Emily Estep, Bryan Remarcke, Dom Davis

Instructor Kaser

[Slumdog Rhetorical Analysis on the Stance of Inequality]

Emily Estep, Bryan Remarcke, Dom Davis
Instructor Kaser
English 120
Slumdog Rhetorical Analysis on the Stance of Inequality
Overview
On November 12th, 2008 director Danny
Boyle and released their new movie Slumdog
Millionaire based on the popular novel Q and A
by Vikas Swarup, to 12 select theaters for a
premier opening. Soon after, Slumdog
Millionaire was released on December 26th,
2008, making a total of 4.6 million dollars. On
the wide opening weekend, the movie Slumdog
Millionaire made a total of $4,301,870.
The movie Slumdog Millionaire features a
boy named Jamal Malik (Dev Patel). The movie
opens with Jamal sitting in a back room getting
integrated for cheating on the well-known game
show, Who Wants To Be A Millionaire? Jamal
lives with his brother Salim and his mother in the
beat down slums of India. The residents that live in the slums deal with the harsh
realities of poverty and inequality between social classes. Throughout the movie you
see the separation between the rich and the poor. In the beginning of the movie Jamal
and Salim meet a girl. Latika was her name. As the movie progresses, you see Jamal,
Salim and Latika grow up. We dont see Jamal and Salim grow up through normal

movie dialogue. Instead, it is shown through flashbacks of Jamals memories from the
game show, Who Wants To Be A Millionaire? Flashbacks play an important role in
helping Jamal answer these questions. His first flashback got him past the first question
and started his success on the game show. Jamal went on the game show to try to get
in touch with Latika who he has been trying to find since they were separated at a
young age. The producers of the game show couldnt believe that someone who lived
the slums made it all the way to the final question, so they accused him of cheating. At
the end of the movie, you see Jamal getting the chance to answer the final question
which is worth 20 million rupees. With only one question left, he uses a life line to call
his brother Salim. Its not Salim who answers though, its Latika. At that moment, Jamal
knew that Latika was watching and thats all he wanted.
Jamal at the end overcame the inequality of the social classes and the heartache
to find Latika and discrimination. This movie shows how much Jamal had to overcome
to leave the slums and the poverty life behind. This movie is a great example of a social
commentary, explaining the struggles of holy wars, classism, and socioeconomic status
in India.

Influences
There are multiple influences that shape the movie Slumdog Millionaire. One of
the influences would be the popular game show, Who Wants To Be A Millionaire? This
influence shapes the whole movie. It starts with Jamal (Dev Patel) at a game show and
whenever he is asked a question, he has a flashback from his childhood. Another
example of an influence in this
movie is how Who Wants To Be A
Millionaire?, being present in India,
represents how Western culture is
starting to diffuse with Indian culture
and heritage. Another influence
represented in the movie is the title
itself, Slumdog.

Another influence for the movie is the book it was based on, called Q&A, written
by Vikas Swarup, who is a foreign diplomat, minister, and deputy high commissioner of
India (Jeffries). Beyond influences
from the name of the movie itself,
there are many other influences
present in this film. When Jamal and
Salim met Latika for the first time
after the Muslims attacked their
slums, they decided to call
themselves the Three Musketeers.
The Three Musketeers is a famous book in America, and was published in 1844. This
influence is brought up again when Jamal has to answer the last questions to win the
final prize of 20 million rupees, which is about who is the third musketeer.
The well-known TV show Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? is the biggest influence
that shaped this film. The influence of The Three Musketeers follows behind. Without
these influences the film would not be as strong as it is in its representation of American
culture diffusing into Indian culture. Also, without these influences you wouldnt clearly
see how they all tie into the rhetorical objective and issues of the movie.
There are many influences that shaped Slumdog Millionaire. The first is how
acquired its name. The show Who Wants to be a Millionaire? The book The Three
Musketeers was another influence that shaped the film because of the cultural diffusion.

