Capitalism with a Human Face: Neoliberal Ideology in Neill Blomkamp'sDistrict 9

Abstract

This article analyses Neill Blomkamp's Academy Award-winning District 9 (2009) to investigate the extent to which popular cinema might support neoliberal ideological positions. It draws upon Slavoj Žižek's psychoanalytic theory of ideology to explore how far anti-capitalist and anti-colonial tendencies in the film should be regarded as an “unconscious fantasy” (1989, p.30) that works towards reinforcing key aspects of neoliberalism. Through an exploration of private military contractor Multinational United (MNU), lead protagonist Wikus van de Merwe (Sharlto Copley), and the film's spatial composition, this article argues that District 9 works in support of neoliberalism by constructing a social reality that sidesteps genuine criticisms of neoliberalism's role in continued socio-economic marginalisation and ongoing human suffering. This is evident in hollow criticisms of corporate capitalism vis-à-vis MNU and ignorant misrepresentations of the alien Other, which reinforce discourses of cultural and ethnic superiority associated with neoliberalism.