All dogs go to heaven

[starlady]

So I shanghaied sparowhawk  into seeing "Slumdog Millionaire" with me tonight and I think I can say that it was an excellent idea; it's certainly an excellent movie. I mean, of course it's totally a movie in the grand old Hollywood glitter-in-the-eyes, love-conquers-all tradition, but I think what makes the movie work so well is its deliberately setting the story in a rather rougher setting than I think most audiences are used to seeing in the cinema. (Full disclosure: we saw it in Moorestown, and frankly I was annoyed at our fellow moviegoers, since their reactions made it clear that they haven't given much thought to the reality of life in the Mumbai slums. on the other hand, who can blame them in the narrow sense? and on the third hand, I'm sure the movie didn't show the worst of it, not by a long shot.) Anyway, it's awesome, go see it now! There's a Bollywood-style dance number in the credits! An awesome movie set in India + Bollywood! What more can you want? 

Full disclosure: I wanted to slap the twiggy blonde teenager in the restroom going "I can't believe people live like that" after the movie. Believe it, sweetheart! And if you think that's bad, let's talk about Zimbabwe or Somalia or any of the many other places I could name. Ugh. Seriously? People don't think about these things? I do. On the same note, Mel and I were laughing our heads off at the sequences with the tourists in the Taj Mahal, and no one else in the theater apparently found it funny. Hitting too close to home my rich subarbanites? Or have you just never been out of this benighted country? I'm such a snob, aren't I? Oh, tourists. Is it just Asia? Or are they the same everywhere? 

Final question: What are the odds that the book was inspired by Oliver Twist? I totally thought of that Manand dude as an Indian Fagin.

Comments

[ataniell93.livejournal.com]

Eh, if she's a teenager, it's much needed social learning, let her be. I doubt I could have believed it much before the age of 21 either.

[starlady38.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I'm probably failing to extend the requisite social empathy; it's easy to forget that I didn't know everything I know now at every point in the past. At least I kept my thoughts to myself at the time.

[tiljaunique.livejournal.com]

From the point of view of where I live, I'm so used to hearing on tv talk about how great the USA is and how poor and lowly we are in comparison that I'm not surprised at that girl's reaction, or any of the others in the theatre.

Every time Bollywood comes here to portray our history, they end up making a Bollywood product with no real story in it, just their romantization of the facts. In other words, there's practically no truth in their stories from other countries, just a seller product for prefabricated minds.

The truth is, people don't want to see how bad it is in other places, because if they do, they'll have to acknowledge it and everything won't be as happy and right as they are led to belive. If it only depresses you and you can't or won't do anything about it, why bother? People do the same here and everywhere. At least the ones with good social and economical standing, those who can forget easily what happens outside their exclusive suburban area, right next block to it.