CYBERMANCER:

battling to preserve a vital humanity

in the neo eon of computer generated imagery

in the twilit and allegorical film art

of Neill Blomkamp

by Gary W. Wright

        Like most fiction and film artists of the dread allegorical Zone Wars, the South African born and raised and Vancouver residing Neill Blomkamp was haunted by the helicopter crash that killed actor/director/writer Vic Morrow and illegally hired and used child extras Renee Chen and Myca Le in the early morning hours of July 23, 1982 on the George Folsey jr. produced John Landis set of the twilit, allegorical, Kathleen Kennedy associate produced, Frank Marshall produced, and Landis and Steven Spielberg executive produced Landis, Spielberg, Joe Dante and George Miller docufeature film TWILIGHT ZONE: THE MOVIE [1983].  And like many film artists of the post-TZ disaster era, Blomkamp was implicitly ambivalent about the use of computer generated imagery [CGI] to enhance film art and prevent future film set disasters, an implicit ambivalence on display when he donned the co-writer/director hats and teamed up with executive producer Sir Peter Jackson to create the twilit, allegorical, CGI enhanced and Ozian themed indie docufeature film DISTRICT 9 [2009], released on August 13, 2009.

“Uncle Wikus is flying now,

all right?”

        Curiously, the film was a pseudo-documentary set in Johannesburg, South Africa in 2010 and shot on the cheap with hand held digital cameras, a cheap approach in ironic contrast to the film’s expensive CGI enhancement, complete with commentary from the implicitly Sigourney Weaver linked South African sociologist Sarah Livingstone-played by Nathalie Boltt-and the implicitly William “Cyberpunk” Gibson linked engineer Francois Moraneau-played by Nick Blake.  An ironic pseudo-documentary that quickly introduced audiences to the friendly, smiling, moustached, “Uncle” Walt Disney resembling and implicitly linked and Tin Man linked “Uncle” Wikus van de Merwe-played by Sharlto Copley-an employee of the South African division of the implicitly Walt Disney Company [WDC] linked global arms maker Multi-National United [MNU].  Indeed, the fact that the implicitly WDC CEO Robert “Bob” Iger linked Dirk Michaels-played by William A. Young-was the CEO of MNU, and that the South African division of MNU was headed by van de Merwe’s equally genial but callous father-in-law, the Michael Eisner resembling and implicitly linked and implicitly Wicked Witch of the West linked Piet Smit-played by Louis Minaar-affirmed the implicit link of MNU to the WDC.

        Significantly, we linked up with van de Merwe just in time to join him on a tragicomic expedition.  For twenty-seven years earlier, a huge alien mothership full of sick and starving CGI extraterrestrials had arrived over Jo’burg one fateful day in early June of 1982 shortly before the TZ disaster.  Soon after their arrival, the sickly aliens were shuttled from the mothership by helicopter to a literal and Disneyland and Hollywood cadenced alien refugee camp outside Jo’burg called District 9 in early July of ’82, a date that linked the CGI ETs-nicknamed “prawns” due to their resemblance to bipedal prawns-to the month of the equally fateful and fatal TZ disaster and reminding us that CGI had been developed and perfected after that disaster in order to prevent future fatal disasters on film sets by pulling off dangerous and explosion filled sequences, particularly those involving helicopters, with CGI.  After causing too much trouble at District 9, a decision was made to move the cat food luvin’ CGI prawns to a new camp called Sanctuary Park aka District 10 200 km away from Jo’burg, a move that was conducted by the South African division of MNU and overseen by the genial and smiling “Uncle” Wikus.

