Watching Slumdog Millionaire scoop up Oscars tonight is more than a sign that this is a great film. I’d suggest it’s also a sign that the world is getting smaller and flatter and that brilliant, talented folks don’t all come from the USA. Although this film is a British more than Indian production, the appeal is thanks in large part to a rising India.
Of course we all have known for some time that there are millions and millions of talented folks from nations all over the world, but the lesson of Slumdog’s Oscar success is that we’ll be seeing a lot more of that Talent in a lot more venues a lot more often.
The Slumdog phenomenon is ‘in your face’ globalization, and its importance is significant. We’ve enjoyed
great success and prosperity in the USA much to the envy and sometimes the anger of other parts of the world. We’ve shared some stuff and hogged other stuff, but the new rules of a global economy have equalized much of the playing field – flattened the earth as Tom Friedman suggests in his book “The Earth is Flat”.
We’ll be reeling for some time from the negative economic forces created as tens of millions played the paper wealth game while the government fiddled and Wall Street schemed to cash in on the folly of a massive housing bubble. Yet this is likely to pale in comparison to the massive global changes sweeping over us at every turn. These changes are unstoppable and mostly positive if you believe in fair chances for everybody.
The overwhelming success of Slumdog Millionaire isn’t just telling us that the Indian themes and talent in the film industry are rising, its telling us that the whole developing world is rising up to match – and sometimes exceed – the remarkable history of American accomplishment and prosperity.
In this increasingly globalized world it’s not longer enough just to copy and expand on former great ideas – we all need to look for the best ways for *everybody* to be run faster, jump higher, and be smarter and more productive than ever before.
But before that I’m going to finish watching the Oscars…
Joe Duck 
Interesting take
Probably just as much of an indication of the Hollywood world promoting an agenda.
It is unfortunate that many of the award designations have been corrupted by the blind faith of the far left ideology.
Not to take anything away from Slumdog, its just a shame that these forms of measurement will now always be suspect.
Mickey Rourke in the house with an O-man. Rourke’s a bit brutal for many modern movie fans, but that’s not necessarily so wrong: anyone who scares westside gnoshers cain’t be all bad. The Rassler’s supposedly pretty intense– some of his recent flicks were sort of forgettable–but who can forget Diner, or Rourke as Charles Bukowski in Barfly. Even Buk. supposedly approved of Barfly (tho’ Miss Dunaway may have had somethin’ to do with it): you’re hungover jus’ from watching it.
Glenn are you saying you won’t be holding a Sean Penn film fest at your house next week?
Horatiox I keep hearing how great his performance was in the Wrestler – I need to catch up on a lot of films I missed. I was never a big fan of Rourke but part of that was just the edgey brutality you are talking about. He’s always been a very good actor and I guess this was his best effort to date.
His face sure reads a hard life…
Joe…Rushdie certainly doesn’t agree with your assessment of the movie… 🙂
(4) Joe it is too bad that commie Penn doesn’t act rational in real life…funny how in the movie he comes across rational but hey we all know that is just an act.
He is no different than Jane Fonda, etc those that truly hate America and want to see us fail. I find it hard to support anyone with an agenda like that.
Joe the fact the Gran Torino wasn’t even nominated for an Oscar shows just how much of a farce the Oscar’s have become.
Interesting note on Rushdie Glenn, though he just seemed to resent the unlikely plot: http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2009/feb/24/salman-rushdie-slumdog-millionaire
Penn and Fonda don’t hate America – they just have a very different idea of how to run the show. The Hollywood folks realize how their celebrity and wealth is very much a part of the American experience. I’m a much bigger fan of stars like Jolie and Pitt and Clooney who are less political than humanitarian, making sure their ability to attract cameras is often put to good use.
(9) Joe anyone that assists our enemies and ultimately inspires them to kill Americans doesn’t like America. America is the land of equal opportunity – NOT equal results.
That is the problem when you give people a lot of money that haven’t had to work as hard as others to get there. Most of the Hollywood crowd has never had to work a career with reasonable pay like the rest of us. Look at politicians most of them couldn’t hold a job for more than a month. Both groups are clearly out of touch with what it means to be an American, work hard, work honestly and get your rewards that you have earned not handed to you.
The only shining point about the unfolding Pelosi/Reid/Obama disaster is that the era of PC should finally be eliminated. Being PC has only create more problems and ultimately has hurt the people that they intend to protect.
I think most of the Hollywood elite are pretty naive in ways of the real world. People take them for a ride and laugh all the way to the bank and manipulate their good intentions not for the cause but for their own personal benefit and people like Jolie and Pitt don’t even know it is happening to them.
Not to say their ideals are not worthy…it has nothing to do with it…it is just a fact of human nature that their ideals will unfortunately never stick and its a fools game to try to change cultures that will never change.
We could do a lot more right here at home…everyone wants to run to help a starving child in a 3rd world country yet we let our own die in the streets…shameful I say.
Rourke at least breaks the mold, whether of the George Lucas blockbusters or “Brentwood marxists” like Penn (tho’ who can forget Penn in Fast Times, or the Falcon and the Snowman…). Rourke seems slightly Nietzschean–was a pro pugilist for some time (he underwent plastic surgery, which went wrong…). Not exactly PC or geek-friendly.
We could do a lot more right here at home…everyone wants to run to help a starving child in a 3rd world country yet we let our own die in the streets…shameful I say.
Dogalgaz by “here at home” do you mean USA? Odd since you are from another country yourself. I think we need to “think globally, and act globally too”