And the Winner Is—

After eight Oscars were awarded to the movie, Slumdog Millionaire, the cast, the producers and director, the musicians, in fact most of Mumbai it seemed, were ecstatic over the popularity of the movie.

There are two ways of looking at this from afar. Is this movie an exploitation of people whose way of life is unthinkable to most Americans? By bringing slums into view, will it create more violence against the populous struggling so hard to survive? As a New Delhi writer said “There are no fairy-tale endings for most of India’s street kids”.

Or will it bring some good to them? It was reported the children featured in the movie would be able to buy better homes for themselves and their families. When accepting his award, the director said the movie was made to show the power of hope and optimism—that with passion and belief, anything is possible. It also brings awareness to the plight of poverty, and hopefully a better understanding of India’s culture.

We need awareness, we need understanding, we need optimism, we need to realize that people everywhere and in every circumstance are our brothers and sisters. We need to know them and if it takes a movie to do that, I would say it’s a good thing.

So, to nonviolence by way of understanding and compassion—the movie’s popular song says it best—

JAI-HO (Be Victorious)

LA Andersen

Photo credit: http://blog.movieset.com/tag/danny-boyle/