Wednesday, May 9, 2012

SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE FINAL





Michelle Thomas
April 30th, 2012
English 495
Globalization in Slumdog Millionaire
Being part of Western culture often blinds us from the reality of other cultures around the world.  Some of our most popular ideals from Western culture greatly influence other cultures globally.  The 2008 Academy Award Winning Best Picture Slumdog Millionaire, directed by Danny Boyle, follows a young man named Jamal and the controversial experiences he faces while living in the slums of India.  Jamal is accused of cheating while on a game show, and he is forced to recount different tragic memories he has experienced throughout his life despite being deprived of education, parents, and wealth.  The film demonstrates how Jamal progresses as a person through the experiences he faces, and defines the different factors that contributes to his personal development.  In the film, the Western influence is very defined, and this is shown through Jamal’s character.  Throughout the film it is evident that capital fuels India as it rapidly evolves into an industrialized country, which is an asset to everyone, not excluding Jamal.  Through the article “Where did the Future Go” by Randy Martin, the book A Brief History of Neoliberalism by David Harvey, and the film Slumdog Millionaire, globalization and its effects are illustrated along side the devastating effects Neoliberalism has in India.
            In Harvey’s book, A Brief History of Neoliberalism, he states, “while many general accounts of global transformations and their effects are now available, what is generally missing––is the political-economic story of where neoliberalization came from and how it proliferated so comprehensively on the world stage” (4).  The world as a whole is changing, molding and taking influence from many different places.  This ever-changing theme be seen in the film through the globalization India faces, namely due to the Western cultures’ influence.  Globalization affects many different cultures and thus many different individuals everyday.  Through the ongoing globalization in different countries, many different opportunities have presented themselves in these countries that otherwise would not have presented themselves.  No matter how many positive aspects globalizing economies bring to people living there, there are also bad qualities that come along with it.  The rich only get wealthier, while the poor keep dwindling down, and essentially cuts out a middle class altogether.  The neoliberalist effect on the global market has only helped make more billionaires, and help existing billionaires grow wealthier, leaving everyone else struggling to survive.  This can be seen globally with the issue of the 99% and the 1%; only 1% of the world is not struggling to survive, while the other 99% often have nowhere to turn.  Throughout the film, there is a very distinct difference between how the wealthy live, and the conditions the poor individuals are seemingly stuck in; the wealthy being the 1% and the poor being the 99%.  The images throughout the film show the slums and how the people in the slums were forced to live; this did not affect the wealthier people of the country. 
            Within the recent years, India has become rapidly globalized.  Examples of this globalization can be seen in the film through different avenues, such as the various questions on the game show, the Coke offered to the boys soon after they lost their mother, and the idolizing of the celebrity when the boys were young.  These different examples really exemplify the ever-changing environment, and with this comes different scenes in the film that emulate the Western culture in Jamal’s native country of India.  One example can be seen when Jamal and his brother Salim impersonate tour guides at the Taj Mahal to help bring in money so that they can survive.  The boys end up stealing shoes from tourists and then selling them, promoting the fact that they are American shoes in hopes to bring in more money.  This proves that products that originate from the Western culture are both desirable and can be seen as a symbol of wealth and power if one owns them.  With this comes the reasoning behind why the boys are impersonating these people, in order to obtain capital and help better their chances of survival.  In the scene of the film where Jamal is being beaten in front of American tourists he screams, “You wanted to see the real India?  Here it is!”  The tourists respond to this by giving Jamal money and saying to him, “here’s a bit of the real America, son.”  The real India that Jamal refers to indicates that India is not only a poverty-ridden country, but also a violent one.  With the American tourists response of giving money it could be argued that the United States is a wealthy and capitalist nation, where most problems can be resolved with money.  This is where the line between the poor and the wealthy widens even more; the wealthy can afford to give away money while the poor are forced to go to extreme measures to obtain money.  This comes back to how neoliberalism affects the global market.  In his book, Harvey states:
Economic globalization has entered a new phase. A mounting backlash against its effects, especially in the industrial democracies, is threatening a disruptive impact on economic activity and social stability in many countries. The mood in these democracies is one of helplessness and anxiety, which helps explain the rise of a new brand of populist politicians. (81).
This scene in the film is describing what Harvey is stating when he talks about how the stability of these countries being affected by globalization is at risk.  This trickles down to affect most everyone, including the man beating Jamal.  Arguably, the man’s character can be seen as representing the whole country of India, lashing out against the constant Western influence, an influence that can be seen in Jamal’s character.
            As the film comes to a close and both Jamal and Salim look at the industrialized land that once was their home, it becomes obvious that the people with whom they used to share these living conditions with are no longer present in this area.  It is unclear as to what has become of these people; they have been forgotten and discarded because they failed to keep up with the ever-changing globalization of India.  Everyone who could not keep up has moved on, an idea for which Martin states, “For those workers of the world who could secure a seat on the bus, the trip to tomorrow would take them to a market utopia.”  This idea is one of the saddest realizations of the ever changing globalizing economy, not everyone who grew up in slums similar to Jamal and Salim had the chance to use this new “market utopia” to prosper.  These people were at a disadvantage when they were born to poor families, because children that lived in these areas were not given the proper education that would help them to succeed in these new businesses that are taking over the slums. Harvey notes how the trend of the neoliberalism taking place in India has been commonly perceived that “if conditions among the lower classes deteriorated, this was because they failed, usually for personal and cultural reasons, to enhance their own human capital (through dedication to education, the acquisition of a Protestant work ethic, submission to work discipline and flexibility, and the like).”   So with the ideals of neoliberalism in mind, the people who could not keep up had no one to blame but themselves.  However, with no resources available to help better the people in the slums, it is next to impossible for them to obtain any sort of education or flexibility when it comes to work.   It is unsaid in the film what has become of these displaced people, but their homes have been destroyed and transformed to help benefit the owners of these businesses, who do not need the help the original inhabitants did.  This area that used to be the only place the poor could afford to live has become a place that they could no longer bear the expense to live in.
            No matter which way a person looks, globalization is unavoidable and is very present and constant in our everyday lives.  The molding earth and neoliberalism can essentially be summarized by one of the films last scenes, when Salim and Jamal are reunited and Salim states,  “That used to be our slum. Can you believe that? We used to live right there. Now, it’s all business. India is at the center of the world now. And I am at the center of the center.”  This quote shows how globalized India has become, and how humans are front and center of this change.  The slums as the boys knew it has been transformed and made into these businesses, in just a matter of a few short years.  The Western influence is present throughout the film, even with the “happily ever after” ending.  Capital is the fuel behind the fire in India, and a person is expected to either keep up with the changes or become displaced and forgotten about.  With the help of Randy Martin’s article and David Harvey’s text, the perception of Slumdog Millionaire has changed from a harsh tale of reality to a critical view of the world as globalization and neoliberal practices take over.






Works Cited

Harvey, David.  A Brief History of Neoliberalism.  Oxford: Oxford University Press,        

                      2005.  Print. 

Martin, Randy.  “Where Did The Future Go?”  Logos 5.1 (2006): n. pag.  Web.  29 April
            2012. 

Slumdog Millionaire.  Dir. Danny Boyle.  Fox Searchlight Pictures and Warner Bros.        

                     Pictures, 2009.  DVD. 






A picture of how India's slums are in present time.
I could never imagine having to live like this.

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