Slumdog Millionaire Sociology

463 Words1 Page
bulb-icon

Recommended: Stereotypes of native Americans

The film “Slumdog Millionaire” tells the story of Jamal Malik, an 18 year old orphan form the slums in Mumbai, who rises from the slums to wealth overnight on India’s version of the television show Who Wants to be a Millionaire?. Jamal is uneducated and poor, for this reason he is arrested and accused of cheating immediately after the show. Desperate to prove his innocence, Jamal tells his life story of growing up in the slums in Mumbai with his brother Salim and we learn about his vicious encounters with local gangs. With each chapter of his life story, Jamal reveals how he knew the answer to each and every question he was asked in the show. Although many people may argue that “Slumdog Millionaire” does not accurately depict poverty and slums in India, overall, the film manages to show the reality of life for many children in …show more content…

These people living in the slums have limited access to electricity, clean water, food, and educational opportunities; Salim and Jamal are young thieves after their mother dies and they attempt to survive on the streets of Mumbai in such conditions. In general, Jamal and Salim are two of seven million children under the age of 14 who are growing up in this extreme poverty and inferior living conditions. For these reasons, children are forced to search for unsafe jobs like Salim and Jamal are when they began working as beggars for a gangster who abuse of these children, and takes out their eyes so that they’ll make more money. Additionally, throughout the film we see that Americans are portrayed morally superior. For example, when an American couple sees a policeman hitting Jamal, they immediately intervene and Jamal mumbles that if they wanted to see the true India, then they just had. Because the Americans felt bad for Jamal, they felt the need to pay them to compensate their moral obligation to help the children who live in these slums, by simply offering their

Show More
Related

  • The Blind Side Sociology

    592 Words  | 2 Pages

    The Blind Side is a heartwarming and compelling story of the NFL player Michael Oher, who is adopted into a family that is a significantly higher social class than he. The story is a true account of a boy that went from rags to riches and depicts eloquently the social stratification in the United States.

    Read More

  • sociology

    1877 Words  | 4 Pages

    This essay will be explaining the definition of sociology, the sociological factors of obesity using Symbolic Interactionism Theory and the Functionalism Theory and a description of the medical condition obesity and how it may affect individuals suffering from it.

    Read More

  • Sociological Theories

    945 Words  | 2 Pages

    One of the sociological theories is conflict theory. The conflict theory deals with people's level on wealth, or class. The conflict theory says that social change is beneficial, contrary to focuses on social order. In the story of the woman and her children, the conflict theory plays a big role on the situation. Police of higher class are threatening the homeless woman. The conflict theory is a constant struggle of people of higher class over powering people of lower class, or the weaker. The police are trying to over power the woman by telling her to leave. Even though the woman and her children were doing nothing wrong, the police used their power to tell her to leave. Also the people of the area showed their conflict theory by telling the police officers to come. They must have felt embarrassed to have a woman of such lower class to be around them. They used their power of class to have the woman removed from their community. The woman wants to be there because she has no home and it is a good community to be in, but the people look at it as an embarrassment to them because it makes their area look bad for someone of such lower class to be around them. The conflict theory is unique to all other theories because it separates people into categories determined by their wealth and standards. Their status is the element that categorizes them, weather it is class, race, or gender. The conflict theory do not always use class, race, and gender all at once. In this situation race and gender is not a main issue, although gender could be a reason, but it would fall under the feminist theory. This story is mainly dealing with class. Through all this conflict the woman feels over powered and domina...

    Read More

  • Sociology 111 Midterm

    1328 Words  | 3 Pages

    Talcott Parsons and Robert Bales, two of the leading figures in sociology, may be considered the founding fathers for the ideas of the “modern family” and the “male-breadwinner family.” Collectively, their work has influenced how Americans analyze families and has sparked new ideas regarding the American family from sociologists such as Stephanie Coontz and Arlie Hochschild. However, when studying the American family, Parsons and Bales fail to understand that the “ideal” family may not be so ideal for everyone. They neglect to consider societal influences and economic changes when discussing patriarchal social norms as the most optimal family structure. Their description of the male-breadwinner family consists of the father being the “instrumental leader” within the home, providing economically for his family based on his occupational earnings. Meanwhile, the mother is considered the manager of the household, providing for her husband and children physically, emotionally, and mentally.

    Read More

  • Shallow Hal Sociology

    1147 Words  | 3 Pages

    Interested in a movie that will entertain, while also bring attention to an important social issue; therefore, Shallow Hal (2001) is the perfect movie. Directed by Peter and Bobby Farrely, the movie revolves around the life of Hal, who is portrayed by Jack Black. The plot begins with a traumatic event during Hal’s childhood that subconsciously dictates his decisions throughout the movie. That event was the death of his father, who in his deathbed encouraged his son to live superficially and never settle in any aspect of his life especially when it came to picking out the right women. Despite his unproportioned figure, Hal emulated a lifestyle that left him unfulfilled as he discriminated and stereotyped women based on their outward appearance.

    Read More

  • Prince Of Thieves Sociology

    457 Words  | 1 Pages

    The film prince of thieves shows the arrangement of social relations among the nobility, and does so in a way where the viewer can see the vast difference between social classes. By using characters from various backgrounds, we can see how their social status can affect their social interactions. For example, the wingman of Robin Hood, Azeem, is a perfect example of how he is not viewed as a person. We can see this when they are in the Sherwood Forest and does not initially receive a drink. The outlaw inhabitants of the Sherwood Forest are another example of how they are mistreated, as they are wanted by the sheriff of Nottingham, and are forced to hide in the forest to rebel.

