Simon_Jester wrote:FaxModem1 wrote:The only issue is that in the movie, the Prawns starved themselves for a long period of time on board their ship until the humans forced themselves in, finding them dying. Maybe Prawn accountants are even less creative than human ones, because they never tried to open the door to ask for help.
Alternatively, maybe they thought the humans would treat them savagely and that their only hope of survival was to keep the humans
out? That they would be better off staying buttoned up tight and waiting for rescue (which never came?)
Canon wise, it turns out they are actually drones, whose leader/queen had died out due to a virus from some other planet, and the ship's computer took them to the nearest inhabited planet, sadly populated by assholes (us), and and Christopher Johnson is their version of a queen actually maturing after enough time(2 decades) to actually try and lead the Prawns off the planet.
Source
But let's take Death of the Author into account, and just say that it's all MNU propaganda.
Why didn't they arm themselves in suits and weapons when meeting the hairless apes down below, request food for trade of knowledge, some tech, etc. or simply communicate at all with the people down below to tell them to stay away? Why didn't Christopher Johnson or someone like him try and gather fuel while everyone on board was running out of food? Did no one know how to turn on the radio? Was the radio beyond repair? Did no one know how to write something down on a crate or whatever and tell the humans to stay away? If nothing else, it would have bought them time while waiting for rescue or to repair their ship.
If they're all intelligent, they had a few dozen ways to improve their situation before the humans storm their ship after patiently waiting a few weeks for the alien ship to make the first move with no response.
Otherwise, it comes off as if they're Vogons:
Bob: Hey guys, I know we ran out of food a month ago, and most of us have been refraining from cannibalism, which kudos, but I wanted to talk about the idea that's been kicked around. Mostly, that we should ask the creatures below for help.
Chris Johnson: Well, we could work together to collect the fluid from the ship to fuel the tech and make repairs. Either fly home or make a distress signal.
Bob: You see, Chris, if we do that, we'd actually have to work, and the union rules haven't cleared anyone for overtime. We also don't have the proper forms to do so.
Chris: Okayyyyyyyyyy, well, how about we try and manually open the ship's airlocks to both let in fresh air and communicate with the inhabitants. We can try and trade food that we can eat for some knicknacks or starcharts. Maybe buy time while we get out a distress signal or for the fleet to find us.
Bob: I don't know about you, Chris, but I don't have clearance to talk to the aliens below. I sure didn't get a 312-Red First Contact form signed and stamped from HQ when we left. Besides, what if they're hostile?
Chris: Good point, maybe we should have a few guys arm up with guns and suits in case things go badly?
Bob: Whoa whoa whoa. And who is going to pay for the expense of using those? You know we can't officially use any
Prawn-Corp TM gear unless it's for officially sanctioned missions.
Chris: So, to sum up, we can't repair the ship because we don't want to call for help, leave the planet, negotiate or even contact the locals. What does that leave us?
Bob: Glad you asked, we starve until all of us are dead. It might be unpleasant, but at least we won't be violating company policy.