posted: Attack the Block Helped Set the Course for the Last Decade of SciFi Films
These interactions capture Attack the Block’s approach to moral quandaries. Science fiction has always used outrageous and supernatural situations to examine ethical assumptions, but rarely have films in the genre so directly addressed systemic racism and inequality. Before the invasion, Sam—a recent nursing school grad living in the block as she begins her career—saw little in common between herself and Moses, his friends, or even genial weed dealers Ron (Nick Frost) and Brewis (Luke Treadway)."
"In a world in which any person of color’s interaction with the authorities, no matter how minor or seemingly routine, has the potential to end in violence or death—or else in exposure to a dehumanizing system of law enforcement that feeds off of racial and economic inequalities (a less immediate but still destructive outcome)—we’re forced to question the standard ‘crime and punishment’ narrative the minute the alien’s attack disrupts the arrest and forces us (and Sam) to realize that there is more to the story. And more to Moses.
These interactions capture Attack the Block’s approach to moral quandaries. Science fiction has always used outrageous and supernatural situations to examine ethical assumptions, but rarely have films in the genre so directly addressed systemic racism and inequality. Before the invasion, Sam—a recent nursing school grad living in the block as she begins her career—saw little in common between herself and Moses, his friends, or even genial weed dealers Ron (Nick Frost) and Brewis (Luke Treadway)."