# Slumdog Millionaire **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [December 1, 2008, 1:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/slumdog-millionaire/475117 "2008-12-01T01:25:44Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![Gadarene](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e47c2d/32.png) [@Gadarene](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gadarene)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2009, 10:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/slumdog-millionaire/475117/81 "2009-01-08T10:07:25Z")
> [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](#): > > I think it helps to understand that the film made some liberal use of Bollywood tropes, and a sudden transition from childhood to adulthood is one of them (scenes for instance of a child walking through a door and coming out the other side as an adult). > > The fairy tale love story is another one. That’s a perfectly fair point, and I’m sure I would have enjoyed the movie more had I been more familiar with Bollywood tropes. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![njtt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ecd19e/32.png) [@njtt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/njtt)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2009, 11:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/slumdog-millionaire/475117/82 "2009-01-08T11:39:40Z")
Put me down as another who did not understand Salim’s motivation at the end. [SPOILER]Why the sudden change of heart to let Latika go at all, when it was him who had brought her into the gangster world (and him who took her away from Jamal after they rescued her from the brothel)? But even granting that he had a sudden surge of conscience, or brotherly love or something, it makes no sense why he didn’t leave with her. Instead he stages an elaborate suicide by gunfight, and does it, for some weird reason, in a bathtub he has filled with money. (Why did he not just take the money, if only for Latika’s and Jamal’s sake. After all, he did not know at that point that Jamal was actually going to win). Also, I did not really understand what motivated the quizmaster to feed Jamal the wrong answer. Surely having someone like that win is just the sort of thing that is great for a show’s ratings - indeed, we are shown just how many viewers are attracted to see him win, crowding round TV sets in the street and such. It is actually in the host’s best interest for Jamal to win.[/SPOILER] ---
**Author:** ![njtt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ecd19e/32.png) [@njtt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/njtt)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2009, 11:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/slumdog-millionaire/475117/83 "2009-01-08T11:57:36Z")
People seem to be trying to have it both ways with the “Bollywood tropes” here. **II Gyan II** finds them stale, and **gaffa** replies that that does not matter because the intended audience (westerners) is not very familiar with Bollywood. That seemed like a good point to me, but then we have **Diogenes** telling us that it will all make more sense if we _are_ familiar with Bollywood tropes. Which is it guys? ---
**Author:** ![interface2x](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/c0e974/32.png) [@interface2x](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/interface2x)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2009, 1:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/slumdog-millionaire/475117/84 "2009-01-08T13:55:25Z")
> [@njtt](#): > > Also, I did not really understand what motivated the quizmaster to feed Jamal the wrong answer. Surely having someone like that win is just the sort of thing that is great for a show’s ratings - indeed, we are shown just how many viewers are attracted to see him win, crowding round TV sets in the street and such. It is actually in the host’s best interest for Jamal to win. My understanding was…that the host was the only previous winner to get a huge win out of the show, which was how he built his career. He wanted Jamal to get the wrong answer so that he wouldn’t win anything so he (the host) could keep his status as the biggest winner from the show. It was an ego thing. Entirely possible that I am wrong. ---
**Author:** ![Spice\_Weasel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spice_weasel/32/5435_2.png) [@Spice\_Weasel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spice_Weasel)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2009, 2:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/slumdog-millionaire/475117/85 "2009-01-08T14:51:11Z")
> [@interface2x](#): > > My understanding was…that the host was the only previous winner to get a huge win out of the show, which was how he built his career. He wanted Jamal to get the wrong answer so that he wouldn’t win anything so he (the host) could keep his status as the biggest winner from the show. It was an ego thing. Entirely possible that I am wrong. For some reason I took it an extra step further, that there was a kind of tradition in which the host would be replaced by the next winner… therefore he was very literally in danger of losing his job to Jamal. Hmm. I’m not sure if that’s plausible or not. ---
**Author:** ![jackdavinci](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackdavinci/32/3259_2.png) [@jackdavinci](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jackdavinci)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2009, 3:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/slumdog-millionaire/475117/86 "2009-01-08T15:15:16Z")
Saw it again yesterday. Almost as good as the first time. The imagery of the first part of the film wasn’t quite as shocking the second time. The ending was still tear inducing. I have to say that besides the fact that the soundtrack was awesome, it was also very well prepared. I’ve seen other musicals in the theater such as Moulin Rouge and Rent which I really enjoyed the music of (and sounded great on CD), but for some reason it failed to be played loud enough or with enough fullness in the theater. I know it wasn’t the particular theater because I saw them in other theaters with supposedly good sound systems. And Slumdog I saw in two theaters with mediocre sound systems but it still sounded awesome. I don’t know if it was good mixing, or how it was recorded onto the film, but they did a great job with that. ---
