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As you may or may not know, I am not a fan of the movie Slumdog Millionaire. Personally, I think that it is a condescending and exploitative after-school-special to make white people feel better about their cultural ignorance and their inaction towards global humanitarian crises. And there was a certain period of time in which I regularly wrote posts about the tumultuous and mostly-tragic lives of the movie’s young child stars after the colonial film crew had packed up and moved home. Today, there is another report about how the kids aren’t going to school, and how that might make them ineligible to receive the trust fund that Danny Boyle set up in their names. That’s no good! My first thought was “Ah, another disturbing update on the nightmarish lives of the Slumdog Millionaire kids.” And my second thought was, “wait, does anyone even care about them anymore?” And that is the whole problem right there!
But first, what is going on with those dudes?
From the HuffingtonPost:
MUMBAI, India — The two child stars of “Slumdog Millionaire” are at risk of losing their monthly stipend and their trust fund if they don’t attend school more regularly, a trustee for the fund said Thursday.
Azharuddin Mohammed Ismail, 11, and Rubina Ali, 10, shot to fame after starring in the Oscar-winning movie.
But these days, Azhar is only showing up at school 37 percent of the time, and Rubina has only a 27 percent attendance rate, the trustee said.
“It’s pathetic,” said Noshir Dadrawala, who helps administer the Jai Ho trust established by the filmmakers to provide an education, living allowance and housing for the young stars, who both grew up in Mumbai’s real-life shantytowns.
“Slumdog” director Danny Boyle and producer Christian Colson said in a statement that the children’s families “need to honor their part of the bargain.”
“We are disappointed that Azhar and Rubina’s school attendance remains patchy. We have urged both families to honor their commitment to ensure regular school attendance,” they said. The filmmakers were in Mumbai to discuss future film projects and charity work.
Dadrawala said the trust decided that if the children do not get their attendance above 70 percent they will lose their monthly stipend of about $120. If they fail to graduate, they will forfeit a lump sum payment set aside by the filmmakers to help the children, who grew up in one of Mumbai’s more wretched slums, get a start in life.
Azhar’s mother, Shameen Ismail, said her son had been truant over the past two months because he was inconsolable after his father died in September from tuberculosis.
“He would cry often, so I kept him home from school for a while,” she said.
She promised his attendance would improve.
“As long as I’m alive, I will make sure my son gets an education,” she said.
Rubina’s father, Rafiq Qureshi, said the girl was not in school because her slum shanty was destroyed and she was cut on the leg by a piece of glass.
“It will not happen next time,” he said.
Woofdog Yikesenaire.
Now, look, I think that we all agree that no matter what side of the aisle we are on in regards to this movie, we all want the children of Slumdog Millionaire to have nice lives, and to get something positive out of their experience. (But not those other thousands of kids who live in the dirty, trash-strewn streets of India’s slums. Yuck! Those guys probably aren’t even adorable.)
But I continue to have a bad feeling about this. And my dwindling interest in their well-being, and the fact that I forgot that they even existed for awhile, suggests that it is not going to get any better! Please, children of Slumdog Millionaire, stay in school! You cannot count on being media darlings forever, and I don’t even know if Danny Boyle is going to make Slumdog Billionaire.
Good luck! Goodbye! Good luck!
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Goddamn it, Danny, just give them the damn money and let them actually live in something that’s not a tarp propped up by sticks. I don’t care if they burn the money to keep warm, just give it to them, and don’t bitch about them missing school because of, respectively, a dead father (whom said money could have saved) and a dead shanty (once again, a problem that could have easily been solved with said money).
If you give them all that money, it’s Corey Feldman all over again. For real, that stipend goes a long way in India. The point of the fund is to protect the children from further exploitation. It could well be that the only reason their parents are even considering putting them back in school is for fear of losing that money. Give it all to them and it is gone.
Excellent points! I just wish that there was a way to work with them instead of just making blanket requirements.
I know. It’s a recurring problem, but it isn’t an easy one to solve. It certainly isn’t something that we can fix outside of India. Those children need legal protection as professionals, and the laws just don’t exist. After years of reform in the US, we are seeing an resurgence of the problem with children on “reality” tv shows. This WSJ article from last weekend addresses the issue. It’s much harder in an emerging nation like India, even when producers make efforts to protect their young performers.
Because the white, obscenely wealthy benefactor of these families truly knows what is best for them, and has the right to demand that they meet certain requirements before being given the money they earned.
