Reality vs. Hollywood: Slumdog Millionare

http://articles.latimes.com/2009/jan/24/world/fg-india-slumdog24

While doing the reading for Monday, I kept finding myself picturing scenes from Slumdog Millionare. This article was featured in the LA times in 2009 shortly after the film was released in Mumbai. While it may have won best picture in America, it was not at all well received in India. The majority of the criticism of the film was due to it's romanticizing of the poverty in Mumbai we read about in "Spectral Housing." At first, I agreed with the critics in that Slumdog glamorized some of the most awful realities faced by the millions of homeless, impoverished individuals in Mubai. However, after reading the piece on Mumbai, I find myself thinking that this highly controversial film has an additional effect. While it certainly does glamorize the slums in India, it also calls to attention the vast inequality in both India and in many other major cities. After finishing this reading, I was able to re-examine my initial feelings about Slumdog. Instead of seeing it as perpetuating negative stereotypes about India and glamorizing the slums, I now see the film as a sort of wake up call. We are uncomfortable with the portrayal of the slums not because they are glamorized but because they are too close to reality. Being made so blatantly aware of the totally disproportionate distribution of wealth would make anyone squirm in their seats. The reading not only helped Slumdog regain some credibility in my eyes, it served as yet another reminder that beneath all the glamour of the cities, entire populations of people exist that are striving to gain some sort of social and economic visibility.