        Significantly, all went well for the CGI prawn relocation until van de Merwe accidentally sprayed himself in the face with some prawn deodorant while searching a prawn shack in District 9 for weapons, evoking the sight and sound of Kane-played by John Hurt-having a facehugger attach itself to his face and neck in the eerily and presciently twilit, allegorical, CGI enhanced and Ozian themed Sir Ridley Scott indie docufeature artbuster ALIEN [1979].  Alas, at this point, to the saddened and horrified dismay of family and friends including the W.P. Kinsella resembling and implicitly linked fellow MNU employee Anton Grobler-played by Melt Sieberhagen-and van de Merwe’s Ted Kotcheff resembling and implicitly linked father Nicolas van de Merwe-played by Johan van Schoor-van de Merwe slowly and surely transformed into an all CGI prawn, in the end, a moving and memorable transformation that started with his sinister left hand and that was as memorable and moving as the transformation of the vainglorious and implicitly Spielberg linked rogue scientist Seth Brundle-played by Jeff Goldblum-into a flyman over the course of the twilit, allegorical and implicitly Spielberg roasting David Cronenberg indie docufeature film THE FLY [1986].  Curiously, this sad and nightmarish transformation was also watched with the callous, detached, fascinated and mercenary interest of the implicitly James Cameron linked MNU doctor-played by Jonathan Taylor-an implicit interest in Cameron affirmed by the film’s allusions to the ragingly twilit, allegorical, CGI enhanced, Ozian themed and implicitly Dante and Spielberg roasting Cameron indie docufeature Zonebuster ALIENS [1986], and the film’s allusions to an equally moving but more upbeat transformation into an all CGI Nav’i at the end of the daylit, allegorical, CGI enhanced, Ozian themed and implicitly Lucas and Martin Scorsese roasting Cameron indie animaction Zonebuster AVATAR [2009].

Curiously, before he fully transformed into a prawn, van de Merwe managed to climb into and use an armoured prawn CGI battle suit that evoked the armoured super suit worn by the brash, brilliant, cocky, confident, handsome, womanizing, imperfect, likably unlikable and implicitly Jason Reitman linked Anthony “Tony” Stark aka “Iron Man”-played by Robert Downey jr.-in the Marvel Cinematic Universe [MCU] films, a series of films overseen by Disney after they purchased Marvel in 2009, the year of the release of DISTRICT 9, reaffirming the film’s implicit interest in Disney.  Just as curiously, van de Merwe used the CGI battle suit to desperately fight off the tough and tenacious MNU commandos led by  the implicitly Nikko linked Colonel Koobus Venter-played by David James-and the equally tough and tenacious Nigerian gang members led by the implicitly David Lynch linked Obesandjo-played by Eugene E. Khumbanyiwa-that were trying to kill him in running battles that evoked the running battles between American soldiers and Somalian militia men throughout the twilit, allegorical, CGI enhanced and Ozian themed Sir Scott indie docufeature artbuster BLACK HAWK DOWN [2001] to reaffirm the film’s implicit interest in Sir Scott. 

Significantly, triumphing in these battles allowed van de Merwe to give the friendly prawn “Christopher Johnson”-played by Jason Cope, who also played the possibly Sir Scott linked UKNR Chief Correspondent Grey Bradnam-he had befriended a chance to escape with his son to the huge mother ship still parked motionless over Jo’burg, start it up and return to their homeworld like E.T. at the end of the eerily and presciently twilit, allegorical and CGI enhanced Spielberg docufeature film E.T., THE EXTRATERESSTRIAL [1982].  Alas for the distraught and doomed van de Merwe, Johnson and son took their ability to halt his transformation and return his vital humanity to him with them, causing van de Merwe to fully transform into a prawn and disconsolately craft flowers out of garbage to leave outside the house he once shared with his beautiful, blonde, sweet, luvly and implicitly Hollywood and Dorothy linked wife Tania van de Merwe-played by Vanessa Haywood-in the end.  Thus, given the implicit link of van de Merwe to Disney, Blomkamp and Sir Jackson implied that Disney’s decision to switch from hand animated films in favour of all CGI films had caused its film art to lose its imperfect and infallible but endearing, enduring and vital humanity as surely as van de Merwe lost equally imperfect and fallible but endearing, enduring and vital humanity over the course of DISTRICT 9.