**Author:** ![Gadarene](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e47c2d/32.png) [@Gadarene](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gadarene)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2009, 3:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/slumdog-millionaire/475117/87 "2009-01-08T15:21:03Z")
Yeah, I definitely agree with that. The music was great. I loved the montage to M.I.A.'s Paper Planes. ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2009, 3:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/slumdog-millionaire/475117/88 "2009-01-08T15:32:02Z")
> [@njtt](#): > > People seem to be trying to have it both ways with the “Bollywood tropes” here. **II Gyan II** finds them stale, and **gaffa** replies that that does not matter because the intended audience (westerners) is not very familiar with Bollywood. That seemed like a good point to me, but then we have **Diogenes** telling us that it will all make more sense if we _are_ familiar with Bollywood tropes. Which is it guys? I see it as a somewhat conventional Bollywood fairytale overlaid on the grim reality of India. I think the gritty scenes help illustrate why the fantasist escapism is so popular there. I think the juxtaposition pobably works better if you know the conventions of Bollywood. While they may seem “tired” or cliched to some, I bet they haven’t seen them contrasted with realism in such a stark way. ---
**Author:** ![Gadarene](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e47c2d/32.png) [@Gadarene](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gadarene)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2009, 3:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/slumdog-millionaire/475117/89 "2009-01-08T15:50:53Z")
That’s a fair point, **Diogenes**. I still prefer _City of God_ or, for India, the book _A Simple Balance_ for their depiction of those stark realities without the dilution of the grittiness that the fairytale aspect of the story necessitates. ---
**Author:** ![bucketybuck](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/898d66/32.png) [@bucketybuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bucketybuck)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2009, 4:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/slumdog-millionaire/475117/90 "2009-01-08T16:46:38Z")
> [@interface2x](#): > > My understanding was…that the host was the only previous winner to get a huge win out of the show, which was how he built his career. He wanted Jamal to get the wrong answer so that he wouldn’t win anything so he (the host) could keep his status as the biggest winner from the show. It was an ego thing. Entirely possible that I am wrong. [spoiler]I dont remember it ever being said that the host was a previous winner of the show? I think the comparison was that Jamal would become famous for being a slumkid who done well, just like the host did. The host was a former slumkid who raised himself up to high society, and who probably uses those low beginnings as a unique selling point. He doesnt want Jamal coming along and stealing hs thunder as another slumkid done good. Thats HIS thing. As to Salims motivations, I really dont see the problem there? It had already been established that Latika could be found if she escaped, so there had to be a chance that she could be caught this time as well. It had also been established that Salim felt a lot of guilt over his actions concerning Jamal earlier in the film. So how can Salim ensure that Latika gets away? And how can he assuage some of that guilt? Well, he can kill the mob boss, thus making Latika a non-issue for the gang. As to why he didnt shoot the boss in the back and leg it out the door, perhaps his guilt had made him depressed and suicidal. Hey, its possible. But the most likely reason is that the sacrifice of a brother is also a Bollyood trope which Danny Boyle dedided to use here..[/spoiler] ---
**Author:** ![Equipoise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/equipoise/32/151_2.png) [@Equipoise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Equipoise)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2009, 6:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/slumdog-millionaire/475117/91 "2009-01-08T18:18:54Z")
> [@Equipoise](#): > > Tomorrow the Directors Guild nominations come out. I’d be shocked if we didn’t see Danny Boyle’s name on their list. Aaaand here we go: **Directors Guild of America nominations:** Danny Boyle for Slumdog Millionaire Other nominees: David Fincher for The Curious Case of Benjamin Button Christopher Nolan for The Dark Knight Ron Howard for Frost/Nixon Gus Van Sant for Milk ---
**Author:** ![Spice\_Weasel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spice_weasel/32/5435_2.png) [@Spice\_Weasel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spice_Weasel)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2009, 5:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/slumdog-millionaire/475117/92 "2009-01-09T05:18:31Z")
Well, this movie just cleaned up at the Critics’ Choice Awards. It’s making me pretty excited for the Golden Globes on Sunday. ---
**Author:** ![alexandra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e68b1a/32.png) [@alexandra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alexandra)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2009, 11:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/slumdog-millionaire/475117/93 "2009-01-10T23:01:53Z")
Just saw this film and loved it. After becoming so hardened by his experiences growing up, Salim’s sacrifice for Lakita brought tears to my eyes. Anwar from \*Skins \* was good though his accent slipped a couple of times. ---
