If aliens came to your hometown, how would you handle your surprise? “District 9,” the sci-fi action drama, asks that question – and the people have spoken.The public either loved or hated the movie, according to reader reviews. Such a polarized reception is worth further examination. The opposing nature of the reviews may actually teach us a lot about the film’s message. Are humans ready to accept a different type of alien life that defies our Hollywood-shaped preconceptions?Professional critics gave “District 9” overwhelmingly positive reviews, garnering the status of “universal acclaim” on Metacritic.com. But a look at the reader reviews tells a different story. You’ll find many users awarding perfect 10s and hailing it as groundbreakingly original. A few posts down, though, is a perfect 0. “Joe Al,” for example, says, “Damn liberals ruined what could have been a good thing.” Moviefone.com follows a similar trend: 5 stars from film critics. And what did the man on the street give it? Zero or 5 stars, with little in between. Three common negative responses are: “Worst movie ever made,” “We walked out xx minutes into it” and “Don’t waste your money.” These reviewers tend to offer little else in the way of thoughtful appraisal.This is a fascinating mixed bag of reactions, but it doesn’t stop there.A poll on Facebook sponsored by “District 9” was posted four times leading up to and during the film’s release. The question was: “Do non-humans deserve equal rights?”Combining the results: 207,853 votes were cast — 52 percent said yes, 48 percent no.The Facebook poll is virtually in keeping with the 50/50 split found on Moviefone.com (average of 3/5 stars). Is it a stretch to assume those who voted “no” may have also hated the movie? Metacritic.com’s “LilWeapon829” expected an “action-packed, alien-killing blockbuster” but was “disappointed.” It’s possible LilWeapon829 captured in his or her stirring critique the angst of most who didn’t like “District 9″—  unfulfilled expectations.Some reviewers were beaten down by what they felt were the film’s attempt to “moralize” them about the atrocities of South Africa’s apartheid. If that were the entire point of the movie, wouldn’t the director have just left the aliens out? Sure, the similarities are apparent, but the flick doesn’t pretend to hide them. I find the setting only illustrates how we tend to meet foreign concepts (like this film) with crossed arms, even in the most socially reformed areas of our “advanced culture.”As bad as apartheid was, earthlings always knew the black race existed. The aliens’ unannounced arrival in “District 9″ creates a new wrinkle in race relations. ”District 9” depicts human protesting, spitting venom in their knee-jerk reactions. On a smaller scale, users who vacantly, proudly walked out, then wrote a less-than-lucid review displayed similarly impulsive behavior. How quickly they might judge in the face of misunderstanding.It’s OK to dislike a movie, but what does it say when your distaste is met by an equally positive opposition from those in the public and professional fields alike?If “District 9” didn’t jive with some viewers’ ideas of how aliens should look or act, what did they expect? This is not to say everybody has to like it, but some reviewers may have been complicit in the film’s underlying theme in their rash misgivings about otherworldly oddities.When I walked out of the theatre, a woman in front of me said to her friends, “Anyone who likes this movie should have their head examined.”If you’ll pardon me, I’ve got a date with a shrink. Jack Johnson is a 23-year-old mass communication junior from Fort Worth, Texas. Follow him on Twitter @TDR_jjohnson. - – – -Contact Jack Johnson at [email protected]