At any rate, it was fitting that Moraneau was implicitly linked to Gibson in DISTRICT 9, for as early as 1981, the last good year of film, Gibson accurately predicted in his literary art that the arrival of the binary and digital computer world would create three types of people: the men and women who created and understood the hardware and software of the neo computer enhanced world, or understood what could be done with that hardware and software, and who would become the most successful and wealthy members of the neo upper class of the “cybernetic” eon; the men and women who understood how computers and their office suite software and other digital gadgets like inventory wands could aid their businesses and the adult and teenage employees who could be trained to use and repair them who would become the neo middle class; and the men and women who did not understand or were philosophically opposed to the neo cybernetic eon who would become the poor neo lower class.  Curiously, Gibson also accurately predicted in his cyberpunk literary art that all three of these neo-cybernetic socioeconomic classes would turn to drug use, so that the neo-upper class could briefly escape the stress, embarrassment and even guilt of success, the neo-lower class could briefly escape the stress, embarrassment and even guilt of failure or of refusal to join the neo world order, and the neo-middle class could briefly escape the stress of being stuck between the neo-upper and lower classes.  A neo cybernetic eon with three neo socioeconomic classes that appeared in DISTRICT 9 and that reappeared when Blomkamp donned the writer/director/co-producer hats and teamed up again with Copley, Julian Clarke, Philip Ivey, and Trent Opaloch-editor, production designer and director of photography [DOP], respectively, for DISTRICT 9-and Sony and Tristar-distributors of DISTRICT 9-to rage against the corporate machine again in the twilit, allegorical, CGI enhanced and Ozian themed indie docufeature film ELYSIUM [2013], a film released on August 7, 2013 that was fittingly, given the nods to Gibson in DISTRICT 9, inspired by the presciently twilit, allegorical and CGI enhanced Gibson indie tech noir short story “Johnny Mnemonic” [1981] and the film inspired by “Johnny Mnemonic”, the twilit, allegorical, CGI enhanced, Ozian themed and implicitly Stanely Kubrick toasting Robert Longo indie docufeature film JOHNNY MNEMONIC [1995]

“They can fix this shit on Elysium,

man.”

Curiously, the film revolved around the implicitly Gary W. Wright and Tin Man linked Armadyne Carlyle robocop factory assembler named “Mad” Max Da Costa aka Employee 6722-6722 reminding us that I was born in ’67, and played as a boy by Maxwell P. Cotton and Matt Damon as a young adult, respectively-a member of the poor neo lower class whose job and shaven head evoked the equally bald robocop assembly worker THX 1138-played by Lawrence Duvall-in the eerily and presciently twilit, allegorical and implicitly Stanley Kubrick roasting George Lucas indie docufeature film THX 1138 [1971], a film also alluded to in DISTRICT 9.  Significantly, Da Costa lived in a callous, cynical, polluted and rundown future Earth where the neo poor were trapped in ramshackle slums on the planet like the one Da Costa lived in in Los Angeles 2154 and the neo wealthy lived in a heavenly paradise where no one got sick or grew old called Elysium, which was a circular, ringed and spinning “torus” satellite with central spokes shaped like a star and with a pristine and ancient Earth-like world hidden within the inner side of the ring that evoked the spinning satellite in the allegorical and Ozian themed Kubrick indie docufeature artbuster 2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY [1968] and the equally fecund Ringworld in the allegorical Larry Niven indie docufiction novel Ringworld [1970].  This satellite utopia that floated faintly in the sky above the slums of Earth like the alien mothership floated over the slums and nice neighbourhoods of Johannesburg in DISTRICT 9 to affirm its alienated nature was presided over by President Patel-played by Faran Tahir, who, fittingly, given the implicit interest in the Walt Disney Company in DISTRICT 9 and given that Disney bought Marvel in 2009, played the Evil and implicitly Lucas and Nikko linked terrorist leader Raza in the daylit, allegorical, CGI enhanced, Ozian themed and implicitly Diablo Cody and Jason Reitman toasting and Lucas and Irvin Kershner roasting Marvel and Jon Favreau indie super satirical animaction film IRON MAN [2008], evoking the Iron Man super suit evoking armoured prawn CGI battle suit that van de Merwe used to fight off the MNU commandos at the end of DISTRICT 9-and conspired against by the short, steely, blonde and implicitly Wicked Witch of the West linked Defense Secretary Jessica Delacourt-played by Jodie Foster. 

