SlumBlog Millionaire
Guest Blogger
Bao Phi is a spoken word artist and community organizer from Minneapolis, Minnesota. He has appeared on “Def Poetry Jam” and a poem of his was included in The Best American Poetry 2006. He was featured in the award-winning documentary feature film The Listening Project, and has published essays on everything from racism in Hollywood films to Asians in Hip Hop to racial representation in video games. He consumes far too much pop culture for his own good.
I’ve been reading a lot of the mass media’s backlash against Slumdog Millionaire with some interest.
I should preface this by saying – unlike the mass media, which ignores these issues unless it’s beneficial to them somehow – that most of the criticisms re: race, class, gender, exploitation, and colonialism brought up by community folks is necessary and valid.
This is not about those criticisms. Dialogue in the community is a great thing, especially given Slumdog’s implications of class, colony, etc. The following is more about popular (white) media and their reactions to Slumdog. A couple of things I’ve read about Slumdog in the Western mass media that I find perplexing:
“The love story is not believable.”
I agree – you know what other Hollywood movies have unbelievable love stories? About 98% of ‘em. Shakespeare in Love (which I also liked) is one example. Any Judd Apatow film where an amazing woman falls for a doofus (white) guy. And, as my partner brought up – a certain movie about two female soccer players who fall in love with their white coach. How is at least not one of those soccer players queer? And couldn’t a white soccer coach dating his players be seen as… predatory? Guess not, if white dudes are doing it.
In any case, the question becomes, why is everyone expecting a film about a kid who wins “Who Wants to Be a Millionaire” to be real? And, re: the love story, I totally agree it’s not particularly well written – but the white western mass media calling out a Hollywood film for a weak love story when it happens to involve two lower class brown people? That’s… funny to me.
“It’s a panacea for our economy.”
And the Lord of the Rings and Star Wars trilogy were panaceas for Western people to Iraq. Those trilogies were also rife with race, class, gender issues, and yet mass media didn’t really comment. They also made millions and have plowed into our pop consciousness (mine included). And as Chris Chinn brought up, why didn’t people criticize Crash for being a panacea to white liberal guilt? It’s unplausable story? And the fact that it’s, well, a pretty shitty movie. People are dissing the Indian actors of Slumdog. But then you all hold up Matt Dillon? Really?
Another thing that still bothers me – there’s not a lot out there about how a bunch of straight privileged wealthy white men have accepted acclaim, awards, and Oscars while the brown people’s contributions are straight-up slept upon or dismissed. I read the article of the Indian co-director who said she didn’t want to overplay her credit. Sister, fuck that. And you know what? Even if that was her wish, the white people could have had some class and at least THANKED HER. None of them did. It reminds me of when I read that Jon Krakauer book about white dudes who climb mountains in Asia and name shit after themselves – not acknowledging the Sherpas who hauled their shit up the mountainside.
Last 5 posts by guest
- "Red Light" by Geunjin - December 14th, 2009
- At the San Diego Asian Film Festival: Shades of Ray - November 2nd, 2009
- Introducing Geunjin - September 11th, 2009
- Guest Blogger Kristen Sajonas on the APIA Spoken Word & Poetry Summit - August 31st, 2009
- Thumbs Up with "Up" - June 5th, 2009
Tags: Movie.
4 comments
Maybe folks (of any color) these days are just more into themselves than into community. More into lauding themselves and their own personal contributions than acknowledging others. Maybe white folks do it more than others because they are used to it? It isn’t an excuse though.
I haven’t watched the film, but it is interesting how criticisms about the film have centered on issues of race and class. I feel that typically when there is a debate about the merits of Best Picture nominated films, race and class rarely come up. Why is it suddenly so important? Oh right… maybe it’s because it is a film that has brown people in it.
I think it just goes to show, we have a long long way to go in terms of all the -isms and how they (don’t) get talked about in the media.
I definitely think there’s some weird angles on this film, and conscious community folks have to walk delicately between the valid criticisms and unintentionally aligning themselves with the Indian (Hindu) middle class that’s up in arms about the film around the world because they think it makes “us all look like paupers” and “shining India” look like a complicated place (i.e. real).
I’m so tired of this film: I didn’t think it was terrible (as fellow-blogger KC said to me when I compared it to Crash on my site), but it was not extraordinary, and the field wasn’t barren this time around.
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