Discussing
The Gospel according to 'Slumdog Millionaire'

I really want to see this film. I hope I get teh chance.

Excellent film!

What is it about the movie you liked? Any themes that struck you? I'm anxious to see it myself.

Me too. What is it that intrigues you about this movie?

I've encountered this same kind of attitude shift on the foreign mission field. We feel obligated to start handing out relief as soon as we see someone poor or disadvantaged. It's important to remember to be a friend first, and see them as fellow humans. The poorest people are often the richest in human spirit; a sense of humor, a kind heart. To put it simply, material differences are often immaterial.

"Slumdog" is expanding to more theaters this weekend (Dec. 19). The awards it has begun to collect - including three honors from my own Chicago Film Critics Association (chicagofilmcritics.org) - should ensure it will get even more of a distribution push.

Very well said! Just because someone doesn't have all the worldly possessions you have doesn't make them any less satisfied with life - more often than not, they are living a much fuller life and can teach you a thing or two!

Haven't seen this yet, but am eager to do so. Nice overview. Boyle's "Sunshine" doesn't have the overtly moral themes of Millions or (from what I've heard) Slumdog Millionaire, but I thought it packed a fairly potent spiritual punch too. I'm glad Boyle is making these films!

I'd love to hear what you pulled from "Sunshine," Andy. I'm a huge Boyle fan going back to "Shallow Grave," but I find "Sunshine" inexplicable (and not in the good, "2001: A Space Odyssey" way that Boyle seems to have intended).

Yeah, I think I'm in the minority in that I appreciated Sunshine. For what it's worth, I found "2001" (the movie at least) utterly inexplicable, and not in a good way :) To each his own I suppose.

This was an amazing movie with some powerful underlying spiritual themes - perseverance, hope, authenticity, love that keeps seeking and doesn't give up, and more.

I’ve been mulling over, from a Reformed perspective, the lessons “Slumdog Millionaire” offer us, and have been contrasting it with “It’s a Wonderful Life.” Both are, to use the hackneyed expression, “life-affirming,” but I find myself, curiously, regarding “Slumdog” as being, of the two, more compatible with the gospel of Christ and having a slightly more skeptical eye toward the beloved "It's a Wonderful Life," even though it will always be a favorite.

In short, “Wonderful Life,” starring the unanimously sympathetic Jimmy Stewart as the even more sympathetic George Bailey, is set up as a masterful example of a fellow who finds favor with God by means of a series of good works. This is detailed in the pre-angelic bestowal “orientation” Clarence receives as George’s deeds are recounted, telling us, the audience, how meritorious his selflessness is.

The power of prayer is affirmed in "Wonderful Life," but the nature of the prayers themselves, you'll no doubt recall, follow along the lines of imploring God to help George because of what a good guy he is. This is a message that continues to resonate with nearly all of us, myself included, because such teaching is supportive of our reflexive sense of personal merit as justice, which I would argue, is an outgrowth of our national obsession with self-sufficiency - "God helps those who help themselves."

“It’s a Wonderful Life,” therefore, marvelous as it is, is more a reflection of our civil religion rather than an explication of redemption as laid out in the Bible.

“Slumdog” has no such good-guy-gets-ahead-because-he’s-nice conceit. The young man sits in the game show chair that is the site of both judgment (not to mention his interrogation!) and review of his life and he steadfastly denies a claim to good works, knowledge, or personal character — his only plea is “it is written.”

For the Christian, there is a powerful lesson: in EVERY circumstance in which our protagonist was placed, God had an overt and specific purpose, as evidenced by the memories triggered by the game show questions. At the crucial moment when circumstance, worldly support (e.g., “phone-a-friend”) failed him, his quietly confident declaration of “it is written” served as a vindication for those of us who are truly relying on God for our very sustenance.

I beg to differ. Slumdog millionaire was a horror movie for me; children immersing themselves in faeces just to see their pop idol, gouging out children's eyes with hot spoons, torture scenes and burning of children (the one dressed like a god) as well as child prostitution. The film goes ahead to depict money as the answer to all these problems. One of the worst movie experiences of my life. Nothing like Charles Dickens' s Oliver Twist or the other classics people are trying to compare it to. I am not surprised the little actors who acted in it are still living in abject poverty. This is a movie that benefits from and desensitizes and then glosses over child exploitation.