**Author:** ![Equipoise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/equipoise/32/151_2.png) [@Equipoise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Equipoise)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2009, 4:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/slumdog-millionaire/475117/94 "2009-01-12T04:17:29Z")
For those who didn’t watch the Golden Globes and haven’t read that thread, Slumdog won Best Picture, Drama, Best Director, Best Score and Best Screenplay! …as it marches on toward the Oscars. I won’t be a bit surprised if it wins the same awards there. I’m still pulling for Milk for Picture, but I’ll be ecstatic for Slumdog if it wins. Ha, they may not let the producer talk though. He said “Fuck” onstage at the Globes. It was bleeped over the air, but I was watching online and heard it. Funny! ---
**Author:** ![DMark](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@DMark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DMark)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2009, 7:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/slumdog-millionaire/475117/95 "2009-01-12T07:30:36Z")
Yes, **Equipoise** , I stand corrected. Looks like Slumdog is a lock for an Oscar nomination, and now has a far better chance at winning - although sometimes the Oscar voters like to mix things up and go with a different film with buzz that month. Still…was happy Slumdog won the Globe! ---
**Author:** ![Lo-Slung\_Denim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f6c823/32.png) [@Lo-Slung\_Denim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lo-Slung_Denim)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2009, 1:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/slumdog-millionaire/475117/96 "2009-01-12T13:07:22Z")
> [@olivesmarch4th](#): > > For some reason I took it an extra step further, that there was a kind of tradition in which the host would be replaced by the next winner… therefore he was very literally in danger of losing his job to Jamal. > > Hmm. I’m not sure if that’s plausible or not. I saw this on Friday on a date with a guy from an Indian family. He explained it from his perspective on the culture, which is that a person judges themselves not on how well they themselves are doing, but on how far ahead of others they are. He felt that this was the host’s motivation - to keep Jamal way behind him, so he could continue to be the big man. I loved the film, I’ve been thinking about it since I saw it Friday night, and not many films stay in my head that long - or if they do it’s usually for the wrong reason(e.g. I can’t sleep because I’m thinking of Leatherface or something equally ludicrous). ---
**Author:** ![Frostillicus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e9bcb4/32.png) [@Frostillicus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frostillicus)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2009, 3:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/slumdog-millionaire/475117/97 "2009-01-13T03:43:08Z")
I love discovering a great movie before many other people have even heard of it, and then watching said movie slowly bloom into a staple of pop culture. By Oscar time, everyone will have heard of this wonderful movie. Hopefully, the same phenomenon will happen with **In Bruges.** ---
**Author:** ![jjimm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2009, 1:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/slumdog-millionaire/475117/98 "2009-01-25T01:38:36Z")
Just got back from seeing this. What a fantastic movie. I really hope it gets the Best Picture Oscar it deserves. Two thoughts: 1. I have recently read _Shantaram_, a very gripping - and highly recommended - roman à clef that takes place in the Mumbai slums and the surrounding underworld. Many of the scenes (particularly the building site one) seem to be very remniscent of this book. I wonder if Danny Boyle was influenced by it? 2. Freida Pinto is simply STUNNING. Pure unadorned beauty. I haven’t seen a woman so beautiful on the big screen for years. I was absolutely unable to take my eyes off her, to the point where, when she was on screen, all the other actors dissolved into the background. I predict great things for her future career. What a find. ---
**Author:** ![Book\_it](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/b3f665/32.png) [@Book\_it](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Book_it)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2009, 2:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/slumdog-millionaire/475117/99 "2009-01-25T02:46:14Z")
Some thoughts after multiple viewings: [spoiler]Some of Salim’s animosity towards Latika was a Muslim/Hindu thing Salim did not rape Latika in the hotel room. She had more value as a virgin. This also parallels nicely with the stolen autograph sequence earlier. Salim had to kill the mob boss. Jamal was now one of the most famous people in India. He could have been easily found and killed[/spoiler] ---
**Author:** ![Sir\_Prize](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d2c977/32.png) [@Sir\_Prize](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sir_Prize)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2009, 5:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/slumdog-millionaire/475117/100 "2009-01-25T05:09:33Z")
> [@Rodgers01](#): > > I’m curious how it’s going over in India – anyone know? Is it considered a fairly accurate depiction of Indian slum life? I saw this with a friend who just got back from a vacation home to India. He said that the action star that gave the autograph in the movie had complained about how harsh the portrayal of poverty was. > [@Neidhart](#): > > I wonder if the host of Indian WWTBAM is really that condescending. I asked this also. My friend said that the host is always gracious. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/slumdog-millionaire/475117.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/slumdog-millionaire/475117.md?page=6)