life of the alien and what makes the alien so different from everyone else is simply just diving into what make the alien considered as the “other” not only in texts but also in society. As Roberts starts to delve into in chapter 4, he states that blackness in fiction is viewed as being different, however difference is a question of who is viewing it. If someone who encounters it everyday or does not see color view it or read it, it is not considered different because it possesses no qualities that are unfamiliar or stand out. However, just as the alien is viewed, o is blackness in SF. Books such as William Gibson’s Neuroromancer shows us the true stereotypes of black culture and what people believe it really is and how they actually view it. The book whose characters are Rastas are the stereotypical dreadlocked, locked away from society, listening to reggae music and computer illiterate. However, many people who live outside a society that has these people amongst them know that there is much more to the Rastafarian than their stereotypes. Whilst on the other hand we have books such as Farnham’s Freehold which show the radical, violent
Dr. Frentz
April 28 2015
District 9 As with any facet of American culture, race has always been a prevalent factor in separating people. In science fiction we see the same trend withstanding. Science fiction has ultimate coded the ever familiar and present “alien” as black. Known as the “other” in many SF texts. SF texts such as Ridley Scott’s “Alien” show an evident decoder for how white culture believes and perceives fear from the alienated lower-class blacks. Movies, which project the alien to possess a likeness of blackness such as “Predator”, show blackness to be deemed as violent and barbaric. Roberts explains to us that a member of society, which has already been deemed as the ultimate other is also put into that same category in SF. Of course for many authors, as Roberts explains to us, dissecting the life of the alien and what makes the alien so different from everyone else is simply just diving into what make the alien considered as the “other” not only in texts but also in society. As Roberts starts to delve into in chapter 4, he states that blackness in fiction is viewed as being different, however difference is a question of who is viewing it. If someone who encounters it everyday or does not see color view it or read it, it is not considered different because it possesses no qualities that are unfamiliar or stand out. However, just as the alien is viewed, o is blackness in SF. Books such as William Gibson’s Neuroromancer shows us the true stereotypes of black culture and what people believe it really is and how they actually view it. The book whose characters are Rastas are the stereotypical dreadlocked, locked away from society, listening to reggae music and computer illiterate. However, many people who live outside a society that has these people amongst them know that there is much more to the Rastafarian than their stereotypes. Whilst on the other hand we have books such as Farnham’s Freehold which show the radical, violent