MovieChat Forums > District 9 (2009) Discussion > A theory I have on this film.

A theory I have on this film.

posted 12 years ago by nicholas_j_rocks
8 replies | jump to latest

So, I have a theory about the non-humans in District 9. I'm not sure my theory totally works and it's kinda farfetch'd but I just thought about it and felt like I should share anyways. So, you know how Wikus slowly turned into an alien after being sprayed by that alien fuel? Well, my theory is that it implies that perhaps the non-humans (Prawns) are actually humans themselves. Suppose that before the events of District 9, a group of astronauts went out for space exploration and they found an unknown planet of an unknown alien species. They crashland on that planet and need a way back to Earth. Whilst on the planet, the astronauts are exposed to the very same substance and get mutated into the non-humans we saw in District 9. They steal one of the alien ships there to get back home. It took a while for them to get back (they possibly multiplied a bit while on the the ship hence, the kids). And once they get to Earth, they are unrecognised by the humans and are treated as such. That is when the film starts. Chistopher (being one of the mutated astronauts) knows that they cannot live this way on Earth and must search for a cure by leaving Earth and going back to the Alien planet they discovered. That is why he is also carrying a sample of the fuel, to study it before he leaves. Wikus is exposed to the fuel and starts turning into a non-human which is what supports this theory that these creatures started off human. That is why Christopher promises Wikus that he will cure him because he is also trying to find a cure. That is also why Christopher was unable to cure Wikus in the film because he knows he has to leave Earth before he can figure out how to cure them.

I know, my theory is a little out there but I thought I would share to see what anyone else thinks. Let me know your thoughts! :)

[–] 12 years ago

[deleted]

[–] AutumnButterfly5 11 years ago

I had a similar theory... I thought that Christopher (?) And son were a different kind of alien that were turned into prawns like Wilkus. He talked of go going home, but never mentioned taking other prawns with him. He also stood out from the others, seemed smarter and more empathetic.

[–] 11 years ago

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[–] Geijutsu12 10 years ago

Well there's your idea for pulling out a prequel.

[–] flipper33 10 years ago

a better idea would be that they were slaves that started out as a human type race, altered by the fiuld to become those slave creatures, somehow christopher and others managed to escape found their way to earth but fell ill and had to stay here to recover, that would explain why the fiuld changed a human into one of those creatures, that would also explain why the aliens themselves seemed stupid and easy to control by humans.

[–] pcventures 10 years ago

Kind of a neat idea, but remember the aliens found us in 1982. We had wrapped up the Apollo program only ten years prior and never sent men past Earth's moon. I don't see how human astronauts would have traveled to an alien system with 1982 technology.
I never considered that this fluid may have transformed other aliens - kind of a neat idea that opens up a lot of other possibilities.
With that said, I still think that the "prawns" are simply who and what they are. The fluid seems to be some sort of multipurpose adaptogenic stuff, that's mean specifically to interface between them and their machines. It's so heavily tied into their biology that it turns other beings into them, as well.

...and Mrs. Taylor sure seems to use a lotta ice, whenever he's away

[–] guccipix 10 years ago

Interesting, but since they can communicate they'd just tell them, unless of course you're implying that the time they got back to Earth, the original astronauts were already dead and gone. Though in that case I think the story would've passed on, though I'm not sure that'd be of much use, the humans probably wouldn't believe them.

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Open the pod bay doors, HAL.

[–] delta-g 9 years ago

That can't be done because in one scene, Christopher says to his kid that his planet have 7 satellites and can't wait to get there. So I don't think that this theory is possible.