District 9

I would love to be part of the team of writers in charge of fleshing out a sequel to District 9. There are so many open questions whose answers can lead in very interesting directions. First and foremost, will Christopher Johnson return in 3 years? And will he be pissed? Will he transform Wikus back into a human?

Like the majority of critics, I thought District 9 was original and compelling. But for me it wasn't the social context that was the most interesting, but it was the fact that I could end up seeing a giant cat-food loving Prawn as the most human character in the movie, rooting for him knowing that he could very well bring back a fleet of pissed-off brethren to destroy our civilization. Moreover, it was a human's transformation into something completely Other that redeemed him. To me, the sight of Wikus as a prawn creating a metal flower out of junk was very hopeful. (Then again I thought the ending of No Country for Old Men was hopeful.) One of the things I enjoy most about sci fi is that it shows us that being human as nothing to do with a genetic code.

As far as my search for something meaningful to create goes, I'm always stopped by a voice saying, "That's useless. That's trivial."