The kids live in fucking slums. I get that showering the destitute with money will probably not result in wise monetary choices, but its their money. Danny Boyle doesn’t get to play parent and demand good behavior before giving these kids their allowance. For chrissakes, but them each a house or something. There has to be a middle ground between Corey Feldman-esque wastes of money and siphoning off stipends which barely nudge a family out of abject poverty.
well, he does if these requirements were in the contract regarding their participation in the film. there are uncomfortable shades of exploitation and neocolonialism in this, but there are shades of that in practically every development project and charity work. just comes with the territory.
You’re missing the point. The trust is meant to protect the children from exploitation by other parties, most notably their parents. This isn’t because of some notion of Western superiority, It’s because there is a long tradition of child stars being exploited by their parents. Of course it is their money. That is the point. They will receive every pound when India’s laws allow them control over that money. Also, the trusts that Boyle set up were in addition to their official earnings from the movie. The money that they initially earned has apparently already been spent. Guess who spent it.
And yet, they still live in poverty. I don’t pretend to be an expert in paying poor children for being in movies for Americans, but there must be a better solution than “go to school or we won’t give you this $120 per month”. The kids live in slums. So yeah, make sure their parents don’t exploit them, but also make sure they’re not living in a shanty that’s literally falling apart around them.
Now who’s being paternalistic? Boyle isn’t responsible for the lives of those children, and he would have no authority to act on it if he felt responsible. It’s easy for you to project your own guilt for your relative prosperity onto him, but it isn’t fair, and it’s rather cheap.
There is no other legal way for Boyle to make sure that these children’s parents don’t exploit them than to place conditions on their trusts, but you’ve already declared that to be unacceptable. In the absence of bringing India back under the hegemony of the British Empire, which I doubt you’d consider to be an acceptable solution, he is doing his best. That stipend amounts to between 5,000 and 6,000 rupees, which is enough to help pay for reasonable living quarters in Mumbai. If it isn’t helping to keep the children out of the slums, it is being improperly managed, which isn’t something Boyle has the ability to fix outside of using the conditions of the trust to do so.
Look, the man has done more for those children than he was obligated to. After the film became a long shot hit, he has done more for them than anyone else . Call his movie exploitative, but it did more to draw the world’s attention to the plight of children in their situation than anything ever has, and you wouldn’t likely be reading about poor Indian children on Videogum without it.
It’s not about my paternalistic guilt, it’s just gross. This movie made almost $400 million, and the stars still live in poverty after being paid less than £2,000 for their performances. That’s gross, whether it’s the parents fault or the producers’ fault. The fact that I now get to read about poverty on Videogum doesn’t make it less gross.
This is the last post I’m going to make about this, because I am stubborn enough to continue forever if I let myself. First, I’m sorry if that last post was rude. I sounded accusatory, and it might not have been appropriate. I only said it,l because I think that your points are contradictory in an effort to find someone to blame, particularly someone who reinforced what seemed to be preexisting notions of who the “bad guy” should be.
Second, I understand why you think it’s “gross,” but I think you are allowing an immediate emotional response to overwhelm your consideration of the facts. Those children will ultimately receive more than they have thus far. The movie made a lot of money, but it wasn’t all profit, and most of it went to the distributors. The producers are doing what they can. Keep in mind that the movie almost went direct to DVD, in which case those kids probably wouldn’t have trust funds at all. It was the film’s success that provided the trusts and the schooling and the effort to get them better housing. I’m glad the film made a shitload of money, for that reason and because I thought it was a beautiful movie.
Sometimes the world sucks, and sometimes the world is unfair. It doesn’t help anyone to vilify people who are trying to make it better, even if those people are rich and successful.
As I recall Boyle, in tandem with the Indian government, is in fact trying to get these kids decent housing.
This is a representation of global charity in action.
Wait, that’s not right…
This is a representation of global charity inaction.
There we go, that’s more like it.
Wordplay!
Jon Stewart over here.
That’s the nicest thing anyone’s ever said about me… *sniff*
“Azhar’s mother, Shameen Ismail, said her son had been truant over the past two months because he was inconsolable after his father died in September from tuberculosis.”
“Rubina’s father, Rafiq Qureshi, said the girl was not in school because her slum shanty was destroyed and she was cut on the leg by a piece of glass.”
