In the novel, Slumdog Millionaire, written by Vikas Sawerup, was a true story based on a teenager named Jamal Malik and he grew up in the slums of Mumbai. The novel clearly illustrates what a tough life it had to worry about whether or not he will be fed his next meal. This main character gets chosen to appear as a contestant on the “Who wants to be a millionaire” TV program in India. The producers were certain that he would not get far in the program as he came from a slum and would not know a lot of the questions the show will ask him. However, to everyone’s surprise Jamal answers all the questions correctly and the authorities are under suspicion that he is cheating. Before the million-dollar question, Jamal gets detained and questioned by the police. The police ask him how he knows these questions and he answers by telling them stories of his life and anecdotes that would lead him to know these questions. The spirit of this film is that not to judge you’re up bringing and your economic status. Just because you grew up in a slum doesn’t necessarily mean your mind would be impaired of common knowledge. This film depicts a message to all of us for not judging people on their class but on their personal experiences. And that we can never forget.
Monday 26 September 2011
My Personal Film Experience
After investing his life savings into something that he thought was going to make him money, life suddenly belly flops on him. In The Pursuit of Happyness, Christopher Gardner (Will Smith) has just lost his home, his wife, and his career yet, Gardner holds his head up high and gets an internship at a stockbroking company and later on earns a place in the company through hard work and perseverance.
Christopher Gardner is stuck in a dilemma between his wife, son, and his jobless existence. He invested all his money in a CT Scan company by purchasing the scanners in a bulk amount; however, after a couple of months this business venture failed drastically. The scanners literally could not sell; consequently, he loses his house due to not paying his mortgage and bank loans. Not only does he lose his house, he loses his wife also. For the first time in his life, he and his beloved son, Christopher Jr. are homeless. At this point of the movie, I started to remember losing something that I cherished, my grandmother. I was thirteen years old when I lost my grandmother to cancer and being a young adolescent, my mind literally couldn't take the grief that engulfed me.
The connection I make with Gardner is a unique one because we both thought that our tragedy would be the end of our lives as we knew it. This was not the case for Gardner and his perseverance inspired me. I was fortunate to have a grandmother who showered me with love when I was little. She was always there for me when I came home from school and wanted to hear my stories and adventures of the day. Whenever I was upset with my parents, my grandmother was there to comfort me and to make me feel important. Her death left me devastated. Gardner, too, was overcome with sorrow when he thought he lost everything that would make him successful and happy. Through Gardner's example of never losing hope and always being optimistic about the future, he became successful and received an even better gift-- the admiration and love from his son. This gave me hope that I could go forward and remember that my grandmother was still alive in my heart and the memories I collected would never die.
The look on Gardner's face when he found out that he lost his house was such a memorable one. His eyes, filled with fury and determination to get back right on track, invigorated me. I remember back to a time when I was frightened when getting up in front of peers to give a presentation. My palms would drip with sweat and my voice would quake. Watching Gardner not be afraid to do what it took, made me realise that giving a speech in front of other people was really trivial compared to other people's problems. I was determined to get over my fear and I eventually did by working hard, preparing a speech in front of a mirror, and feeling that "wow" feeling when you know you've done something well-- just like Gardner.
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