You already have seen them (or you haven't), and you probably don't care why I think they are my top five for the year (nor should you.) Thus, in the interest of being in the fringe, I am going to attempt an explanation as to how this movie is speaking to us about the current political and social landscape, as all good movies should (except super stylish genre flicks, those are timeless.)

Do I think these films were intentionally made to be elaborate extended metaphors? Unlikely, though who knows. Either way, every artist projects more than they intend.

Number 3: Slumdog Millionaire


Slumdog Millionaire very well may win the Oscar for best picture, and with good reason. This movie has no one you've ever heard of, and because George Burns was right: show business is a hideous bitch goddess, you will probably not see these actors in many other Western productions. There has not been a film that has won Best Picture in a long time that had less "star power." (You know, star power in Hollywood and star power in Mario have similar meanings.) The life of this production in the box office and in the awards circuit is not unlike the boy at the center of the plot. So, if you are an old, boring person with nothing better to do that obsesses over the Academy Awards even though you have not seen any of the films that have been nominated because you like awards ceremonies and celebrities more than you like good movies and are looking for a cute, underdog story (sorry for the run-on sentence) here it is.

The plot of the film revolves around a boy who grew up in the slums, loves a girl, and survives despite the world shitting over him (symbolically and literally.) The "Who Wants to be a Millionaire?" portion of the film is not what it seems. Him being on the show is not about the money and its power to get him out of the slums. He is on the show for its wide exposure, and the fact he knows his love interest watches it. It is important that the main character doesn't do it for the money, and is not happy about it because of the money. The plot of him on the show reeks of Hollywood coincidence. He only knows the answers because of specific life experiences he has had. However, even though he knows most of the answers, he is still stalling. He wants to be on TV as long as possible. This kid is the epitome of likeable. He is the brown Frodo, except he is doing it all for a girl. Awwwwwwwwwwwww. He is good through and through.

This film is the most depressing while still the most feel good movie you may ever see. And this is important. I was recently reading a story on Reddit (maybe?) that talked about mice who have been conditioned to be defeatist. The mice would learn helplessness in one situation. They then would be put in a similar situation, but one with a way out. The article tried to make the point that humans do the same thing. It claimed that we have been conditioned by our overlords (lizard people or robots, one could only assume) to be defeatist. In dire times (like, oh say, our current depression) we no longer look for nor are able to see the platform that gets us above the rising flood waters of economic collapse. Slumdog Millionaire's main character would disagree.

Almost every question he answers in the game show stems from a life experience he had that sucked. Oh man, did this kid go through some depressing, dark times. However, he is goal orientated. He wants the girl. It doesn't matter what the goal is though. A girl, a trannie, your own ranch, great scientific discoveries. He knows where he wants to be. He doesn't always know how to get there though. But unlike those stupid, white lab mice, this kid is looking up for the platform at all times. Maybe it would never would have appeared. Maybe there is no good in the world. But if you don't look up for the way out of this cruel experiment then you are always going to be stuck in the slums. So, what does it hurt to look up? Worst case scenario, you still end a fucking slumdog.

Oh, and I forgot to put above ***SPOILER ALERT***