Poverty and the Social Problems in Movies - Essay Example

Movie of God is a story about slum life as experienced through the eyes of a young boy as he grows into adulthood (Meirelles & Lund, 2002).Slum Dog Millionaire is also a movie that focuses on three children in a slum and traces it through to their adult life as it captures the challenges they have to face because of their background of slum-dwelling (Boyle, 2008). The dominant theme that flows through both Gods City and Slum Dog Millionaire movies is poverty. The two movies are set in two different continents in the world which are worlds apart in terms of religion, language and culture but share a lot of parallel themes. Both movies depict slum life and the many faceted problems brought on by poverty. Mumbai has one of the biggest slums in the world (Kalpana, 2000, p. 78).These themes such as poverty, violence, despair, crime, death and corruption are all related to poverty in one way or another. However love and determination triumph in both movies despite all contrary developments. The love of journalism in Rocket in Gods City finally brings him fame, money and the promise of a career. Rocket had always dreamed of owning a camera but had lost hope when he was fired without any fault form his job as a supermarket attendant after delinquent children form his neighborhood staged a robbery. Jamal in Slum Dog Millionaire wins the prize money despite all odds and gets reunited with Lakita the love of his life. The women in both movies are exposed to poverty, rape, sexual harassment and indignity even as they struggle to maintain their family’s domestic lives. The women bear the brunt of poor housing as they have to do without water yet have to clean, wash clothes, cook and nurture their families at great detriment to their health and well- being (Somerville, 1994, pp. 329-349). The practice of religion is seen even in the most violent scenes. The City of God makes frequent reference to God’s providence in the destiny of the residents of the slum even as they live out their lives in squalor and outmost poverty, fear and constant death. Carrots gang recites the whole “Our Father who Art in Heaven” prayer while standing in a circle holding hands just before a horrendous gang war that leaves many dead. The other gang leader Lil-Z makes the sign off the cross when he encounters the dead body of one of his child gang members. The three young children in the movie Slum Dog Millionaire are untrained actors who were born and raised in the slums of Mumbai where the story of the film is set. They reflect the real life of the Mumbai slum not because they are trained to but because they were born and bred in it. These children are in their natural habitat and context and this gives then the ability to be free and uninhibited because this is their home and their story. The slum is a very cramped place to live in with very narrow paths that make for streets and the shelters which pass for housing are tightly packed together. There is constant activity in all the slum scenes because there is no free space even in the living areas as the spaces are multipurpose. There is very minimal narration which is used to emphasize flash backs such as in the case of Jamal’s haunting and recurrent memory of his mother’s death at the hands of Hindu fanatics in a war of religion. The past and the present blend together in flashbacks which reflect dreams, narrations, thoughts, and past and present scenes. The children Jamal and Salim hide in a train and cross over form slum to city life which is a deep contrast to what they have always known. They do not know every one like they did in the slum and people in the city are less compassionate despite their apparent affluence. In reality the city folk are struggling to make ends meet and this we see in the characters of the police, the pimps, gang leaders and other poor people. The film gives the viewer a great glimpse into the ordinary life, culture and dress of the Indian people. Cultural norms, etiquette and gender roles come out quite clearly in this movie. Women are portrayed as domestic, nurturing, mothers, and the weaker sex. The movie also portrays the beauty of India in the Taj Mahal, beautiful country side, street vendors who sell great food, wares and crafts. City of God is a fast paced movie with lots of close shots of people, the surrounding environment and homes. The movies is has a very fast and aggressive pace which is suitable for depicting the life in the slums and its very fast and violent nature. The movie plot is based upon the actions and behaviour of slum dwellers. The street gangs are portrayed as hoodlums who are in a constant fight for territory with other gangs. These gangs are trigger happy and have lost all compassion towards others killing each other at the slightest provocation. The women in the movie were always cast in stereotyped roles. The women in the bars were skimpily dressed and making suggestive passes at men while they were treated as play things and accorded contempt. The decent ladies were poor domesticated housewives and their daughters who at times feel prey to rape or indecent relationships with gang members who cared little for decent family life. Poverty is very prevalent and pervasive in both movies. This movies both show the desperation that comes from extreme poverty and the lengths that people will go to in order to survive. Gangs, pimps, corrupt police men, prostitution are the negative vices that show that poverty has the capacity to corrupt morals. Those who choose to live decent lives suffer due to poverty and injustice and never seem to get ahead in life in both movies. The children in both movies have been hardened by suffering but make do with what they have in such of play and fun. The children play the games that are their countries favourites. The children of City of God play football in the local football field which is just an empty space. They use an old ball which is not well inflated but make do with it. The children in Slum Dog Millionaire play cricket with old discarded bats and cricket balls form the garbage dumps and swim in the sewers when its too hot to play. Aggression is a common factor in both movies as a result of financial tension as everyone fights for their share of what’s available. Families are full of anger, fights and aggression especially form the fathers who are the bread winners. Education is not taken seriously as it is not seen as paying as much as criminal work. There is a lot of depression and gloom in the society which makes for poor decision making and desperate measures in both movies. Jamal in Slum Dog Millionaire was a good child turned criminal who ends up dying at the hands of criminals. Jamal learns to betray at a young age in order to survive and to save his brother from taking on the responsibility of another at a tender age. He does this when he lets go of Lakita’s hand instead of pulling her into the moving train leaving her to the mercy of criminals. These criminals take Lakita and take care of her in preparation for pimping her into prostitution. Jamal and Salim’s mother lived a life of extreme poverty but tried to ensure that her children were happy. She had no way of protecting her children from harm when it came to their health as they were constantly playing in the garbage dumps which were all over the slum. She died trying to help her children escape during a violent religious clash between Muslims and Hindus. Death is very common in both movies although City of God takes it to another level because it occurs every few minutes and throughout the movie. Crime is a also an accepted way of life so much so that it goes unreported because most of the neighbourhood inhabitants are involved. Children have also gotten so used to crime that they look at gang members as mentors and aspire to be like them. City of God really brings this out with several examples within the movie of children who enter into crime and end up dying violent deaths at a tender age. Childhood delinquency is the norm in City of God while a normal and disciplined child is the abnormally as it is taken to be witness in such a violent neighbourhood where street gangs rule. The structure of the slums in City of God is built around the gangs and its leaders and this makes the situation very fluid as gang leaders constantly murder each other for territory and hostile takeovers of the others business. The structure of the slum in Slum Dog Millionaire is built on religion and culture which binds the inhabitants of the slums. The slum still adheres to the caste system that is prevalent throughout India even though they all live in poverty and it serves to structure the slums. Mumbai’s slums also have child delinquents but they are not into hard-core criminal activity like those in City Of God. The root cause of all the social problems experienced in both movies is poverty. Works Cited Boyle, D. (Director). (2008). Slum Dog Millionaire [Motion Picture]. Chetin. (2015, March). "Development and Culture Focus on Poverty”. Class Handout. Chetin. (2015, March). "Film Making Styles/Stylistic Techniques”. Class Handout. Kalpana, S. (2000). "Rediscovering Dharavi: Story From Asias Largest Slum". ISBN 0-14-100023-6: Penguin Books. Meirelles, F., & Lund, K. (Directors). (2002). City of God [Motion Picture]. Somerville, P. (1994). “Tenure, Gender and Household Structure.” . Housing Studies 9 (3): , pp 329-349. Read More