I’d stand in line to see Rezdog Millionaire

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 14/03/2009 (6077 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

There’s a scene in Slumdog Millionaire where young Jamal, his brother Salim and their friends are chased though the maze of streets in a Mumbai slum by menacing local police.

It made me smile widely in the darkness of the theatre, nestled in with my popcorn and root beer. As most great films do, Jamal’s story became my story too.

Several times throughout the film I was reminded of my friends and me; a rag-tag crew of aboriginal kids running through our neighborhood in search of something to do. Our poverty wasn’t as great, but we didn’t have many options either. We sure had fun sometimes. There was the summer of the crab apple wars; I’ll bet my friend Arlene remembers that one.

The other day I turned off Selkirk Avenue and came across a group of kids piled up on a snowbank looking for some fun. They should see Slumdog Millionaire, too.

Slumdog has been called a romance, but it’s really a Cinderella story if you think about it. And there are other lessons that go much deeper.

Jamal eventually grows up and gets a modest job as a chai tea server — similar to what would be an assistant here in Canada. But he never forgets the love of his life, the beautiful Latika whom he met when they were both orphaned.

Here’s the spoiler: Jamal becomes a contestant on India’s version of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire not because he really wants the money, he just wants to be reunited with Latika.

Slumdog contains moral lessons too: Money isn’t everything, and it’s more important to be true to yourself than take the easy road to riches. Although Jamal stays on the straight and narrow, his brother Salim succumbs to the lure of gang life and eventually pays a price for it.

Life is a learning experience that either breaks you or makes you stronger.

And finally, just like Jamal, it’s OK for a poor kid to keep chasing dreams of a better life. Anyone can overcome personal hardships, be it being born into poverty or a broken home. The toughest part of becoming successful in life is believing in yourself.

Although there are tons of films that reflect our past, and great documentaries, there aren’t enough about the other side of aboriginal lives. We, too, should have dramas and romantic-comedy films. There are very few out there.

There was a 2007 short feature flick Tkaronto, which was hailed as the aboriginal version of Reality Bites. And, the latest offering I can think of is the APTN television series about casino skullduggery called Cashing In.

We have yet to have our coming-of-age Boyz in the Hood, Spike-Lee-style film hit the mainstream. And we have yet to discover our own Spike Lee, although there are quite a few candidates out there.

Maybe it’s because, like Slumdog Millionaire, we need an outside non-aboriginal person to produce it. Maybe that’s part of the problem.

We’ll have our version Rezdog Millionaire. I’d stand in line to see that one, too.

 

Colleen Simard is the publisher of Urban NDN.

 

colleen.simard@gmail.com