The Slumdog Glitter of Millionaires
The 2009 As the stars walked the pre-show red carpet, I tried to forget that in the very same city that expensively decked out actors and actresses would be getting asked, "Who are you wearing?" one in five regular people are receiving public assistance.
I wonder how many people who saw Slumdog, and saw the poverty depicted in that film, thought for a moment about the poverty in their own cities? I wonder if the Slumdog children will finally get the financial compensation they deserve from the filmmakers? Three days ago those kids were still living in the slums and washing in dirty water. I bet Danny Boyle isn't going home to those sorts of conditions, is he?
Truly, it was unbearable to see the smartly-dressed Slumdog children, sweetly starstruck and absolutely excited... get dissed by Ryan Seacrest. Ryan didn't think they were important enough to know how to pronounce their names... so he did the unthinkable and held a piece of paper with their names typed on it up to the camera.
Those kids made that movie and Seacrest didn't know their names! Shame on him!
And, as much as I admired their beauty, all the jewelry being worn on Oscar night, heck, the cost of one of Angelina Jolie's gorgeous emerald earrings, could probably feed a thousand people in the slums of Mumbai for a month.
I know, it's a special occasion so why should people dress in jeans and a t-shirt? Sure, at the end of the night, those gorgeous dresses lent by the designers and the glittery sea of bling-- it all goes back into storage. But at the end of the day what do we do with the extremes of wealth and poverty on display for all of us to see?
Comments
And the way all those ordinary folk who contributed to the film are now being patronised and ignored really shows up the hypocrisy of it all.
Actually I thought the film was production-line Hollywood cliché from start to finish - rags to riches, urban poverty, thwarted love, violence and torture etc. I don't see why it was so applauded.
What I don't understand is why and how I feel compelled to watch the Oscars every single year! I have a love/hate relationship for precisely these reasons, but I still watch and I still sort of enjoy it. I contradict myself!
Wow. Just wow.
Seacrest's antics make me glad that Brad and Angelina just breeze by him without giving him the time of day. Those kids seem like they have more sense than he does!
April,
I think some folks will just write off Sean Penn's speech as being just another typical Sean Penn rant. But the emotion of that screenwriter was really touching.
Toni,
I SO feel you on the not having any fabulous clothes thing. I'm going to an event tomorrow night and I've been wishing for something cute and new to wear, but no $$! I'll just be wearing same black cocktail dress I'm always wearing. Oh well!
Citizen
It definitely is excessive and make believe, as is so much in Hollywood. I think I had more fun yapping on Twitter about the awards show than anything else! :)
Only 2 of the actors live in slums. The rest are from upper middle class families in India. The poor families keep demanding more money, but it seems like they are just greedy.
I think the producers have done more than enough to compensate the actors for their work. I think the producers are kind of being blackmailed by the families because they can always go to the media and say that they are the victims.
Child Stars and Parents Happy About "Slumdog Millionaire"
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/01/29/child-stars-and-parents-h_n_162399.html
The Battle To Protect And Educate "Slumdog" Kids
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/02/17/the-battle-to-protect-and_n_167528.html?show_comment_id=20966806
It's interesting to watch how our country imports our popular culture almost the same way a stripper works her audience--lures them in with a promise of "goods", but it's all flash and dazzle, no where close to the real thing. The doesn't care about her drooling patrons, but the lettuce in their wallets is of utmost importance.
Believe me, impoverished countries love and hate American flash and dazzle. They can't afford our clothes, fast food and Academy Awards show, but they still waste their hard earned cash on these things.
Are they being ridiculously stupid? No more than we are. They want what we want, and we're all being led by the nose by Madison Avenue. It's just that if I spend $6 on Mickey D's, it's not a major dent in the wallet. If someone in India spends the same amount at Ronald's, the family would be unable to eat for the rest of the month, maybe two.
Greed is somehow excused when it is exercised by those who can afford it, and despised when those who live from hand to mouth demonstrate the same human frailty. I don't need to eat at McDonald's. No one does. Yet "billions and billions" do it everyday.
If I want to do throw away my cash on fast food, it's my choice, of course. I'm an American, and I can damn well waste my money if I want to. But those in India and Somalia and Croatia better be happy poking the ground for grubs because that's all they can afford. So what if they can see the Golden Arches from the doors of their little shanties? They just have to poke more grubs to sell and pay for their fast food, that's all!
{facetious mode off}
Call me cynical, but I find it hard to believe that Angelina Jolie is really mothering those kids she collects like Louboutin shoes. I think it's as much for effect as the emerald earrings.