誰的貧窮？
《貧民富翁》(Slumdog Millionaire) 是2008年電影界裡的一匹黑馬，不但有著出人異料的票房紀錄，並贏得了包括奥斯卡在內的各種大獎。這部英國製作卻以印度為背景的電影，敘述孟買貧民窟裡長大的男主角，在電視答問節目裡節節獲勝，而成為百萬富翁的故事。
這部在全世界大受歡迎的電影，卻在它故事的原鄉 ，引起了複雜的反應。歡慶者當然不在少數，卻也有大批走上印度街頭抗議的憤怒群眾。有些人抗議電影的名字，認為片名裡的「狗」字，是對貧民窟居民的最大侮辱，抗議的領導人甚至以違反人權之名，向法院提出告訴，要求電影發行人更改片名。
多數抗議者所不滿的，卻是這部電影對印度貧窮的過份渲染，有人將之形容為「貧窮春宮」，以貧窮的「異國情調」為賣點，好讓富有的西方人，像觀光客般，對貧窮從事「意淫」的消費。
這類抗議，似乎是亞洲國家屢見不鮮的現象。其實，這部電影的背景如果是中國而不是印度，恐怕也會引起大規模的抗議行動吧？！記不記得2006年湯姆克魯斯主演的《碟中碟之三》(Mission Impossible 3)？這部毫無政治意味的電影，竟在中國禁演，原因無他，也就是因為電影的外景裡，包括了太多上海附近的貧窮地區。
貧窮對於中國和印度這些正在興起的國家而言，簡直就是梗在喉頭裡的魚刺，挫折著他們一心要向世界呈現「進步」的願望，也難怪他們會對西方電影中任何欠缺摩登亮麗的本國形象，坐立難安，甚至敏感地視之為刻意侮辱。要拍上海，為什麼不去拍像東方明珠那樣的摩天大樓，卻去拍破敗的街巷，不是故意彰顯中國的落後是什麼？然而，對「進步」只有偏狹定義的他們，卻無法從另一個角度自問：西方人又為什麼要到中國去拍攝和紐約如此相似的摩天大樓呢？
西方人敘述東方故事，本就是一件風險極大的勾當，有太多不宜碰觸的禁忌──如貧窮、落後、小腳、辮子，一不小心，就傷了東方國家的自尊心。所以，除了像《武士道》(The Last Samurai) 那種對東方文化極盡歌功頌德的濫情電影之外，很少有西方拍攝的「東方電影」使東方滿意，不是遭到禁演遊行，就要面對「有什麼資格講我們故事」的質問 。
說穿了，這也都是弱勢文化的自卑心理作祟。一個自卑的人，隨時懷疑別人看不起他，所以不管別人的動機為何，他都要偏執地認定是刻意的侮辱。跳脫不出「受害者」情結的人，永遠無法有持平的心態。比如這次引起爭議的 “Slumdog” 一詞，本是源自像 “underdog” 這樣的反話，為的是製造反諷的張力，以加強小人物最終勝利的甜蜜。被自卑心理扭曲的觀眾，卻拒絕細讀上下文，就斷章取意地澆灌起自己做為受害人的委屈。
東方國家製作的電影裡，何其沒有侮蔑西方形象的例子，卡通式的醜化以及一度空間的刻板形象，比比皆是。然而，我們聽說有西方人走上街頭抗議的事件嗎？不但沒有抗議之事，西方人有時被叫成「洋鬼子」還洋洋得意，嘻皮笑臉地像在和小女子打情罵俏，那是因為他們根本不把東方人對他們的看法當成一回事。反之，動不動就抗議的東方人，因為亟欲得到西方的認可，才會把對方不經意的手勢，過於敏感地加上莫須有的罪名。這是一種時時喊著「別人欺負我」的心虛與霸道。
貧窮落後是真實存在的人類境況，不是一個國家可以封鎖的專屬。我們可以用藝術的標準，論斷電影「表象」的優劣，卻不應以「政治正確」為由，而將某些主題打入不准處理的禁區。
我不是《貧民富翁》的粉絲，居然沒有看完全劇就中間離場，不太能忍受電影機械化的敘述方式，以及過多且沒有必要的殘酷鏡頭。既便如此，我所批評的，也只是導演自我沈溺所造成的藝術缺失，對於他選擇題材的創作自由，我卻是絕對支持的。
(世界周刊, 2009-3-8)
做任何評論都是.