    Read More

  • How Does Latika Change In Slumdog Millionaire

    483 Words  | 1 Pages

    The film Slumdog Millionaire tells the story of an impoverished boy, who lost his mother at a young age because their Muslim community was persecuted by Hindus, and the survival of him and his older brother along with another street child, Latika. The children came together to do whatever is necessary to survive, such as being in a ring of beggars, stealing shoes, and faking as tourist guides. Throughout the movie, Latika and the brothers continue to get separated from one another, but years later, the brothers finally find her as she is about to be sold as a sex slave or child prostitute. The older brother, Salim, changes his demeanor when he shot and killed the man who was in charge of the ring of beggars and child prostitutes. After this occurred, the children go into an abandoned hospital, where Salim throws Jamal out of the room, but still has Latika in his custody.

    Read More

  • Adversity Slumdog Millionaire

    1086 Words  | 3 Pages

    The movie Slumdog Millionaire (Boyle, 2008) is realistic. It does not sugarcoat life. The struggles of growing up in India while there were riots against the Muslims certainly showed how hard it could be to live. Also, it is very possible to go from “rags to riches” and end up finding someone that one lost many years before. While Slumdog Millionaire can be compared to another Cinderella story, it is not the typical story.

    Read More

  • These Birds Walk

    632 Words  | 2 Pages

    Later, when he was returned back home, his father told the driver of the EDHI foundation that he would be happier to see Raffiullah’s dead body than returning him alive. There was another child, Omar, who said that his mother wouldn’t have even one rupees to buy food so he would ask people for money in the streets. At the end of the movie, when Omar was returned back home, his parents said that they knew Omar was in the EDHI home so they did not worry about him because all of their other children have been there for months because the family couldn’t afford the expanses. It was really sad seeing what children and families were going through but at the same time I feel happy that there is at least a place, EDHI home, to support these children and families who are in most need for

    Read More

  • Analysis of The Story Q & A by Vikas Swarup

    750 Words  | 2 Pages

    The story Q & A, written by Vikas Swarup, illustrates the lives of those in the slums of India and how those living there experience life. The novel recites the unimaginable journey of a slum dog who becomes a billionaire. Throughout the rags to riches story of Ram Mohammed Thomas, he is presented with several catalysts which change his life.

    Read More

  • The End Of Poverty: Movie Analysis

    895 Words  | 2 Pages

    The 2008 documentary The End of Poverty? is a film that focuses around global poverty and how it became the tragedy that it is today. Poverty was created by acts of military conquest, slavery and colonization that led to the confiscation of individual’s property and forced labor. However, today the problem remains because wealthy countries who take advantage of developing third world countries. The film interviews several activists who discuss how the issues became and several ways in which they could be eliminated, as well as interviews from individuals who are experiencing it firsthand.

    Read More

  • Racism In Slumdog Millionaire

    1532 Words  | 4 Pages

    One moment when Jamal is trying to earn money to continue his journey, he takes an American couple on a “tour” and ends up getting beaten up by another Indian who catches onto his scheme. After he is beaten up, the wife attempts to take care of him and Jamal says, “you wanted to see a bit of India” implying that that India is full of violence. The wife replies, “Well, here is a bit of America”(Slumdog Millionaire) implying that America does not stand for that. The white American couple implies that America is better than India and influences Jamal to be more like them by helping him when he is

    Read More

  • Poverty Sociology Essay

    1163 Words  | 3 Pages

    In today 's society, there is 1 in 7 people living in poverty which is costing Canadian citizens’ money as they are paying for taxes. There are many standpoints in which people examine the ways poverty affect society such as Marx’s conflict theory. Marx’s conflict theory goes over how social stratification being inevitable and how there is a class consciousness within people in the working class. Another way that poverty is scrutinized is by feminization. Feminization is the theory that will be explored throughout this essay. Poverty will be analyzed in this essay to determine the significance of poverty on the society and the implications that are produced.

    Read More

  • The Sociological Imagination, And The Uses Of Poverty: The Poor Pay All?

    1943 Words  | 4 Pages

    Throughout Society, many families have seen struggle and lived through poverty. The economy is not always thriving which takes a toll on people who suffer through unemployment or low wage jobs. The Frontline documentary, “Two American Families”, is the perfect example of struggle in the United States. It shows the lives of two struggling families and their efforts to survive. Two essays, “The Sociological Imagination” by C. Wright Mills, and “The Uses of Poverty: The Poor Pay All” by Herbert J. Hans, support the analysis of the video strongly. They express many ideas that relate to the world and struggle throughout society. Also, there are many sociological terms that depict the events that occurred in the documentary.

    Read More

  • Violence In Slumdog Millionaire

    793 Words  | 2 Pages

    In the film, “Slumdog Millionaire” showed the world how India is a society that is filled with violence and abuse. Slumdog Millionaire exposes the tragic effects of poverty in many different cities of India. The film talks about a Mumbai boy, Jamal, who grew up in the slums that became a contestant on “Who Wants To Be A Millionaire?” During the contest, Jamal were arrested under suspicion of cheating. Jamal was being interrogated by the police, and revealed events from his life history to explain why he knew the answers on “Who Wants To Be A Millionaire?”

    Read More

More about Slumdog Millionaire Sociology

Open Document