FYI: Bandra is probably the most affluent neighborhood in Mumbai. It is certainly the most heavily populated with those in the film industry. Santa Cruz West is also an affluent neighborhood, though not necessarily in the league of Bandra. This has shades of "UES- ugh, no! I need Tribeca or don't bother." Every time this man opens his mouth, I despise what's coming out of it. I feel so sorry for this child.
(And to not misrepresent myself, I know this because my fiance is from Mumbai.) #slumdogmillionaire
I wonder what their long-term prospects will be, particularly if they do drop out of school. Surely the interest in Slumdog internationally will peter out soon, and then what? Do they have a future in showbiz in India? I don't want to start making assumptions about Indian society, but these kids are from the slums, and I wonder whether they are accepted as bona fide stars there, or looked down upon. Any Indian Jezzies who could enlighten us? #slumdogmillionaire
Don't hate the dad for not wanting to leave the only life he knows because his work contacts are there. Maybe he knows that in a few years no one will care about his daughter anymore, but he still will have to support his family. PS...you can totally hate on the things I have heard about him trying to sell/marry her off. #slumdogmillionaire
@PoisonPixie: No, Bandra isn't the slum where he lives, it's an even fancier neighborhood than the place where they were trying to buy the family an apartment. #slumdogmillionaire
(that sigh/sarcasm is meant for myself. Somedays it's good to remember, as I fuss at the size of my kitchen for not being big enough to cook a dinner party, about the real world.)
This whole thing just puts a bad taste in my mouth. I do realize what Danny Boyle was trying to do, but of course it smacks of Western paternalism. While I agree that the parents of child stars don't always (or ever? I'm trying to think of a child star who didn't get fucked up, and jodie foster's the only one I can come up with) have their best interests at heart, no one fusses when Miley Cyrus misses a day of school. This whole thing is just a little too "let us tell you how we would like you to live your lives, children of poverty. You can thank us later!" #slumdogmillionaire
honestly, if they can use the monthly allowance (the Rs.6000) and an incentive for these kids to go to school, they definitely should do. #slumdogmillionaire
God, I just don't know how I feel about all this. Whenever I hear more about how the Slumdog kids are doing, I just keep wondering if in a decade's time we're going to remember Danny Boyle as making a botched attempt to not exploit or enable the exploitation of the child actors who made his Oscar-winning film. It just seems like another example of Western culture swooping in without fully understanding what they're getting into. He got a beautiful film out of it, but at what cost? #slumdogmillionaire
@annebreal: Boyle has done more for these kids than any other director has done for any other actors in recent memory, barring the Born Into Brothels directors. No, he can't make sure that the rest of their lives are as amazing as the last few years have been, but he has done a lot to ensure that they are comfortable and provided for.
Rubina's dad always comes across as so calculating and greedy in interviews. He certainly does not seem to put her interests first when there's a possibility of squeezing some more money out of the situation. Nothing is ever enough for him. #slumdogmillionaire
@Hooplehead: I agree with you, I'm just not sure casting children from the slums was the best idea, you know? Child stardom is a bitch in and of itself, but the situation in this particular movie, with the particular kids he cast, is full of grey areas and mind-boggling cultural and ethical issues. I personally hope the very best for these kids, because if this fame causes huge upheaval and trauma in their lives, it was so unnecessary. It's just a movie. Again, I haven't really wrapped my head around what I think about it, especially because it concerns child stars in general, not just these kids and this movie, but Jesus, it's just a movie. #slumdogmillionaire
@annebreal: I get your point, but I think that people are going to complain and think Boyle is a colonialist jerk no matter how he handles this. Because he's white, from the UK, working with people who are Indian and the UK and Southeast Asia as a whole have a troubled history. But IMO, if he didn't cast slum kids, it would be people asking why not. Troubling overtones or not, the fact is that these kids' lives are full of many more possibilities than they were a few years ago, and that is because of Boyle. They have other offers, they are making money. Yes, child stardom is problematic, but if it eases what by all accounts is crushing poverty and gives them a chance at a stable life, so much the better, right?
@Hooplehead: this is my first time commenting, but i feel like i *have to* agree w/ you on this. having seen 1st hand the horrible conditions the poor live in in india and other 3rd world countries makes me feel that these kids lives are at least a little bit better. pitfalls of child stardom or not.
