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1. Thea Lim on the Radio « Invisible Publishing on 15 Feb 2009 at 2:55 pm

   [...] http://www.racialicious.com/2009/02/12/addicted-to-race-105-slumdog-millionaire-hes-just-not-that-in... [...]

Comments

1. Chris Chambers wrote:

   Irony or design: Slumdog is feel good flick, and He’s Just Not Into You has no real characters of color, other than cliched stereotypes (including the usual mincing lisping gay male “girlfriend/confidantes”). Checking out the podcast now.

   Posted 12 Feb 2009 at 11:42 am ¶

2. Heqit wrote:

   Thea and Carmen, I really enjoyed listening to this — thanks!

   *Spoiler Warning*

   With respect to Thea’s (and to some extent Carmen’s) concerns about how Slumdog can be called “feel-good” or “uplifiting” when the protagonists had to endure so many awful things — wouldn’t the fact that Jamal and Latika had pretty much escaped from or overcome those horrors by the end of the movie contribute to people coming away from it feeling happy or uplifted? Yes, Jamal is tortured by the police — it’s terrible, but it does end with the police believing in his innocence and letting him go. Yes, Latika is raped and held in sexual, well, slavery pretty much — but she escapes. Yes, they had horrible childhoods, and I don’t want to detract from that or from the experiences of anyone else who lives in a slum, but these characters are shown as being able to avoid having an equally horrible future.

   That’s sort of what I got from it, anyway (and I did leave the movie feeling more up than down) — it’s like a fairy tale. It’s totally improbable, but it appeals to everyone who wants to believe that they can escape from whatever it is about their lives that ’s unbearable, that rags-to-riches stories of incredible luck are possible, that a “bad” beginning doesn’t doom you to an awful life. Even Salim redeems himself for his previous crimes (sins?) at the end, albeit bloodily. It’s hopeful, and I think that’s why people react to it positively.

   And this ties in to what Carmen was saying about universal themes — I’m generalizing, but everyone wants to root for the underdog; everyone wants to see the (basically) good character(s) get a good ending.

   I have more to say about how the “triumph” of Jamal’s and Latika’s ending is or should be tempered by Salim’s death, and whether their romance is more realistic if we assume that they spent more time together as children than we were able to see during the movie, but this post is already waaaaaay too long!

   Posted 12 Feb 2009 at 1:39 pm ¶

3. Carmen Van Kerckhove wrote:

   Hey thanks for the comments, everyone!

   ANOTHER SPOILER ALERT

   I just remembered something. This may be a dumb question – but what was the deal with Salim and the bathtub of money? Was that just for visual effect? It seemed like a big hassle to go through when you’re planning a hasty suicide.

   Posted 13 Feb 2009 at 8:34 am ¶

4. The Cruel Secretary wrote:

   @Thea and Carmen–
   What a fun podcast! And it’s so great to finally hear your voice, Thea.

   I’m definitely in the Slumdog Millionaire parade. What bugs me about the film is more on the marketing end than the film itself–namely my wondering if the film is getting so much play because a white guy helmed a Bollywood-style film. Where was all this play when Laagan–a Bollywood-esque film of love and struggle with even better visuals–came out, ya know?

   Why I warmed up to the film is how it deals with the concept of gaining knowledge–and, damn, Jamal gained his the hardest of ways and is literally tortured for it because it upends how people are “supposed” to learn, i.e. schools, which speaks to all sorts of classism. Someone who is expected to know nothing because of his background, always underestimated, and he wins at a game of knowledge.

   And the dance scene? I read that slightly differently. At first, I was jarred because I didn’t think the movie warranted a Bollywood dance number. It was a “oh-no-they-didn’t” moment. But when everyone hopped on the trains, I changed my mind. I then read the scene as, “yeah we did this ’cause that’s what *y’all* think we do in this film genre. But, we’re ordinary folks, and we’re going home to our lives, and so should you. Peace.” So, IMO, the final catharsis was in that utter mundane act.

   @ Carmen–
   I got the symbolism thing out of Salim’s death. The whole “love of money is the root of evil” and “life undone by ill-gotten gain” moral to his adult life and death.

