The Slumdog Effect
Last month, Slumdog Millionaire took home eight Oscars. The big-name star in this unlikely winner was not a Hollywood celebrity or a famous leading lady. It was Mumbai, India. More specifically, it was the slums of Mumbai.
The unexpected success of the Danny Boyle-directed love story set against a rapidly changing urban landscape has not only inspired seemingly endless newspaper articles about the cute child actors swept out of their own real-life slums to stardom but has also drawn sharp criticism for its romantic and sometimes caricatured portrayal of Mumbai. Alice Miles, a columnist for the Times of London, recently coined the term “poverty porn” to describe the film, disapproving of its voyeuristic and exploitative look into slum life.
One farcical scene in which the young lead takes a stereotypically naive American couple on an impromptu tour of a local slum is not too far from real life. Last March, the New York Times reported on the growing—and controversial—trend of slum tourism, or “poorism.” From Mexico to Johannesburg, tour operators are offering a close-up look at life in the crowded, bleak corners of urban areas across the world—all for a fee, of course. For a nine-hour, five-person tour of Dharavi (the slum featured in Slumdog Millionaire), including a visit to the red light district and an open-air laundry area, you can expect to pay 5,400 rupees, or the equivalent of about $135. Since the film’s release, Reality Tours and Travel, the company that operates the “Slum and Sightseeing Tour” through Dharavi, reports seeing sales jump 25 percent.
At the very least, even if the average movie-goer would prefer the razzle-dazzle of the film version to the real-life dirt and grime, Slumdog Millionaire has created a new forum for discussion on urban slums. The Boston Globe recently reported on the need to reconsider and redefine slums, or “informal settlements”, even suggesting looking to them for ideas on urban planning and design. While it is impossible to overlook the obvious disadvantages to slum-dwelling, some urban thinkers (including the U.K.‘s Prince Charles, who founded the Foundation for the Built Environment) argue slums should not be ignored for their potential contributions to urban development. They can offer modern cities lessons on how to plan high-density, mixed-use developments with tight-knit communities, say slum supporters. It is not a glorification of slum life, but it is not a complete dismissal either.
But not everyone is entirely convinced. In preparation for the 2010 Winter Olympics, Vancouver is desperately trying to clean up its most notorious Downtown Eastside slum, throwing over $1.4 billion at the problem to no avail. Rather than looking to the drug-ridden neighborhood as a model for city design, Vancouver has been hoping to review, revitalize and completely rework the area since the national, provincial and city governments all signed on to the Vancouver Agreement in 2000. But if the landmark development initiative wants to reach its goal by its March 2010 deadline, Vancouver will have to step up its efforts. Time is running out for the Downtown Eastside, and Vancouver is hardly looking to add slum tourism to its Olympic schedule.
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Hamida Kinge on Fri, Mar 06, 2009 at 6:04pm
Nice column..
I completely disagree with Alice Mile’s critique of Slumdog. There is no glorification of violence in the film that I can see. The thing about Slumdog Millionaire is that it’s a film. And film must, by definition, capture the attention. It’s not a documentary. Though I have spoken to an Indian-American friend who has been to Mumbai and she said the film comes pretty close to reality.
The fact that so many people have so much to say about this film is indicative that it was way past the hour for someone to put a non-western slum on the big screen. The West now has a window into a world they may once never have seen - or even thought they would have cared to see.
Richard Brown in Mumbai, India for a week on Wed, Mar 11, 2009 at 6:25am
Reality Tours took a small group of us on an amazing and enlightening tour of the Dahravi slums, the kind of tour only a community-connected person could do. Krishna, who led our tour, showed not only great insight into the community, but also real relationships with residents—the people who live and work there. The tour emphasizes respect for the residents, and Reality Tours provides resources to the residents with a portion of the tour revenues. We saw the many sids of Dahravi—not just the problems but also the vitality of the people and the neighborhoods. It’s a superb experience that none of us will soon forget.
Urban Sociologist on Tue, Mar 31, 2009 at 8:39am
This film in my opinion captured the essence of the slums in Mumbai. There were so many poignant moments in the movie. For example, when the mother was murdered and the boys had to watch, that particular scene played through out the whole movie. When watching the movie you realize that these people may be poor, but the have a sense of community. So therefore if these tourism companies are trying to express to tourists about these slums and how they work then there should not be a problem with that. The more that we push information about a particular topic then the more it is exposed.