Expert Solutions

Rent and view Neill Blompkamp’s movie District 9. This film has been considered very original because of its unusual treatment of the “aliens” theme. The movie’s originality also has to do with the ethical, legal, and political issues it raises. It takes place in South Africa, and it obviously evokes the now gone Apartheid regime. Due to the alien presence, the issues of Apartheid are invoked with particular force as ethical issues. 
Some of the questions you may ask, regarding the movie, are: what ethical issues does the main character, Wikus van der Merwe face, when assigned to evict the aliens? Is the eviction of the aliens just or justified? To what extent is the placement of the aliens in a “district” just? Do (or should) the aliens have rights on earth? How do the appearance and the general biological features of the aliens complicate the ethical decisions of the people on earth? To what extent are scientists justified to experiment on the aliens? 
You might also think about the director’s position and the way he communicates it through the movie. How does the movie make the rationales of Apartheid obvious to the viewer? To what extent are the aliens humanized? What is the significance of van der Merwe’s transformation? Is the critique of Apartheid also addressing other, more familiar, racist attitudes? 
The questions above are meant to start you brainstorming: they do not have to be answered directly or in any particular order in the paper. Construct the paper as an argument about ethical issues in the movie. Justify your position using one of the ethical positions outlined in the Week 6 Lecture. 
In addition to articles about ethics and the ethical theories learned during the week, you might want to have a look at articles about Apartheid, its rationale, and the consequences of making it a state policy in South Africa. Reviews of the movie are also acceptable as sources, if they come from serious sources (see The New York Times review or Roger Ebert’s review, for instance) 
This paper must be four double-spaced pages in length (not including the References page) and utilize at least four academic quality secondary sources. Margins should be no more than one inch (right and left) and the essay should be composed in 12 point Times New Roman font. Sources must be documented and cited using APA format. Please see the tutorial in the syllabus for additional details on APA formatting and the tutorial in Week 1 on "The Elements of Fiction" for this paper.