Slumdog kids

[The Big Ragu]

I just read this with my jaw on the ground. The little kids from the first part of the movie are still living in the slum and ramshackle conditions. From the studio, the producers and Danny Boyle on down, how can anyone who worked on that film allow that to be and live with themselves?

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/7909660.stm

 

[Double Down]

The market will sort it out.

:D

 

[Oggiedoggie]

Jai ho!

 

[bostonbred]

That's messed up. The movie has grossed over $160 million on a $15 million budget. It's sure to do well with DVD sales and rentals and will probably spike the next few weeks at the box office due to its big performance at the Academy Awards.

These kids should be paid well.

 

[Mizzougrad96]

They made for a good photo-op. Now back to Mumbai!!!

 

[Mizzougrad96]

To be fair, I don't think Boyle is supporting the extras from Trainspotting either.

 

[The Big Ragu]

That's messed up. The movie has grossed over $160 million on a $15 million budget. It's sure to do well with DVD sales and rentals and will probably spike the next few weeks at the box office due to its big performance at the Academy Awards.

These kids should be paid well.

Well, who knows what deal they agreed to. They were poor and didn't have Brad Pitt's leverage and an agent and the producers had no idea the movie would gross a zillion dollars.

But now that they have made a lot of money, how big a deal is it for one of the producers who pocketed a lot of money to reach into his pocket and buy a few modest homes in Mumbai for the families? This definitely falls into the "How do you look into the mirror every morning?" category. It wouldn't take a lot to make a huge difference in those kids' lives and it isn't some random act of charity -- they have a connection to those kids and those kids obviously gave them a lot, that contributed to the movie's success, for very little. Why not reach into your pocket, do the right thing and feel good about doing it? This one boggles me.

 

[The Big Ragu]

To be fair, I don't think Boyle is supporting the extras from Trainspotting either.

1) Those kids are not extras. They carried half the film.
2) They are living in extreme poverty, beyond their control. They were born innocent into a slum.
3) Boyle doesn't have to support them. A relatively modest gesture on his part could have a huge effect on their lives.
4) They are CHILDREN. There are children people have less of a connection to than he has to those kids, which most people with the means would step up and help when the kids get close to them.

I am not singling out Boyle. There are just so many people involved that it boggles me. Hell, pass around a hat.

 

[Mizzougrad96]

Let's be honest here.

The only person who got rich directly because of this movie were the producers. I'm guessing even the stars and Boyle for that matter, made next to nothing for doing it.

Boyle said in an interview that for awhile he thought it was going to go straight to DVD.

 

[Cousin Jeffrey]

I remembered reading an interview with Boyle, saying it's been frustrating trying to set everything up, between parents, local authorities, lots of misunderstandings, etc. This was all i could find...

http://www.cnn.com/2009/SHOWBIZ/Movies/01/30/slumdog.children/index.html

 

[bostonbred]

That's messed up. The movie has grossed over $160 million on a $15 million budget. It's sure to do well with DVD sales and rentals and will probably spike the next few weeks at the box office due to its big performance at the Academy Awards.

These kids should be paid well.

Well, who knows what deal they agreed to. They were poor and didn't have Brad Pitt's leverage and an agent and the producers had no idea the movie would gross a zillion dollars.

But now that they have made a lot of money, how big a deal is it for one of the producers who pocketed a lot of money to reach into his pocket and buy a few modest homes in Mumbai for the families? This definitely falls into the "How do you look into the mirror every morning?" category. It wouldn't take a lot to make a huge difference in those kids' lives and it isn't some random act of charity -- they have a connection to those kids and those kids obviously gave them a lot, that contributed to the movie's success, for very little. Why not reach into your pocket, do the right thing and feel good about doing it? This one boggles me.

Exactly. The kids have no leverage at all, but you would think the studio would take care of them considering their enormous impact on the film. People forget that Patel and Pinto were not the only ones in this movie.

 

[The Big Ragu]

The market will sort it out.

:D

Uh huh. Because the first tenet of free-market economics is that everyone has to be an unfeeling asshole and not give a **** about children they have a connection to. ::)

 

[Mizzougrad96]

Did the kids at least get to go to Disneyland when there were in California?

 

[txsportsscribe]

 

[The Big Ragu]

Unless that is their new home behind them, I'm not as impressed as I'd like to be. :)

 

[Mizzougrad96]

Then what are they bitching about? ;D

 

[JR]

The Indian government has stepped in

Two of the kids are getting free flats.

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Mumbai/Two-Slumdog-kids-to-get-free-flats/articleshow/4185428.cms

Mumbai board chairman Amarjit Singh Manhas said, "On Monday, we had a meeting of Congress leaders and we felt that since the children have made the nation proud, they must be given free houses. We have recommended it to the parent agency, Mhada, which has written to Chavan, saying flats must be granted to Rubina nd Azharruddin from the 2% discretionary quota of the CM.''

 

[The Big Ragu]

Right. That was the focus of the story that I linked to in the first post. That Mumbai was providing them with new homes.

I just did some googling, because I find it hard to believe that nobody who worked on the film was aware or doing anything. The story below says that Danny Boyle had already promised them new homes when the Mumbai authorities stepped in. I don't know what to believe. They should have been moved into better homes by him--or someone else with the means who worked on that film--before now, though.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-1154667/Boyle-takes-Slumdog-children--film-bosses-pledge-buy-poverty-stricken-families-new-homes.html

Stories I found also said the Mumbai authorities were coming under criticism because the perception was they were doing this to look good because there is an election coming up.

 

[Mizzougrad96]

Well, Boyle should have an in with Brangelina, since he worked with her first husband on Trainspotting. Maybe he can get them to adopt the kids.

 

[Double Down]

The market will sort it out.

:D

Uh huh. Because the first tenet of free-market economics is that everyone has to be an unfeeling asshole and not give a **** about children they have a connection to. ::)

Of course I meant mine as a playful joke, but to be serious for a second, allow me to politely say that I'm sure the folks at Fox Searchlight and Warner Bros. took full advantage of the fact that this film was shot outside the United States and that these kids were almost certainly not offered membership in the Screen Actors Guild and were not subject to any kind of child labor protection laws of the United States or England. One of those stories said they were paid above what would be typical of child actors in India, which for all we know could be $30 a day. Lot of companies have their customer service in India, including newspapers. Are their CEOs under a moral obligation to help out the guy living in poverty who helps me reboot my ****ty Del computer if he does a great job, I write a great story on it, and the company makes millions of dollars?

I might argue yes.

Seems like most true free-market gurus would laugh in my face if we were talking about sewing shoes or soccer balls together for Nike in China.

Why is it so different? Because these kids are cute and we feel like we know them?

I'm not going to assign views to you one way or another. Of course the studios should have done the right thing and snatched these kids and their families out of the slums, especially when this movie started pulling in millions.

They didn't, which seems to me like another example of a corporation feeling like it doesn't have to do the moral thing unless someone shames into it.