Analysis of Slumdog Millionaire

Jimmy Lombardo

322410

English 102- 041W

Leslie Jewkes

12 November 2012

Slumdog Millionaire Analysis

The movie “Slumdog Millionaire” (Boyle, 2008) was produced in 2008 by producer Christian Colson and Director Danny Boyle. The movie in quick summary is about an 18 year old boy named Jamal who is on an Indian version of Who Wants to be a Millionaire.  Jamal grew up in the slums in the middle of Mumbai, India.  Mumbai is a poverty stricken village, and Jamal is no exception.  Jamal goes on to answer all of the questions with not much effort, leading him to be arrested on suspicions of cheating his way through the game show.  In defending himself during his brutal interrogation and giving explanations of how he knew the answers, Jamal goes into details of his childhood in the slums and how the questions relate to his life and how he came about knowing the answers. After the explanations are given, the investigator believes him and he is free to finish the game.  At the end, he answers the last question correct and wins 20 million rupees.

The message being delivered by producer Christian Colson is a controversy between a poverty stricken child, growing up in the slums of Mumbai and given the chance at becoming one of the richest men in the area.  Because Jamal is an uneducated boy from the slums, he is automatically convicted of cheating when he knows the answers.  Through the interrogation, Jamal paints a vivid picture of the “behind the scenes views” of growing up in a third world poverty stricken village in the slums. The picture of rummaging through trash in the landfills, trying to find anything salvageable to wear, sell, or use at all. According to Martin Medina, “the World Bank estimates that 1% of the world’s population, or fifteen million people, earn their livelihood from these activities” (7).At one point, Jamal even wades through a sewage swamp in efforts to get an autograph from a famous movie star. Jamal shows the truth about how children and women are taken advantage of, how the entire villages are controlled by gangsters and drug lords, how kids are forced to steel to survive, the lack of education available for children and the way the police turn their heads because they are also controlled by the gangsters.  Christian Colson also does a great job of showing the different possible outcomes of children growing up in the slums.  He shows the likelihood of women doing vulnerable jobs, and the men turning the life of violence.

According to the Global Poverty Info Bank, “We live in a world in which women living in poverty face gross inequalities and injustice from birth to death. From poor education to poor nutrition to vulnerable and low pay employment”(1). Early in the movie, Slumdog Millionaire, Jamal, his brother Salim, and their friend Latika are placed into an orphanage, maybe better considered a child labor camp, where they are forced to steal, beg, and deceive people for money. These actions are prevalent in low income, slums and ghettos throughout the world.  In the movie, Slumdog Millionaire, Jamal and Salim become orphaned while a religious revolt breaks out and their mother is killed.  Jamal and Salim wind up sleeping in the streets and stealing to eat and survive.  The three characters Jamal, Salim, and Latika end up working for the gangsters running the town.  Latika ends up being a dancer and will eventually end up in prostitution.  According to an article by Antananarivo, “The number of registered sex workers in the city of about 200,000 residents has climbed from 17,000 in 1993 to 29,000 in 2012. The increase has been driven by rising poverty levels” (par. 1)

When these characters are grown up, Jamal, Salim, and Latika take different paths of life.  Christian Colson uses this opportunity in the movie to show the paths often taken by those who grow up in poverty.  Salim ends up working as a gun man and strong arm for the town gangster, Javed Khan. Latika ends up married to the Javed Khan.  As a scene between Jamal and his brother Salim is played out in Boyles Slumdog Millionaire, “Javed Khan... the gangster from our slum? You work for him? Come on, who else do you think would save us from Maman's guys, huh?”  (Boyle) Jamal ends up leaving the slums and going to work at a call center, changing his life around completely. A rarity for those growing up with the life Jamal had, however; possible. As stated earlier, the three outcomes of these three characters depicts the common life expectencies of those who grow up in poverty.  Often times children who grow up in poverty will wind up in these situations.  Women are often taken advantage of and forced to work vulnerable jobs.  Men like Salim, will end up stealing, killing, and working for gangsters because it is often the only hope of getting out of the lifestyle of a “slumdog”.  This movie also shows an outcome rare but possible. Jamal leaves the slums and ends up working for a call center. Christian Colson does not take the time to show how Jamal ends up with this career path; however, he does show a rare but possible situation.    

 

Works Cited

Antananarivo. "Madagascar: Sex for Survival." IRIN news 28 Aug. 20112. newspaper.

Slumdog Millionaire. Dir. Danny Boyle. Perf. jamal, Latika Salim. 2008. DVD.

unknown. The Global Poverty Project. n.d. foundation. 28 Oct. 2012.

Medina, Martin. The World’s Scavengers: Salvaging for Sustainable Consumption and Production. 2007. Lanham, MD. Altamira Press.