   Posted 13 Feb 2009 at 11:11 am ¶

5. Heqit wrote:

   *spoilers*

   Carmen, I wondered that too! The only thing I could think of was that he was trying to ruin as much of his evil boss’s money as possible by…bleeding on it? But that doesn’t make a whole lot of sense. It seemed like it ought to have some more symbolic meaning, possibly related to his brother’s winning a shitload of money and starting a new life as Salim ended his life on a different huge pile of money, but I’m not sure what exactly that meaning would be. I hope it’s something more than “huh, isn’t that ironic?” but I may be reading too much into this.

   I also thought the way the police inspector (Irrfan Khan, yay!) changed his mind about Jamal’s innocence and let him go was a little abrupt. Agree/disagree?

   Posted 13 Feb 2009 at 12:33 pm ¶

6. lady wrote:

   Next time, could you put the duration of the podcast somewhere in the introduction or with the link? It helps me decide when to listen to it.
   Thanks!

   Posted 13 Feb 2009 at 3:04 pm ¶

7. Thea wrote:

   @ Heqit

   Thanks, I’m glad you liked it!

   SPOILER ALERT!

   For me the fact that Jamal and Latika get out wasn’t enough, because no one else gets out. Like we know that someone else will just rise up and take over Salim’s boss role, we know that children are still having their eyes gouged out…in short we know they’re the exception. So that upset me

   @ Carmen and Heqit re:bathtub

   Because I was already worn out by the time the movie got to the bathtub scene, I was like, this movie is silly! Obviously he shoulda set himself and the money on fire. I totally assumed that that was what he was going to do. I thought it was just poor planning and an excuse to get an interesting shot of someone putting money in a bathtub that could later be used in the trailer for visual effect. Sloppy! There I go being a cynic again…

   @ TCS

   Thank you! You know, that reminds me that I didn’t get the chance to listen to your podcast yet! I gots to go do that so I can put a voice to your name and writing too

   That’s a good point you make about alternative routes to learning. I have to say I did really like the concept of this film, it’s definitely clever.

   Posted 13 Feb 2009 at 3:18 pm ¶

8. Tracey wrote:

   SPOILER

   I read the money scene paired with him saying “God id great” right before he was shot (can’t remember if it was before or after he shot his boss) kinda the same way as The Cruel Secretary, and also as his way of trying to achieve redemption for some of his actions. Kind of a growing up in poverty, dieing in ill gotten riches that he at times may feel he sold pieces of his soul for. However, helping free Latika and reunite her with Jamal (through his phone) and then taking out his boss were his ways of seeking redemption and maybe the whole “God is great” line was him professing his belief that through repentance and trying to make amends his sins would be forgiven.

   Posted 13 Feb 2009 at 3:52 pm ¶

9. KiranP wrote:

   Dear friends,

   Slumdog Millionaire is WRONG movie. It’s downright racist. Please see how Indians feel about it by reading few reviews here from Indians.

   http://satyameva-jayate.org/2009/01/22/on-slumdog-millionnaire-prejudices-guest-post-by-saurav-basu/

   Thank you
   Kiran

   Posted 13 Feb 2009 at 10:56 pm ¶

10. Nancy Green wrote:

    I got more out of the background scenes of the street children than the plot. That was worth seeing. I’m worried that a movie that is full of scenes of murder, torture, and the extreme abuse of children is supposed to make us feel good. I saw it and I feel terrible. But I want to learn more about Mumbai and what people really do there.
    I reviewed the movie here
    http://kmareka.com/?p=2778
    I think it is empty at the heart, because it shows poor people who do nothing but undermine each other, except of course for the romantic couple. as if this is the only kind of love that matters.

    Posted 14 Feb 2009 at 7:54 pm ¶

11. ceti wrote:

    As for Kiran’s email, it is unfortunately typical of the middle class Indian mindset whose inferiority complex towards the West makes it always hypersensitive to any negative depiction.

    Unfortunately, this complex reveals also the classist and castist nature of this very same class who themselves treat their social lessers in intolerable ways. India is full of such racialized castist cruelty (deep racism against darker skinned citizens just like the rest of Asia) and social ladder climbing. It needs to really take a good long hard look at itself before it feels affronted.

    Posted 01 Mar 2009 at 3:08 am ¶

12. sahana wrote:

    carmen – colonialism is gone in its literal form? tell that to the people of puerto rico, hawaii, the u.s. virgin islands, etc.

    Posted 26 Mar 2009 at 3:14 pm ¶