The Theme Of Poverty In The Movie 'Slumdog Millionaire'

Far too often do we view a subject from the distance. Its meaning, its core, is only observed, studied, but never truly grasped. Poverty. A disease that plagues the homes of over 3 billion people. 3 billion, half of the world’s population, lives in a state of struggle, hunger, and pain that is unimaginable. But, in the same breath, especially in the western dialogue, we tend to lump these souls in the “other category.” The “starving” Africans, the “malnourished” Indians, and rarely does the dialogue extend into our own backyards. The fact is, poverty impacts every nation, and every country, and it is important to emphasize just how global this parasite really is. It is easy to explore poverty when discussing it from a distance, because it does not seem as real, it does not seem as scary. Movies, like Slumdog Millionaire, serve a purpose to entertain as well as begin

At the end of the day, this was a film ultimately used for entertainment, not a documentary used to educate. Where the film highlighted a few concepts, it did leave out some key points of discussion pertaining to poverty. One of those talking points being the cause of poverty in India. For starters, India has a high population growth rate. This leads to “high levels of illiteracy, poor health care facilities, and lack of access to financial resources” (Kaur). What this shows is just how cyclic poverty truly is. From the time an individual is born into poverty they are all ready dispositioned to continue to live in poverty and pass poverty down their family lines, especially in places like India, where the idea of advancing into a non-existent middle class, is wishful thinking. A child grows up in poverty, lacks a general education, lacks the general knowledge of birth control methods, contributes to the nation’s growing population, and continues to feed the beast that is