Annotated Bibliography

Central Question: How are the portrayals of Colonialism different in District 9 and Avatar?

Films: Avatar and District 9

Brooks, David. “The Messiah Complex.” NYTimes, http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/08/opinion/08brooks.html?em. Accessed 20 March 2017.

Brooks explores and explains the idea of the White Messiah, which is very similar to the White Man’s Burden idea. This will allow me to look more closely at how these ideas relate to a post colonial world and why these ideas have popped up so much in recent cinema.

Dominguez-Chio, Amanda. “District 9: A Post-Colonial Analysis.” The Artifice, https://the-artifice.com/district-9-post-colonial-analysis/. Accessed 20 March 2017.

This article presents the ideas that what is happening in District 9 is settler colonialism, with the aliens being the members of the settler colony. These ideas and explanations within support my belief that District 9 has very particular types of colonialism at work.

Kavaney, Roz. “Avatar Review.” Strange Horizons, http://strangehorizons.com/non-fiction/reviews/avatar/. Accessed 20 March 2017.

In this review, Kavaney brings up how the idea of a white male coming and saving the day is repeated so much because it is one of the few types of films that is allowed to come out of Hollywood. Overall it addressed the pressures of making films in a postcolonial world.

Riazuddin, Hana Shams. “Why Avatar is a Truly Dangerous Film.” Ceasefire Magazine, https://ceasefiremagazine.co.uk/why-avatar-is-a-truly-dangerous-film/ . Accessed 20 March 2017.

Riazuddin states that much of Avatar is based on the limited belief of what most people think a tribal group looks like, and addresses how it is colonial practices being done to the na’vi. This supports and answers my question of what kinds of colonialism is found in the film and gives supporting evidence.

Zellhuber-McMillan, Ellena. “A Beginner’s Guide to...Post-Colonial Cinema.” One Room With A View, https://oneroomwithaview.com/2015/05/27/beginners-guide-post-colonial-cinema/. Accessed 20 March 2017.

The article goes into detail in explaining what Post-Colonial cinema is, and provides examples of the different traits it exhibits. The information supplied here gives me both examples needed for post-colonial cinema and also the main ideas behind it.

Johnson, Scott. “The Real District 9: Cape Town’s District 6.” Newsweek, http://www.newsweek.com/real-district-9-cape-towns-district-six-78939. Accessed 20 March 2017.

Johnson’s article goes into the history of real life districts that people lived in, before being forced out and finding themselves in various slums. It’s said Director of District 9, Blomkamp spent time studying this district in order to understand some of the ideas he would incorporate into District 9.

Dudek, Duane. “‘District 9’ Social Theme isn’t So Alien.” JsOnline, http://archive.jsonline.com/entertainment/movies/53074407.html. Accessed 20 March 2017.

Dudek brings up how the film’s setting and ideas being presented are meant to remind people of the time of Apartheid shown in South Africa. Apartheid is a post-colonialism idea that was put in place to continue the racism of slavery and to keep the natives of South Africa under the former colonists.