Monday, February 23, 2009

Slumdog wags its tale

Slumdog Millionaire, the underdog, "almost gone to DVD" movie sweeped the Oscars yesterday.
I won't go into the usual fawning that most articles give it since this movie too fits into a pattern.
That of the Westerner's obsession with India's squalor and poverty.

To support my theory, go watch/read any of the following which have achieved acclaim in the West while not claiming those heights inside of India.
  • Apu Trilogy by Satyajit Ray
  • Salaam Bombay by Mira Nair
  • Shantaram by Gregory Roberts - English fiction novel (parts of it use crazy English)
  • White Tiger by Aravind Adiga, 2008 Booker Prize - English fiction novel (atrocious English)
There is also an interesting take on this from a Chinese perspective and I tend to agree with the author's views there when he comments on an outsider's view of one's own country.

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