How is District 9 typical of its genre(s) ?

District 9 is a hybrid of two genres because it is part Sci fi and it is also in a documentary style. This means that it is a hybrid and a strand of the post Modern theory.

Sci fi Conventions
Transformation/Body horror - A typical convention of sci fi is a transformation of a character (usually human) into something else, which is typically a human. Body horror is also common in sci fi film and this is when body parts, such as fingernail or teeth, are dismembered. This occurs in District 9 when Wikus van de Merde goes to the office bathroom to look at his teeth and fingernails. He looks into the mirror and pulls out two fingernails of his hands. This scene is also paying homage because Neil Blomkamp has specifically included this scene to pay homage to David CroenBurg's film "The Fly". This gratifies the preferred audience's viewing needs.

New technologies and their consequences - Most, if not all, sci fi films include a new form of technology and this has consequences on the world and the people that live in it. This is the case in District 9 because the arrival of the aliens also brings with it the arrival of new, powerful weapons.  This has many consequences on the world including the movement of millions of "prawns" so that MNU (a weapons manufacturer and private security) can find hidden weapons and sell them on to other companies ad arms dealers. This is proven in one of the interviews and stock footage of weapons MNU weapons testing.

Typical Iconography - Iconography is the images and symbols that are typically used in a work of art. In this case the work of art is  a film and the images and symbols can be object which are common in sci films.