Slumdog Millionaire paying peanuts to slum kid actors
It was on the BBC news the other day that two of the children who acted in the film Slumdog Millionaire were actually real slum kids. One of them, a young boy now lives under a plastic sheet with his parents, his Dad has Tuberculosis. While I applaud the film makers for giving the chance to these children I was quite shocked to hear that they were only paid $2,465 for their part in the film. That money has now all been spent on medication needed by the father to treat his illness. Even if the children did not play a huge part in the film then it would have been only humane to ensure that they had a better way of life than living under a plastic sheet suspended above four poles. It transpires that they family now live under a sheet after the house was knocked down during filming. The film makers have not rectified this problem!
It is not really clear to me how much the film makers, who eventually made over $140 million from the film, are still helping the families. They are flying the actors out to the award ceremonies, at I expect great cost, but maybe the money would be better put towards finding them accommodation with running water and electricity.
The one clearly good thing that the film makers have done is too provide a fund to ensure the children can receive an education. Unfortunately, I would expect that many of the children who live in slums will find it nearly impossible to finish that education due to the demands of daily life. Finding enough money for food in such a situation must be difficult and I expect many of the children end up begging or finding employment in order to help provide for the family. This would surely prevent them from completing their school work and, under the terms of the fund, they will get nothing if they are not still in school at the age of 18.
This story makes me wonder if I was right in purchasing a ticket to and see the film. Maybe it would have been better if I had withdrawn my support in light of this. After all, I been refusing to shop at Primark for years for essentially the same reasons.
22.02.2009 06:35 - Posted by doahh - Comments: 0 - General
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