Just as curiously, after an accident at the robocop factory left him dying of radiation poisoning and with only five days to live, a moving sight and sound that evoked the equally moving sight and sound of van de Merwe transforming into a prawn in DISTRICT 9, Da Costa spent the rest of the film battling the Evil, bearded and implicitly Landis and Nikko linked indie Elysium Agent 32 Alpha M. Kruger-played by Copley-in a desperate struggle to get to the Elysium satellite so as to be cured of his radiation sickness.  Significantly, Da Costa’s final days were helped along by an exo-skeleton that was grafted onto him by the rebel and possibly Kubrick linked L.A. hacker gang leader Spider-his name evoking the equally techno savvy Spider played by Henry Rollins in JOHNNY MNEMONIC, and played by Wagner Moura-that affirmed his implicit link to the Tin Man and that evoked the armoured prawn CGI battle suit used by van de Merwe to fight off the MNU commandos at the end of DISTRICT 9.  Significantly, while he made it up to Elysium where he defeated and terminated Kruger, Da Costa died before he could be killed of his radiation sickness, but not before he and Spider managed to download a cache of data in his head that was uploaded from the brain of the implicitly Elon Musk and Great Oz linked Armadyne Carlyle CEO John Carlyle-played by William Fichtner-and that rebooted the Elysium computer network and made all of the citizens of Earth regardless of their income level full citizens of Elysium and thus eligible for medical treatment on the satellite heaven, including the implicitly Dorothy linked Matilda-played by Emma Tremblay-daughter of Da Costa’s sweetie, the implicitly Glinda linked Frey-played by Alice Braga-an ending that evoked the similar end of JOHNNY MNEMONIC. 

Thus, given that Da Costa died after his victory over the cruel Kruger and his successful download of his brain cache that made all citizens of Earth citizens of Elysium, Blomkamp implied his hope that Wright’s site www.zonewarsonfilm.com would defeat Landis and enlighten the people of Earth, and that all promising film artists should be supported by Hollywood not just big names like Cameron and Lucas who attracted the big bucks to create huge films that were as CGI enhanced and realized as the Elysium satellite.  Indeed, the fact that Da Costa’s L.A. digs linked him to Hollywood film art affirmed this implicit interpretation of ELYSIUM on one level.  And so another protagonist implicitly linked to a film artist failed to preserve his vital humanity at the end of the second Blomkamp film.  And so it was curious that the people of Earth and Elysium, while different in so many ways, shared a fondness for robocops, for Blomkamp devoted a film to a devoted robocop and reaffirmed his implicit interest in Disney and fondness for the twilit and allegorical cyberpunk fiction of Gibson when he soon donned the co-writer/director/co-producer hats, teamed up again with Clarke, Cope, Copley, Opaloch, Sony and Diana Cilliers and Terri Tatchell-costume designer for, and co-writer of, DISTRICT 9, respectively-Media Rights Capital [MRC] and now with Columbia Pictures instead of Tristar and raged against the corporate machine again when he returned to a contemporary sly fi Jo’burg to bring the Gibson Trilogy full triangular circle in the twilit, allegorical, CGI enhanced and Ozian themed indie docufeature film CHAPPiE [2015], released on March 4, 2015.

“Chappie be the rudest

bad boy streetwise professor in Joburg,

fuck mother!”

        Curiously, the film began in Jo’burg in another robocop assembly factory implicitly linked to Lucasfilm called Tetravaal, fusing the Jo’burg location of DISTRICT 9 with the L.A. based Aramdyne robocop factory of ELYSIUM, created to combat rising crime in the city.  Here at Tetravaal, overseen by the implicitly Kennedy and Glinda linked CEO Michelle Bradley-played by Weaver-was the brilliant and implicitly J.J. Abrams and Great Oz linked young robotics engineer and neo-upper classman Deon Wilson-played by Dev Patel-designer of the “Scout” robocops for the Jo’burg police, reminding us that, after the Walt Disney Company purchased Lucasfilm and Industrial Light and Magic [ILM], Kennedy had persuaded Abrams to helm the daylit, allegorical, CGI enhanced and Ozian themed animaction film STAR WARS VII: THE FORCE AWAKENS [2015].  Here we also met Wilson’s arch-rival at Tetravaal, the Evil and implicitly Jose Padilha and Wicked Witch of the West linked ex-soldier and weapons designer Vincent Moore-played by Hugh Jackman, who linked another Blomkamp film openly to the MCU via his role as Wolverine-and his huge, human wearing neural headset run and Iron Man evoking armoured battle suit the Moose.

