On Tuesday I went and saw Slumdog Millionaire with John. David, Tom, Martin, John and I had dinner at our place and then we were all going to see a film together. Martin piked and as usual we wanted to see different things. Two fillms “The Wrestler” and “Slumdog Millionaire” were on at the same time so Tom and David went to the Wrestler and we went to Slumdog. I think I might try and do that more often. Too often I see films I don’t want to for the sake of togetherness and you hardly talk anyway.

I loved Slumdog Millionaire. They managed to show much of the tragedy of living in a slum in India without totally destroying me. I was able to cry and laugh and I loved the characters, the story and the shots of India.

However my experience of it was slightly tarnished yeasterday when I read in the SMH that the children in the film, who come from the slums themselves were not paid a sufficient salary. Rubina Ali the little girl was paid $1060 and Azharuddin Ismail, the boy was paid $3600. The director claims there is also a trust fund but the parents don’t know anything about and they are still living in the slums. I am conscious that these things are complicated and that there are consequences of young children going from extreme poverty to wealth in a day however, depite that I think it is wrong to take advantage of them and patronising to not pay what one would pay someone who had not come from the slums. It is wrong that while the film and thus its British director and his team make millions while these children live in the tragic conditions that film was exposing. They were particuarly exposing people who find children on the streets and teach them to be beggars and then make themselves rich on the money the children earn. As far as I am concerned what the directors of this film are doing is nearly as bad.