Slumdog Millionaire

• Compare and contrast three pivotal choices or decisions made by Jamal and Salim. How do their choices affect their respective paths in life or “destinies”?
  - When they both were little kids, Salim got furious because Jamal’s duration in the latrine causes him to lose a client. Salim took revenge and locked Jamal inside so that he missed the movie star’s visit. Salim ends up in a dense crowd of noisy fans and Jamal dives into the latrine’s pit and due to its terrible stink he opens himself a way through the crowd and gets the movie star’s autograph.
  - When Salim notices the bad intentions of the guy that help them and took them over the slum, he makes the decision of betraying the guy and saving his brother from being hurt, yet leaves Latika with him as revenge. Though this keeps them save for a while from the hands of that bad guy, the paths of the boys and Latika later interject.
  - After killing the man that he left Latika with, he decides to join the gangster of Mumbai and work for him. He becomes a selfish and ambitious man that just follows orders. Jamal, by the other hand, decides not to belong to that world of guns and violence and works modestly as a tea guy assistant.

• Is ethical decision-making possible when one must make choices based on survival? Do seemingly “bad” choices make a person bad?
  No, I think that in a moment when we don’t have that much time, we make decisions that will guarantee one’s life and safety rather than any other issue. For the second question I consider that although we sometimes make bad choices or decisions in life, it doesn’t converts us in bad persons, as long as, after them we try to repair the damage or consequences we’d caused.

• What do you think the film is saying about the globalization of culture through media? We see the game show “Who Wants to be a Millionaire?” adapted in the Indian culture. Is this a sign of progress? Why or why not? What is this film staying about the effect of money on culture?
  As we saw in class, the concept of globalization perfectly fits or can be applied to this movie. Globalization is the increasing level of interconnections among people throughout the world. The Indian adaptation of the game show “Who Wants to be a Millionaire?” is a clear example that the Indian culture is not letting itself behind, instead it tries to keep in touch with the rest of the world is up to, in this case money. The film emphasizes the importance of money for people and what can someone do to acquire the desired wealth. The protagonists, Jamal & Latika, are against this way of thinking or view of life. They’re happiness resides in being together, not money.