Significantly, soon after meeting these three main characters, Wilson managed to digitally create and install human consciousness on one of the company’s Scout robocops he created for the company, the perpetually beat up and implicitly C3PO and Tin Man linked Scout 22-played by Copley-a damaged Scout with only five days left on its battery.  Alas, after all sorts of misadventures with Scout 22, including being hijacked by three members of the neo-lower class, the implicitly Cameron and Scarecrow and Suzi Amis and Dorothy linked gangsta rappers Ninja and Yo-Landi-played by themselves, whose songs were featured on the soundtrack-and their implicitly Miguel Sandoval and Cowardly Lion linked friend Amerika-played by Jose P. Cantillo-who quickly dubbed Scout 22 “Chappie”, and trained him in their hideout in an abandoned factory to aid them in their criminal pursuits and their battles with the nutty and implicitly Luc Besson linked rival gangleader Hippo-played by Brandon Auret-and his gang, Wilson was killed along with Amerika, Yo-Landi and even Chappie in a closing battle with Moore and his Moose which recalled the sight and sound of van de Merwe in his Iron Man suit at the end of DISTRICT 9 to truly bring the first Blomkamp trilogy full triangular circle, in the end, and then the unexpected digital “rebirth” of Chappie, Wilson and Yo-Landi in robot forms. 

Thus, Blomkamp implied his fear that creating a new STAR WARS film for the Disney owned Lucasfilm would destroy the vital humanity and creativity of Abrams and cause him to forever after crank out STAR WARS sequels as lookalike as the robocop Wilson ultimately became, a prescient fear indeed, given that STAR WARS VII: THE FORCE AWAKENS somehow managed to be worse than the dismal, twilit, allegorical, CGI enhanced, Ozian themed, Lucas executive produced and implicitly Spielberg roasting Richard Marquand indie docufeature film STAR WARS VI: RETURN OF THE JEDI [1983].  At any rate, the film’s implicit interest in Dis was affirmed by the fact that the rare times that the gangstas allowed Wilson back to teach and raise Chappie evoked the sight and sound of Geppetto-played by Christian Rub-teaching and raising the newly aware puppet Pinocchio-played by Dickie Jones-in the allegorical and implicitly Adolf Hitler roasting Norman Ferguson, T. Hee, Wilfred Jackson, Jack Kinney, Hamilton Luske, Bill Roberts and Ben Sharpsteen film PINOCCHIO [1940].  The film’s allusions to the daylit, allegorical, CGI enhanced and Ozian themed Cameron indie animaction Zonebuster AVATAR [2009] also affirmed the implicit interest in Cameron in CHAPPIE.

And so CHAPPiE reaffirmed that Blomkamp was indeed an intuitive and satirical master of CGI enhanced, Disney needling and Gibson influenced indie docufeature film art worthy of the title of Cybermancer.  And so Columbia Pictures, Disney, Marvel, Sony and Ruben Fleischer implicitly agreed and also implicitly agreed that this fact made Blomkamp worthy of an implicit roastin’ toast in the twilit, allegorical and CGI enhanced super satirical animaction film VENOM [2018], a film released on October 1, 2018 that was based on a character created by Dauntless David Michelinie and Tenacious Todd McFarlane for Marvel Comics whose implicit Blomkamp addressing intent was affirmed by allusions to CHAPPiE, DISTRICT 9 and ELYSIUM. 

“Drake is trying to put

human beings and aliens together

just so they can live in place?”

