ok, I must have nipped to the loo or something, does anyone know what it actually is and how it works? It can genetically alter other life forms to become a 'Prawn' AND it is essential to the mothership for movement????????????
shareThey never really explained it in detail, but all their technology is biomechanical, which is why humans can't use it.
shareThat's right. And Christopher Johnson said he spent twenty years gathering the liquid, so I assume he was extracting it from whatever "Prawn" machinery he could find. The stuff probably plays a key role in helping the Prawn's interface with all their technology. Still, the idea that it would completely morph another species into a Prawn is hard to wrap my head around.
shareviruses can change host dna as well. and organic matter used as fuel is hardly unheard of on earth, in fact it's what's blamed for the green house gasses and all.
___
Anyone who has ever read any spoilers,
knows that Winter Is Coming
My biggest issue with this film is the black fluid! It seems like it's a power source, a mechanical enabler, but also transforms DNA in some strange way. Odd that one substance could do all three. I think Blomkamp needed both a McGuffin to keep the shuttlecraft stranded (no earth tech Chris could make or collect was able to get it re-lofted to the mothership) and a way to transform Wikus. I'm sure there was a way to separate those two ideas, but I guess Blomkamp couldn't or wouldn't do so.
Still an intense and enjoyable film...
...and Mrs. Taylor sure seems to use a lotta ice, whenever he's away
It seems like it's a power source, a mechanical enabler, but also transforms DNA in some strange way.
if i remember correctly the black stuff is alient jet fuel and for some unspecified reason humans turn into aliens when they touch it (lol)
shareI have a theory on it. The prawn technology seems to require the prawns' genetic material to activate. This implies that the black fluid would contain it, possibly even being pure prawn DNA. When it got into Wikus' body, it assimilated with his own DNA and began to take over, altering his genetic makeup into the "superior" DNA, thus turning him into a prawn.
shareI also had a theory that the black fluid acts as much as an enabler to activate their ship as much as it is used for limiting use of their technology to the Prawns only, hence why it acts like DNA as you said.
I always believed, like you mentioned, that it takes over the host if ingested. In this case as seen on film, our protagonist undergoes mutation because of the dominant strain. Who is to say that someone else would have died if perhaps it did not act as a dominant enabler? We have different reactions to different genetic assaults so we can't day that everyone else would have genetically mutated.
Since the black liquid acts as an important catalyst not only for story purposes but also for multiple functions, I would like to say that it is the very life source that allows the Prawns to continue onward without much needed effort as opposed to human technology, hence humanity's obsession to try to manipulate Prawn technology.
Of course since we all have different theories on the subject matter, neither of us are right or wrong. I like everyone's opinions and would like to read more on how one liquid could have multiple functions.