A Brief Slumdog Review

I went to see Slumdog Millionaire in Georgetown with a friend who works in the anti-trafficking office last night. It was a tough film for me, and not just tough for the violence. The messages conveyed, and the subplotlines were also tough. I'm still deciding what I think about the film overall; there were some things about it that I really liked and appreciated, and others that I wished were added that were missing. Overall, though, i'm glad to have seen the film. It has given me a lot to think about. Perhaps after i've made up my mind i'll post a real review. In the meantime, i'll highlight a few things that struck me:

1) The balance between happiness and hardship/suffering. This film walks a balance beam between the "too tough for a Western child's eyes" horrors of the third world and the beauty of love and sacrifice. I appreciated this, although the jarring effects of the more violent, sully aspects of the film hit me pretty hard.

2) The idea that ultimately man's fate is something he can grasp, but it is not fully within his control. I don't agree wholely with the way that "destiny" was played out in this film, but nonetheless appreciate that the conclusions were not left up to human devices. We are never given the full answers as to why things happen they way they did, and honestly, I like that. It makes us think and wonder.

3) Going back to the first point... the juxtaposition of beauty and pain so evident in the markets of Mumbai, where lovely wares are sold and beautiful children play around, and then violent men come in with spears and bows and arrows. Truth be told, this is life. This is the world we live in. I realize this, at times, at a more real level when I step outside my door to find police surrounding a man hiding under a car, possibly with a gun. However, let's take this to the extreme: what about in a country where the cops are the "bad guys" and the lines between good and evil are blurred? Such is the world we find ourselves in through this film. And this is a reflection of the human condition, capable of great evil, capable of great good. In this world, beauty and pain stand alongside each other in often shocking ways. The beauty stands as a reflection of something not fully seen. The pain stands as a reminder that things are indeed broken and we can't achieve the beauty on our own.

4) There's more, but I need to leave for work.

I won't say I loved the film, I won't say I hated it. I could just as easily highlight aspects of the movie that disturbed/rubbed me, but I want to be a constructive person and give credence to the things that are true. Certainly, more to come.