My wife wanted to see a "B"ollywood film with the weird title of "Slumdog Millionaire." I preferred to see the new James Bond film because, really, I just wanted -- during the Thanksgiving holiday -- to put my brain on cruise control for an hour or two and watch good ol' reliable 007 blast bad guys.
"Sort of," she said.
"Oh."
"But I've heard amazing things about this film," she insisted. So off we went.
For a brief 120 minutes, "Slumdog Millionaire" surprises, astounds, amazes, entrances and intrigues. It is, at its bottom, a love story.
A dirt-poor orphan boy, Jamal, ends up on the Indian version of "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire." How he got there, why he got there, how an uneducated young man managed to answer questions -- well, that's the journey.
This is also a story about the path taken by two brothers. It is about cruelty and exploitation and the abject, completely dehumanizing poverty in India, a destitution that even the poorest among us would find unimaginable.
And how ironic that much of the film takes place in Mumbai, India. For on the day we watched the film, Indian authorities almost 9,000 miles away fought with Islamic terrorists who launched multiple attacks, ultimately leaving more than 170 dead and hundreds more wounded.
Time and time again -- at the poverty that makes the poorest rundown shack in Appalachia look like the honeymoon suite at the Bellagio.
In America, we consider a family of four "poor" if its annual income falls below $21,203. And we actually undercount income -- ignoring assets accumulated in prior years and disregarding non-cash welfare, such as taxpayer-funded education, lunch programs, health care, food stamps and subsidies for public housing. Only 6 percent of poor households, are overcrowded -- meaning more than one person per room. More than two-thirds of "poor" Americans live in housing with more than two rooms per person. And 43 percent of America's poor households own their own homes -- and the average poor person's home has three bedrooms, one-and-a-half bathrooms, a garage and a porch or a patio.
Overall, the typical American defined as poor by the government has a car, air conditioning, a refrigerator, a stove, a clothes washer and dryer, and a microwave. He has two color televisions, cable or satellite TV reception, a VCR or DVD player, and a stereo. He is able to obtain medical care. His home is in good repair and is not overcrowded. By his own report, his family is not hungry and he had sufficient funds in the past year to meet his family's essential needs.
Nearly three-quarters of poor U.S. households own a car, 31 percent own two or more cars. Ninety-seven percent of poor households have a color television; over half own two or more color televisions. Seventy-eight percent have a VCR or DVD player; 62 percent have cable or satellite TV reception. Eighty-nine percent own microwave ovens, more than half have a stereo, and more than a third have an automatic dishwasher.
In 1970, only 36 percent of the entire U.S. population -- rich and poor -- lived with air conditioning, while today 80 percent of poor households have air conditioning. The average poor American has more living space than the average citizen -- of all income levels -- living in many cities throughout Europe, including Paris, London, Vienna and Athens.
Right now, our economy is in a recession of unknown duration, with rising unemployment and vast economic anxiety. But we live here, in America -- a country of vast prosperity, freedom of choice, and a control over our own destinies that much of the world simply finds breathtaking. And this film reminds us that things could be worse -- much, much worse.
There are good movies. And then there are movies where everything works -- the story, the acting, the experience. These are the films where -- when they end -- the audience just sits there. Stunned. Numb. We watch while the credits roll, as the soundtrack plays. We sit, take in, reflect upon, and try to get our heads around what happened during the last two hours.
When my wife and I walked out of the theater, we started talking with another couple. "I grew up poor," the woman said, "or I thought I did. But then my brother, who had been stationed in Bosnia, came home. He said, 'I've seen real poverty, and I'll never complain again.'" And neither will anyone else who sees this film -- not for a long, long while. Yet above all, "Slumdog" is a story about what kept Jamal going, what drove him to try to survive and cope.
It is called love.
My response:
India was English colony before, and she was despised by English all along. The main theme of this movie is a little bit of exageration but it does convey some truth. Why did this movie win the Oscar award? Part of the reason is the producer is English.