@annebreal: My frustration with the uproar is when people say that "he made all this money off the children, so he should give some of it back." Granted, the circumstances are different from a big Hollywood movie that employs middle-class American child actors, but how often do actors benefit from a movie *after* it has been released (unless they have a contract with percentages of box office grosses)? I think he's doing a great deal for these children -- and yes, some of it is misguided and has some uncomfortable cultural connotations -- but I don't quite understand why he's held to a higher "obligation" standard when that's just not the way things are done in the film industry. I mean, if it were up to me, I'd want these children to have everything they need while also respecting their complicated circumstances. The movie succeeded beyond anyone's wildest dreams, and I'm glad they've benefited. But I'm just weary of Boyle being labeled as "greedy" or being condemned for not doing "enough".
That said, I do agree with your comment about the culture swooping in without fully understanding what they've gotten into.
@annebreal: Yeah, I agree. Would they be better off never being involved in the film? But then, I think about the classic example of Drew Barrymore, and how she had no idea how to vote or anything about politics because she didn't go to school, and then she made this whole documentary about it. Her parents were horrible. So, I see what Boyle was trying to do with the education and trust money thing -- keep it away from the parents giving children the skills they'll need in adult life through education. Ultimately, with any situation regarding children, good parenting means everything. You can't really get around that. Then I think about JKF Jr. - he basically grew up with paparazzi up his butt -- but was a gracious, educated, well adjusted adult because his mom raised him well.
I guess the kids have a opportunities they wouldn't have had otherwise and without decent parents, that can be a horrible pitfall. #slumdogmillionaire
Sting I love you man, but of late you sound like a freakin nutso. I'm with you on the global warming thing, but depression is highest in deep winter dude. I still love you, but think of the polar bears instead. #jongosselin
Lady Gaga is causing major eye rolling over here. Maybe it is because I'm done with art school and any more over-reaching trying-too-hard look-at-me my-concept-is-so-obvious projects and my eyes will have rolled all the way to 2012 where they will disappear forever in the apocalypse.
@HadwinBabazoid: And they imply that a tantrum is run o' the mill stuff for us wimmenz. Men get their own word for tantrum, so we know it's not the womanly kind.
I may be reading too much into this, but I have the same problem with phrases like "white trash." I mean, I have a lot of problems with that phrase, but the issue mentioned above is one of them :) #jongosselin
Does Sting not know that they have winter in the southern hemisphere, too? Or do the folks down there just not need to recharge their psychic batteries? #jongosselin
@DangerMouse: Jeez. He probably only threw "northern hemisphere" in there so people like you wouldn't act like he was trying to say all people experience winter. I'm sure he is familiar with how hemispheres work, he just wanted to get on with his sentence. Exactly how many clarifications and caveats do your precious sensibilities require? #jongosselin
@Kajj: "Exactly how many clarifications and caveats do your precious sensibilities require?" That's good, I'm gonna steal that. But also, Ouch! #jongosselin
@DangerMouse: @DangerMouse: Oh, we're all nuts down here. And don't even try talking to the people on the equator, their psychic batteries are beyond all help.
On the bright side, we don't tend to worry about our Vitamin D intake as much.
@Kajj I think, perhaps, she was making with funny at the self-absorbed rock star? Maybe? #jongosselin
@DangerMouse: He might have a slight edge with the "thousands and thousands of years" qualifier -- the European-grown diaspora covered lots of the southern hemi.
Besides, I've lived in your precious hemisphere during winter, and it's a sissy's season compared to the frozen north! Also, Australians are clearly barely reformed criminals who have no need to recharge batteries, they probably just steal them. #jongosselin
@Kajj: Apparently, you are not familiar with how SEASONS work. You see, they DO experience winter in the southern hemisphere! All people DO experience winter! Perhaps it's not very chilly in Australia, but I hear it can get quite cold in, say, Patagonia. Regardless, they still have winter in the southern hemisphere. #jongosselin
Internet Lore FunFact: The dancing baby was initially a seminal Internet meme based on a demo for software 3DStudio Max, using a model from Viewpoint Datalabs, and made famous at NAB by Unreal Pictures, then virally via email.
Ally caught on fairly "late in the game" as it were - the animation wasn't created for the series.
But, the meme returned to shill for it's source and promoted hardware manufacturer Wildcat (Intergraph)'s high-end workstations, Kinetix Character Studio and 3DStudio Max at SIGGRAPH in 1998 - as a stuffed toy baby. #jongosselin
Lady Gaga isn't thinking this giving her hair away to rabid fans thing through. She's either gonna have some stalker fan try to clone her, or someone is going to frame her for a horrible crime by planting her hair at the scene somewhere SVU stylee...
