Sunday, February 22, 2009

【貧民百萬富翁】: 印度崛起 / "Slum Dog Millionaire": India Shining

The news of "Slum Dog Millionaire" being nominated for several Oscars has stirred up controversies in India and many ex-pat communities around the world.

The nationalists are saying the movie was made by a "white" Danny Boyle 丹尼鮑育who had exploited the poor by reinforcing westerners' perception of a backward and poverty-stricken India, thereby ignoring the recent achievements of the government(s), the growth of the middle class and the country's fledging/strong economy and wealth.

On the other hand, the movie supporters are contending that high-rises that have sprouted in previous slums only serve to displace the underprivileged elsewhere without really solving the poverty issue that is still plaguing many parts of India. According to the more liberal-oriented arts performers and critics, the mere fact that the movie has stimulated discussions on India's poverty problem is in itself a successful demonstration of why real-life should be played on the big screen, even if it is the underbelly of Mumbai that is showing. "Pretty things up" will only sweep dirt under the carpet, or in a slum setting, into the communal Sh*t hole.

So, is India shining? And what is the future of the many children still living in Mumbai's slum?

References:

* "India Shining" Wikipedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/India_Shining

* "Bombay/Mumbai" Photo credit Wikipedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bombay

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

今星期由你出題,麻煩哂

新鮮人 said...

最近看到ADRIAN HOLLIDAY那本INTERCULTURAL COMMUNICATION,
內裏提出cultural multi-facetedness這一點,
當我們觀察一個社會、國家、民族的特性時,
我們不要單一性的觀察某一點或角度,
印度的貧窮問題的確存在,
但我們以為這一點就是她所以的"real"就有點片面了。
另一方面,電影是一個十分有影響力的媒體,
但是經過第三者的人工創作,
我們不知作者對印度是否有preconception,
又或者電影創作者之前己經受其它媒體影響到而不自知,
如果我們不加印証就直覺得以為這套電影所反映的是印度的stereotype就有點不公平了。
之所以引起不少印度人的反應,
一方面可能是他們出於愛國的心,
但他們的意見亦代表一群真正居於印度的印度人對當地實際情況的反映,
如果我們說那些印度人的意見可能是盲目愛國,
但我們又有否質疑電影製片人創作時有否受到essentialist view of culture影響到呢?
又或者問問自己是否對印度有着先入為的理念呢?
cultural communication 應該是相向性的,
因為這樣才可以得到一個比較公平客觀和全面的看法,
否則這樣只會落入cultural trap裏,
從而產生不必要的文化衝凸!

Haricot 微豆 said...

Alex: Done !! Please see my Feb 23rd blog notice.

Haricot 微豆 said...

新鮮人: You are very insightful in analyzing and explaining the subject matter. I agree totally with you that one should take the multi-facet approach to avoid cultural eccentricity or any subjective stereotyping. Thx !!!

新鮮人 said...

因為剛剛看到相關的書本,
所以有點感觸而已,
我的論點只是皮毛,
還有很多缺乏之處,
只是希望多交流多學習!

Haricot 微豆 said...

新鮮兄: 互相交研,也是樂事!!!

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