Indeed, the sight and sound of the implicitly Blomkamp linked San Francisco investigative television journalist Edward “Eddie” Brock-played by Tom Hardy-being infected with a black CGI extraterrestrial symbiote that transformed him at times into the hungry, rampaging, super powerful and all CGI alien “Venom” evoked the sight and sound of poor doomed van de Merwe being infected with black alien disease that slowly but surely transformed him into the equally hungry, sometimes rampaging, slightly stronger and all CGI alien “prawn” throughout DISTRICT 9, affirming the implicit link of Brock to Blomkamp.  Curiously, with the reluctant help of his ex-sweetie Anne “Annie” Weying-played by Michelle Williams-Brock also triumphed over the Evil and implicitly M. Night Shyamalan linked Life Foundation CEO Carlton Drake aka “Riot”-played by Riz Ahmed-in the end. 

Curiously, Blomkamp spent his pandemic donning the writer/director/co-producer hats and creating the daylit, allegorical, and CGI enhanced indie docufeature film DEMONIC [2021], released on July 22, 2021.  Then Columbia Pictures, Disney, Marvel and Sony teamed up again to have Edward “Eddie” Brock aka “Venom”-played again by Hardy-and his still reluctant ex-sweetie Anne “Annie” Weying-played again by Williams-return for more allegorical Brock and roll mayhem and take on and take out the implicitly Quentin Tarantino linked serial killer Cletus Kasady aka “Carnage”-played by Woody Harrelson-and his girlfriend Frances Barrison aka “Shriek”-played by Naomie Harris-in the twilit, allegorical and CGI enhanced Andy Serkis super satirical animaction film VENOM: LET THERE BE CARNAGE [2021], released on September 14, 2021.  An implicit interest in Blomkamp that made it fitting that two years later the man himself put on the director hat and teamed up again with Columbia and Sony and for the first time with Play Station Productions on the daylit, allegorical, CGI enhanced and Ozian themed animaction film GRAN TURISMO [2023], released on July 16, 2023 and inspired by a true story.

“If you’re one

of the very, very few people

getting this message,

it means that you set the fastest lap time

in Gran Turismo…

We’ve created an academy

to take the best SIM racers in the world

and train them to race

real race cars.”

Significantly, the sight and sound of Nissan marketing executive Daniel “Danny” Moore-played by Orlando Bloom-using the Gran Turismo Sony playstation videogame to recruit talented videogame players like the tall, skinny, gangly, geeky, baby faced, naïve, innocent and implicitly Zendaya linked mulatto teen Gran Turismo nut Jann Mardenborough-played by Archie Madekwe-who could be transformed into real Nissan racing car team racers at the beginning of the film evoked the sight and sound of the zany and dramatic star fighter recruiter Centauri-played by Robert Preston-using The Last Starfighter arcade videogame to recruit talented videogame players like the implicitly Lucas linked teen Alex Rogan-played by Lance Guest-to be galactic star fighter pilots needed to fight off the implicitly Spielberg and Wicked Witch of the West linked Xur-played by Norman Snow-and the implicitly flying monkey linked Ko-Dan armada in the twilit, allegorical, CGI enhanced and Ozian themed Nick Castle docufeature film THE LAST STARFIGHTER [1984].  Curiously, Moore’s quixotic campaign also evoked teen Zachary “Zack” Lightman being recruited by the Earth Defense Alliance [EDA] via the Armada videogame to also fight off an invading alien armada of Evil Europans in the daylit, allegorical, CGI enhanced and Ozian themed Ernest Cline indie docufiction novel Armada [July 2015].

Thus, the sight and sound of Mardenborough winning the videogame recruitment training and then being trained by the sad eyed and knowing ex-racer chief engineer/mechanic Jack Salter-played by David Harbour-to best van de Merwe, Da Costa, Wilson and Yo-Landi by leaving behind his fake CGI videogame existence and developing and regaining his vital humanity to be a real ace racer who could beat even pesky Team Capa ace racer Nicholas Capa-played by Josha Stradowski-in the end, implied the hope of Blomkamp and Sony that life long Disney Princess Zendaya would leave behind her supporting roles in Disney films like the Jon Watts implicitly Gardevil addressing Spider-Man Trilogy and go on to take lead roles in films and perhaps even become a talented and successful director herself in another implicit dig at Dis in a Blomkamp film.  At any rate, GRAN TURISMO was a surprisingly sweet and lighthearted film that made audiences look forward it did to the day the South Africanadian decided to again spring bok to the future and reaffirm that indeed he was a lekker…Cybermancer.