Beyond the irony of a film borne of the poverty of the slums of India taking top honors in an industry predicated on money and excess, there is a lesson for America in this unlikely winner — that despite the onslaught of economic woes facing this nation, things aren’t as bad as they seem.
“Slumdog Millionaire” is the compelling rags-to-riches tale of an 18-year-old Indian orphan from the slums of Mumbai who winds up one question away from winning millions on India’s “Who Wants to be a Millionaire?” when he is arrested and accused of cheating. To prove his innocence he tells police and the audience the story of his life, which will explain how he knew so many answers.
And oh what a tumultuous and extraordinary life it is.
Ultimately, he is vindicated and wins. But more amazingly, the viewer realizes his entire life of struggle, of pain and suffering, led him to his “destiny” and to his eventual prosperity on the television show.
Juxtapose it with our current socioeconomic situation in America, and its sweeping success at the Oscars is even more amazing.
The hundreds of people paying thousands of dollars to attend the Academy Awards, donning priceless gems and extravagant outfits notwithstanding, almost 40 million Americans tuned in to watch the show. Many of them watched on big screen TVs, I’m sure, while probably sitting on their cozy sofas, probably right after eating a nutritious, or at least filling meal, all relaxing on a Sunday evening, safe and secure, knowing that at least they had a roof over their heads, food in their bellies and nothing they really had to do, except enjoy the show.
And they all watched as a movie about a man’s struggle to endure total poverty led him to success and a greater understanding of his purpose. Yet, they all probably rose the next morning to read about how America is in dire economic straits, facing a crisis, purportedly so bad that we have no choice but to beg the government to extricate us from it at whatever the cost.
Maybe we all have an opportunity to pull our “elephant” heads out of the proverbial “eye of the needle” as Christ informed the rich man who wanted to get into heaven, to realize there is nothing wrong with money — except the obsession with having it, or what we are willing to do to get it, and how we react when we don’t have as much of it as we want.
We have watched politicians, banks and mortgage companies promote and protect fraud and deceit in order to boost their bottom line in the short term.
We have seen everyday people lie about income and make illegitimate promises to pay so they could have more than they could afford or need and a nation of people seemingly obsessed with having more stuff.
We cannot find success and prosperity through self-centered indulgence. That’s not how America was built. It was by upholding the principles of community responsibility, social integrity and the work ethic that worked to make America great, and will again, not because government told us to do it, but because we wanted to.
Realizing that might not only help us to be better Americans and human beings when times are “tough,” but ultimately could lead us all to be our own successful “Slumdog Millionaire”!
