Monday, May 13, 2013

Final Draft The Constructs of Happily Ever After


Sherece Usher
ENG 495 SEM
Professor Wexler
May 13 2013
 The Constructs of Happily Ever After
The movie "Slumdog Millionaire", an award winning film reached the masses throughout the globe. The film used an American director and Indian director to portray the story of the impoverished "slumdogs" of Mumbai, India. While this film exposes the harsh conditions of many of the Indian people, it also romanticizes the tale by ending the story with a "happily ever after". The film focuses on two brothers and their attempt to survive in the slums of India as young orphans, and their tale growth. Through the lives and choices of these two brothers Jamal and Salim, you are shown the appeal of the two different types of utopia. While Salim, the older brother serves as a representation of a right winged utopia with a free market, where capitalism flourishes, Jamal, the younger brother represents a more leftist utopia, where all people are given a chance to survive and flourish by elimination of "the root of all evil".
The film “Slumdog Millionaire” is a tale of two brothers growing up in the slums of India during India’s city transition from Bombay to Mumbai. The movie opens with Jamal the younger brother in an interrogation room. Jamal was a contestant on India’s version of Who Wants to be a Millionaire, and despite his meager up bringing’s, the “chai wala” (tea server) has passed all the levels that professors and professionals have not, causing the directors of the show to believe he was cheating. Jamal begins to walk the officers through his life story to show the men how a poor slum dog was able to learn these answers that Indian elites could not answer. By doing so Jamal walks the men through his life. 


                 In the film, Jamal represents the ideals of a leftist Utopia through his life choices and his character’s journey.  Fredric Jameson’s article “The Politics of Utopia,” the author describes this as a world where people are no longer driven by monetary greed. The text states,
“The Utopian world” as such or better and more precisely, with the way in which this or that “root of all evil” has been eliminated from the world…the root of all evil is to be found in gold or money, and that is greed (as psychological evil which needs to be somehow repressed.”
            Jamal’s concern for the greater good was seen at a very early age.  In an early scene of the movie, Jamal and his brother Salim make shift shelter to keep them out of the rain during a storm.  The two brothers see a girl in the rain alone with no shelter.  Jamal then suggests that the brothers should share their shelter with the girl, but his brother tells him that would give the boy less shelter and one more mouth to feed.  Jamal believe it is better for the three to share the wealth than to see someone struggle. Jamal then invites the girl into their shelter and welcomes her to join them on their journey of survival.
            Jamal’s leftist Utopian ideals were also seen in his generous ways.  As a young teen, Jamal did not have a problem sharing his wealth with others. This is seen in the scene where Jamal runs into a fellow orphan that he knew from Moman’s crew, a young boy who was made blind to receive more revenue when begging.   At the time Jamal was doing well for himself and could afford to give.   Jamal gives the boy on hundred dollars because he was in need, just as stated in the article “The Politics of Utopia” in this scene Jamal is making “arrangements in order to arrive at some better and more humane form of life.”
            Ultimately, the leftist utopic ideals are shown through the central story line of the film.  Jamal’s story shows that no matter where you come from, whether it be humble beginnings or not, you can still make it.  In the movie, Jamal is a slum dog turned millionaire who wins the show and the heart of his love interest and childhood companion Latika. The idea of a “happily ever after” and starting from the bottom and pulling yourself up from up from the bootstraps, are the same utopic ideals promoted with the leftist approach to the utopia.  In the leftist utopia, people are to help one another and eliminate the “root of all evil” and foster a love the well being of all people.
            While Jamal represents the leftist ideals of the utopia, his brother Salim is a representation of the right-winged ideals of the utopia.  According to Fredric Jameson, article “The Politics of Utopia” describes the right-winged ideals of utopias “free market fundamentalism.”In the film, from a young age Salim has went after every opportunity to get ahead in life.  One of the very scenes shows Salim managing an outhouse to gain money to gain money.  Shortly after this scene, we see the young Salem selling his brother’s autographed picture of the Indian movie star and when his brother asks why, he simply explains that he saw the profit and took it. 
            Salem runs his life like a business plan.  He is always looking for something to profit from. This is seen in the scene when Jamal and Salim first meet Latika.  Despite that the two boys are young orphans, and should be sympathetic to others in their predicament, Salim does not see it this way.  When Jamal ask Salim to invite her in, Salim immediately dismisses this idea under the pretense that she will become a financial burden with no gain.
            Throughout the film, Salim is shown working both legal jobs, as well as looting jobs in order to gain profit. Salim is focused on making money anyway possible. Salim ambition to rise to the top even drives him as far as to work with the gangster from his old slum.  While his brother feels that this is immoral, Salim sees that he is in the midst of building of Mumbai, creating opportunity for himself.  Salim dies in a bathtub full of money validating that he makes a way from himself out of the slum he came from.
            Overall, the two brothers, Jamal and Salim, represent two different sides of the coin of utopia.  With Jamal showing the left and Salim showing the right, the two men show a utopia ideals influences individuals through Jamal and Salim, the ideals of utopia to the world. Without both boys, as well as both types of utopia, the world would not gain the true meaning of utopia, in global context. 

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