Nicole Martinez
English 495
7 December 2010
A Little Bit of this Culture, A Little Bit of that Culture
The theme of globalization is apparent in the movie Slumdog Millionaire, which is set in Mumbai, India. There are many examples of the influence of Western culture on Eastern peoples. There are also ways in which many other cultures are mixed. If it weren’t for globalization, the intersection of all of these cultures would not have happened, and we would never have a movie as complex as Slumdog Millionaire.
There are specific instances in the movie where European culture influences the outcomes of the characters lives. In the movie, the protagonist, Jamal Malik, is a contestant on the game show Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? To begin with, the show is British in origin, which is the first clue in the movie that there will be an intersection of cultures. This show has versions in over 100 countries, and India is the setting of not only the game show but the movie as well. Another European influence observed in the movie is exhibited in the question about the book The Three Musketeers that was written in France by Alexander Dumas. This book has further cultural references because Dumas got the idea to write the book from something he read in Amsterdam. There is also a question about the game cricket, which is played in many countries, including India. It originates from England. The character Jumal, works as a Chai Wallah in a Mumbai call center. In one portion of the movie, they are receiving calls from Scotland and Jamal speaks with a woman from there. I saw a very interesting example of European influence at the end of the movie while Jamal was waiting for Latika at the train station. On the wall behind him is an epigraph in stone of the name “Frederick W Stevens.” I thought it was somewhat strange that Jamal would be sitting directly in front of a name that was so clearly visible, that it must stand for something. When I researched it, I found that Frederick W. Stevens was a British architect who built the train station in Mumbai when the British controlled it. This was no mistake on the part of the director. He certainly wanted the audience to see that there has been a clear influence on India from Europe.
There are many ways in which American culture has intersected with Indian culture as well. In an essay by Revathi Krishnaswamy titled, “The Criticism of Culture and the Culture of Criticism: At the Intersection of Postcolonialism and Globalization Theory,” he argues the difference between post colonialism and the globalism that the world is now experiencing: “postcolonial theory has emphasized the cultural basis of history (the cultural constructedness of history as well as the archival value of cultural productions) while globalization theory, in turn, has highlighted the cultural basis of the economic (the economic value of cultural productions as well as the cultural production of economic value)” (Krishnaswamy, 107). This dependence on economic value of cultural productions is apparent when Jamal and his brother Salim are working, or hustling money at the Taj Majal, they steal shoes from people who take them off to go into the temple. Then they set up a stand and sell shoes calling out “American shoes for sale!” as they show a close up of a pair of Converse All Stars and then a pair of cowboy boots. This is also the time when Jamal receives a one hundred dollar bill from an American couple because a taxi driver is beating him up. The Americans who are so benevolent tell him something about Americans being kind and generous, but there is no other evidence of this kindness throughout the movie. Then on the game show, Jamal is asked which president is on the American $100. He responds that it is Benjamin Franklin, and he knows this because he was benevolent enough to give it to a blind kid who helped him. The blind kid helped him find his friend Latika and also to know which American president was on the bill. At the beginning of the movie, Jamal and Salim are shown as young children who are fanatics of the Indian action hero, Amitabh Bachchan. The clips they showed of him really reminded me of movies my father used to watch with action heroes like Bruce Willis who saved the day every time. The lone action hero appears to be a very American phenomenon. The use of the action hero, American shoes, and $100 bill all serve to show how Indian culture has been influenced by American culture because of globalization.
The contradiction of religion is apparent in the movie. Likewise with the other influencing cultures, there would be no story without the influence and interaction of Muslim and Hindu cultures. Jamal’s character is greatly disturbed by seeing his mother and much of the people who live in his slums die. The reason they died was because Muslims came to attack Hindu’s. Jamal’s family was Hindu. This is apparent because she wore the typical sari and had a red dot on her forehead. The massacre that happened in Jamal’s slum served to help him in the game show when he was given a question about religion. After answering the question correctly, he tells the game show host that he wouldn’t have been able to answer the question if it wasn’t for Rama and Allah. Rama is a Hindi god and Allah is a Muslim god. Also, it is alluded to that Jamal’s brother Salim converts to the Islamic religion. This is evident when Jamal spies on Salim when he is praying on a mat with the Muslim hat on. So as racial culture becomes globalized, so does religious culture.
The overall storyline of the movie is very Western and formulaic. It is the basic story of how the poor boy overcomes incredible odds, becomes rich and then gets the girl. The twist on the formulaic story is that it is so deep seated within the times of globalization. In an essay on the movie Slumdog Millionaire that also deals with the theme of globalization, author Sudesh Mishra states that “the economic might and hypermobility of the new Indian diaspora has led to a reorientation of subject matter, particularly in the subgenre of the NRI [non resident Indian] film, from the bounded or internalized country-city logic of the national to the internal-external and lateral exchanges that characterize transnational relations” (Mishra 325). Without all of the external influence, there would be no story to tell. Furthermore, it is the blending of all of the cultures that have been influenced by each other that makes this movie great.
Works Cited
Krishnaswamy, Revathi. “The Criticism of Culture and the Culture of Criticism: At the Intersection of Postcolonialism and Globalization Theory.” Diacritics 32.2 (2002): 106-126. Project Muse. Web. 10. Dec. 2010.
Mishra, Sudesh. “News from the Crypt: India, Modernity, and the West.” New Literary History 40.2 (2009): 315-344. Project Muse. Web. 10, Dec. 2010.