Father died of tuberculosis? Slum shanty was destroyed AND leg cut by glass? Come on, slum parents! Those are the oldest excuses in the book, right up there with “the fire started by religious persecutors ate my homework.”
No. But we still care about the Darjeeling Ltd kids though. Cause they rich.
And, of course, That ’70s Show remains popular in syndication.
Oh no! You did the joke I did but better and earlier! That’s what I get for only doing a command-f search for the word “Topher” before posting, rather than reading all the entries!
i forget — do any of them look like clark gable?
Dear Poor Children,
I don’t care if your dad died or your house was destroyed, you need to be in school! Sure white American kids would be out of school to if such events took place but, that’s not the point! Now get to school so I don’t look like a jerk.
Danny Boyle
There’s a bit of a difference between “taking time off to grieve” and “not coming to school 70% of the time.”
Pretty sure I just barfed tears. That’s right–I barfed, but instead of half-digested food and intestinal fluids, all that came out were tears. Salty, salty tears. I hope vomit doesn’t come out of my eyes next.
On the other hand, if vomit came out of my eyes, I’m pretty sure I would be excused from school for a while. Hmm, this might not be such bad news after all…
not when there’s pumpkin head dancing, no.
I get where Danny Boyle and friends are coming from because of all the other actors and celebrities that went to school. Education and the entertainment industry go hand in hand which is why we have things like everything on VH1 and Jay Leno.
Gabe, I love this entry so much.
I just feel like telling you since i never have, that you are my favorite videogum commenter. Haaaaaave a good one!
I accidentally replied to you towards the bottom of the post, Mr. Feeny, because my Internet-Fu is weak. Thank you very much!
If we’re doing this, I’ll tell you upvote nearly every thing you comment, but I hate your avatar. And your screen name that pairs with it, but to a lesser extent then your avatar.
who was that directed at
disgruntled hipster no. 416. You’re alright too.
“You’re alright too.” – hlebtastic, 2009
My day = made
Snaps for Harsh Browns
When the wife-ish and I went to see that movie in the theater an older gentleman sitting behind us snored through nearly half of it. Couldn’t blame him. And I’m pretty sure the world as a whole will have the same reaction when they hear this. However, if a kid in bumfuck Iowa or something had his house fall down or his father die of tuberculosis.. not only would he get to miss school as long as he wants, but he’d also get a mansion courtesy of EXTREME MAKEOVER. Ty Pennington is terrifying.
Get Topher Grace on it! Then they’ll constantly be at the top of everyone’s minds!
Oh yes! Did you know there the world desperately wants to see Topher Grace play Clark Gable? The people have spoken, Hollywood!
I don’t pretend to spend much time caring about destitute kids, but my friend Sheena is doing this Uniform Project thing to raise money for the Akansha Foundation. Kinda a gimmicky blog project where she wears the same school jumper-type dress in different configurations for 365 days straight. “At the end of the year, all contributions will go toward Akanksha?s School Project to fund uniforms and other educational expenses for children living in Indian slums.” Etc etc. I’m gonna peel them off a bill around tax time – it seems like a really worthwhile project.
I seriously think that we should feed every poor person in the world for like a year (sell the Vatican!), and then stop it. Because then everybody suddenly cares that they can’t eat anymore.
I liked the movie a lot [apparently, I love everything Gabe hates and vice versa], but my goodness this is sad! Dad dying of tuberculosis? Shanty being torn down?
My diamond shoes are WAYY too tight
This is just sad
Didn’t the producers get them homes and they moved back into the slum? I don’t remember so well, but I think I read that before.
Like someone said before, they can’t possibly force everything upon them. Either way, the kids lose.
You can take the dog out of the slum, but you can’t take the slum out of the dog.
Aw, HarshBrowns! Thank you guys. I appreciate the l-u-v. It’s been said often, but Videogum really has the best of the best, so the sentiment is shared and reciprocated.
Also, re: my name/avatar–the Stereogum joke didn’t transfer over to V-Gum land, I guess. I’d much rather have my dream avatar (oh god. listen to that. ugh.)–a loop of the bored concertgoers swaying back and forth to Smashing Pumpkins from that “Homerpalooza” episode of The Simpsons. But I don’t know how to make an animated gif, jpeg, i’ve-broken-my-hip file.
Fuuuuuck, I swear I hit reply. I swear I did!
May this message travel across the sea to find hlebtastic and HarshBrowns! Whereever you are!