@applejuice: Or she is a genius. Now she can go on a series of celebrity killing sprees and can blame DNA evidence on the fact thousands of people have access to her hair samples! #jongosselin
Oh jesus Danny Elfman, just give those kids the damn money. Who cares if they're going to school or not? Do you realize what will happen to them and their families WITHOUT that money?
$120 a month isn't exactly breaking the bank for some kids who got you so many Oscars, man. Just fucking take care of them. #jongosselin
@HidingInCanada: I think you mean Danny Boyle. Danny Elfman is a musician. And I doubt Boyle himself is the one who set the terms of the trust funds. #jongosselin
@HidingInCanada: Much more complicated than you think. You can't just hand money over, there are repercussions. Lots of them. He's trying really hard to keep the kids educated and tying strings to the money -- preventing the parents or outside forces from vanishing the whole sum and leaving the kids right back where they started.
He could hand the money over like candy, but then in 3 years someone would go to the slum and find one of the kids in squalor and wail about how Boyle had deserted them. He's already bought them flats (qualified deeds), handed out lump sums to the parents and set up trusts for the kids. Already one family claims they were wiped out by a dishonest builder and applied to Boyle for money all over again.
He's trying, and from what I can see, he's trying really hard. #jongosselin
11/03/09
(And to not misrepresent myself, I know this because my fiance is from Mumbai.) #slumdogmillionaire
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(that sigh/sarcasm is meant for myself. Somedays it's good to remember, as I fuss at the size of my kitchen for not being big enough to cook a dinner party, about the real world.)
This whole thing just puts a bad taste in my mouth. I do realize what Danny Boyle was trying to do, but of course it smacks of Western paternalism. While I agree that the parents of child stars don't always (or ever? I'm trying to think of a child star who didn't get fucked up, and jodie foster's the only one I can come up with) have their best interests at heart, no one fusses when Miley Cyrus misses a day of school. This whole thing is just a little too "let us tell you how we would like you to live your lives, children of poverty. You can thank us later!" #slumdogmillionaire
11/03/09
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Rubina's dad always comes across as so calculating and greedy in interviews. He certainly does not seem to put her interests first when there's a possibility of squeezing some more money out of the situation. Nothing is ever enough for him. #slumdogmillionaire
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That said, I do agree with your comment about the culture swooping in without fully understanding what they've gotten into.
11/03/09
I guess the kids have a opportunities they wouldn't have had otherwise and without decent parents, that can be a horrible pitfall. #slumdogmillionaire
11/01/09
10/30/09
Bears.
Someone get Colbert on the phone, it's time for a Threat Down. #jongosselin
10/30/09
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(sort of kidding, but only because it's the truth and so sad). #jongosselin
10/30/09
I may be reading too much into this, but I have the same problem with phrases like "white trash." I mean, I have a lot of problems with that phrase, but the issue mentioned above is one of them :) #jongosselin
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On the bright side, we don't tend to worry about our Vitamin D intake as much.
@Kajj I think, perhaps, she was making with funny at the self-absorbed rock star? Maybe? #jongosselin
10/30/09
Besides, I've lived in your precious hemisphere during winter, and it's a sissy's season compared to the frozen north! Also, Australians are clearly barely reformed criminals who have no need to recharge batteries, they probably just steal them. #jongosselin
10/30/09
10/30/09
10/29/09
Ally caught on fairly "late in the game" as it were - the animation wasn't created for the series.
But, the meme returned to shill for it's source and promoted hardware manufacturer Wildcat (Intergraph)'s high-end workstations, Kinetix Character Studio and 3DStudio Max at SIGGRAPH in 1998 - as a stuffed toy baby. #jongosselin
10/29/09
Lady Gaga obviously is not as paranoid as I am.
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Her toe hairs of course. #jongosselin
10/29/09
$120 a month isn't exactly breaking the bank for some kids who got you so many Oscars, man. Just fucking take care of them. #jongosselin
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He could hand the money over like candy, but then in 3 years someone would go to the slum and find one of the kids in squalor and wail about how Boyle had deserted them. He's already bought them flats (qualified deeds), handed out lump sums to the parents and set up trusts for the kids. Already one family claims they were wiped out by a dishonest builder and applied to Boyle for money all over again.
He's trying, and from what I can see, he's trying really hard. #jongosselin