Comments on: Slumdog kids get heroes’ welcome in Mumbai, return to slums temporarily

By: Brain Munstermann

Brain Munstermann — Thu, 31 Dec 2009 18:00:15 +0000

Sorry, I hate to ask but have you got any advice for spam? My site is getting hammered with spam and I am not quite positive how to stop it!

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By: Keiloooooooooooo

Keiloooooooooooo — Fri, 27 Feb 2009 07:44:45 +0000

Well im SriLankan and its common practice to refer to someone whos older than you (but yet someone you do not necessarily know) as uncle or aunty out of respect. Sweet kids, glad to see them get the opportunity millions do not have, it must b very exciting for them.

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By: Don'tStopBecause

Don'tStopBecause — Fri, 27 Feb 2009 03:07:34 +0000

@ Bros – did you read that Diversity article? It reads, in part:

“In fact, they say they’ve paid for the children, who had never been to school before 2008, to go to elementary school. They’ve also paid for them to go to secondary school and they’ve paid them for basic-living needs, healthcare and emergency needs.

If the kids wind up going on to higher education, those costs will be covered by a fund set up by Fox Searchlight, the distributor of the movie.

However, many children of the poorest regions of India never go to school and are destined for an impoverished life; higher education is rarely an option. So even if the children’s educations are paid for in their earlier years, there remains a possibility that they’ll never get access to the larger sums of money put aside for higher education.”

So these kids only get the FULL Fox ‘fund’ money if they got to elementary AND secondary school AND then manage to get into higher education. Can you imagine this type of contract would be acceptable for a child actor in America or Europe? It strikes me as incredibly neo-colonial to tie payment to education in a country where education (at any level) is notoriously difficult to access.

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By: Christina

Christina — Thu, 26 Feb 2009 19:56:10 +0000

i really loved this movie… i’ve always had a love for indian culture… they have great historical figures, beautiful, colorful clothes, fun festivals, interesting animals, spirituality that has greatly influenced the western world (ie: yoga), nice people and really really good food… and i’m glad that this movie is instigating interest in india… i have a lot of indian friends and they’re pretty cool…

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By: Bina

Bina — Thu, 26 Feb 2009 18:27:01 +0000

Actually, in South Asia, any man you don’t know but want to address is called “uncle” if you want to indicate that you are being polite but don’t really know this person. You could call a shopkeeper “uncle” or a man you were asking directions from, as long as he is older than you. That’s because there are specific names for your real uncles, such as mother’s brother, father’s brother, etc. So “uncle” is the South Asian equivalent of “Hey Mister”.

However, you also call your parents’ friends “Uncle” and “Aunty”, so “Danny-Uncle” sounds about right.

“-ji” is just a title of respect, like “san” in Japan. You could call me “Bina-ji” if you wanted to indicate politeness and respect to me. You don’t have to be younger or older to use this one.

And just to make it even weirder, it’s very common for students to call their male teachers “Sir” (a throwback from British times). Always makes me laugh to hear a teacher referred to as “Sir So-and-So”, as if they’ve been knighted!

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By: Bros

Bros — Thu, 26 Feb 2009 18:16:06 +0000

for those who still think some great colonial wrong has been committed, I suggest reading the story below about compensation:

http://www.diversityinc.com/public/5331.cfm?utm_medium=email&utm_source=peer360&utm_campaign=DI+Newsletter+02-24-09?utm_content=DI+Newsletter+02-24-09

and then the NY times published a behind-the-scenes look at the protests and the political climate in which they are taking place and the political reasons for why incendiary opposition is being stirred up and manipulated by politicians. these werent any ‘spontaneous protests.’

http://roomfordebate.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/02/20/the-real-roots-of-the-slumdog-protests/?ex=1251003600&en=23dcf76fa0f19672&ei=5087&WT.mc_id=OP-D-I-NYT-MOD-MOD-M083-ROS-0209-HDR&WT.mc_ev=click#chitra

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By: becca

becca — Thu, 26 Feb 2009 17:20:44 +0000

Well, as long as the kids get better homes…

That was the problem I had with the movie in the first place. I was under the impression the kids weren’t getting good homes.

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By: Ling

Ling — Thu, 26 Feb 2009 16:33:01 +0000

Fair enough. I wasn’t privy to the argument last time around.

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By: geronimo

geronimo — Thu, 26 Feb 2009 15:47:46 +0000

@Ling – not sensitivity, noname is right, the distinction should be made in the title. Mairead pointed out the rationale for this on the last ‘Slumdog’ thread and it still stands. Saves people getting offended unnecessarily.