A Political Response to Slumdog Millionaire

So, I finally watched the film Slumdog Millionaire over the weekend. I suppose that I enjoyed it in the same way I enjoyed ‘Pursuit of Happyness'- with a delighted melancholy regarding the single-minded focus of the hero’s pursuit of his desire and the tragedies that continue to keep him from the woman he loves.

Within the framework of the story, however, were elements of Indian culture that aren’t often considered by Westerners. And I’d like to take a moment to explain my own political and religious response to Slumdog Millionaire.

Today, I'll begin with my Political Response...

When Governments Get Big, They Protect Themselves First

A few scenes in this film made it quite clear that the police and government agents (of this film) were not really around to “serve and protect” all citizens-only the interests of the powerful, wealthy, and elite. As agents of the government, they sat idly while women and children were slaughtered by religious zealots and later arrested the main character merely because a television host assumed he was cheating.

This film was, of course, a work of fiction but it rings true with reality. In most cases, a government’s primary concern is protecting those with the most power. And often, this means protecting themselves rather than the people they represent. Here in the United States, our founding fathers tried to combat this by creating a system of government that respects the rights of the individual rather over the rights of the conglomerate. In our system, every individual is (supposedly) treated according to the Universal Rights that were bestowed upon us because we are human (rather than our station in life or the family we were born into).

But our government hasn’t been content with that and we see that more and more they are gaining power and status. In the name of “protecting” our people, they can now arrest just about anyone at the airport (or on the street) who they deem to be a threat, rather than assuming innocence until proven guilty.

I firmly believe that big governments spell trouble for our republic. And the ones who stand to lose the most are those who are the poorest and weakest. Those with power and influence are even overlooked and mistreated here in a country that’s supposed to treat people fairly- so how on earth are they going to fair when we give the government more rights and control over those they govern?

Stay tuned tomorrow, for a religious response to Slumdog Millionaire!

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Also, please be forewarned...

I couldn’t watch Slumdog Millionaire with my wife due to the violence against children within the film. None of the violence is condoned, but it’s pretty intense. Her maternal instincts set in and she had me turn it off.

Please take this into consideration before viewing the film, even though I'd recommend it.