Slumdog inspires great hope
By John Mohan

Knowing my passion about poverty and social justice issues, friends started asking me a month ago if I'd seen the movie Slumdog Millionaire. Admittedly I hadn't even really heard of it, but based on the brief descriptions thought it wouldn't be something I'd want to see.

A few weeks later though my wife Brenda and I had a free night, so we made a trek to Silver City at Polo Park. It was a Tuesday night.

I found the movie to be an amazing production centred on three orphaned children (two brothers and a girl) growing up in the slums of Mumbai (Bombay) India (population 14 million).

Despite living a nightmare of being homeless, marginalized, defenceless and abused, the story's protagonist Jamal Malik is resilient in the harshest of adversities. While surviving on optimism and hope, each catastrophic incident does leave an indelible memory. Jamal's ability to vividly recall the horrific events of his childhood prove to be an asset as he finds himself just one question away from winning 20 million rupees ($500,000 CAD) on India's television version of Who Wants To Be A Millionaire?.

This is one of the best movies I've seen in a long time and it's no surprise that Slumdog Millionaire won eight Oscars.

But not everyone liked the movie and there are both myths and realities to the storyline. While applauding the success of a home-grown production, many local critics saw the movie as crossing the line from harsh reality to fantasy.

They wondered how orphaned children living on the streets of an inner-city slum could become so refined and emotionally healthy as they grew up. This may seem like splitting hairs to some, but to anyone on the front lines of domestic poverty and homelessness whether in India or Canada, it is an important point.

If you haven't seen the movie yet or are rewinding it in your mind, here are some of the most realistic points I found. First that comes to mind is mankind's depraved ability to exploit the weakest, youngest, and poorest among us. The exploitation will range from violence to sexual abuse to forced participation in crimes.

Exploiters always assume children can be abused because they have no advocates to bring consequences on their behalf. Another thing that struck me was the intangible power of friends and family to influence and dissuade their relatives from escaping poverty. One of the hardest things we help people overcome as they turn their lives around is how they will be perceived by their peers.

None want to be singled out as thinking they are better than others when they try to improve their lives.

Lastly, is the power of hope. People will attempt change and can succeed when they have hope that life can be better.

This is a movie about the power of hope, which makes it a must see. I give it a "three thumbs up".

--John Mohan is the CEO of Siloam Mission.

Originally printed in the Winnipeg Sun, Wednesday, February 25, 2009.
Reprinted with the permission of Sun Media Corporation.