Issue
One issue that is
present in Slumdog Millionaire
is the inequality between social
classes within India. This is
shown through the boys
growing up overcoming poverty
in their lifetime. This issue is
also present through the boys
doing odds and ends tasks for
money, as well as digging
through the garbage pits to find
items salvageable for whatever money they can get.
Another issue discussed in Slumdog Millionaire is discrimination of
socioeconomic status. Jamal is accused of cheating on a live television show that is
almost impossible to cheat on. The main reason for this accusation of socioeconomic
status. The officials do not believe that someone who was raised in such a poor society
could possibly know all the answers to the game show questions.
The main issues in Slumdog Millionaire are the inequality of social classes in
India and discrimination based on socioeconomic status. These are shown throughout
the movie through Jamals childhood, the traumatic events that occur during his life,
middle ages growing up, and through his time on the show Who Wants to be a
Millionaire?
Rhetorical Objective
One objective in this movie is to show the struggle of classism in India and how
much of an effect is has on an individual's life who is growing up in a lower class.
Classism is the belief that people can be distinguished by their social class and be
considered inferior to those of a higher class (Classism). Another objective is to
explain how your socioeconomic status affects your upbringing in countries such as
India. However, the primary rhetorical objective would be to inform viewers of how

degrading the slum life is on those who are growing up in it and how unlikely it is to
move on from the poor life youre stuck in.
Genre(s)
Slumdog Millionaire is a social commentary, which is a genre that takes a stance
on a social issue prevalent in society. Slumdog millionaire is also a thriller due to the
fact that Jamal is currently taking the game show challenge as he has flashbacks to
events in his life that help him answer the questions he receives. An example on how
this movie is a drama includes Jamals search for his lost lover and the struggle of
growing up in the slums and lower class of Indian society. The film is also in the genre of
romance because Jamal is searching for his long lost lover, and in the film he fights for
his love named Latika, played by Freida
Pinto.
Slumdog Millionaire has many
genres associated with it. It is a social
commentary, thriller, drama, crime, and
romance. The crime aspect comes with
all of the poverty and mob activity. The
thriller aspect is apparent as Jamal is
competing to win a large cash prize on
the game show. It is also a drama and
romance because of all of the events that happen in Jamals flashbacks of his trauma
as he loses track of the love of his life, Latika.

Audience(s)
The main audience that Slumdog Millionaire attracts is mature young adults or
adults. This movie takes a harsh look at what life is like in India. Most people knows that
India is very overpopulated and that living in the slums is very dangerous and
challenging. Jamal in this movie is living with his brother Salim and their mother in the
slums. You see their mother get killed very violently because of the war against
Muslims. There are lots of drugs involved in the movie from the start. You see the harsh
realities of domestic violence and girls selling their bodies. All of these reasons make it
clear that its not for kids that are in elementary school or middle school, as there are
many mature themes and sequences in Slumdog. With this movie being a Bollywood
film, there is also a slight gear towards the Indian heritage audience with the cast all
being from India and as well as the Hindi language being spoken and written on walls
and writing being in scenes in the movie.
Overall the audience for the movie is young adults or adults, due to the R rating
that the movie has. It appeals to those who like a good story of the underdog who starts
with nothing but then gets it all. It also appeals to each of the genres that the movie
claims. The romance part of the movie would attract those young couples who like a
cute love story to brighten their night. The thriller aspect of the movie comes in during
the crime scenes and whether Jamal can win the game show. And finally the drama
aspect appeals to those adult audience members who want a good movie that keeps
them on the edge of the seat, waiting to find out if Jamal ends up with Latika in the end.
Logos
The main audience for the film is targeted at adults (due to the R rating) who like a
good underdog story. Therefore, it wasnt difficult for the director to slip in the issues of
social inequality, the inequality among religions, and the inequality of the class systems
in India.

There are many

examples of how the
director used logos
throughout the film to
emphasize his point or
the theme he wanted the
movie to have. Another
issue of inequality that is
present is the inequality
among races. This is
present when the police ignore Jamal and Salim who ask for help when they are being
chased by the Hindus around the city. The main scene of the movie where the
inequality among social statuses is apparent is the scene that is getting switched to and
from the flashbacks where Jamal is in being questioned in holding due to the officials
not believing that a Slumdog would be able to get so far on the game show and know
the questions that were presented.
The film brings together unity of the lower class. All of these individuals from the
slums after hearing that Jamal is doing so good on the gameshow, crowd around every
TV they are able to find. Another shocking scene in the movie is when an old lady
knocks on the window of Jamals taxi as he's on his way to answer the final question
and instead of begging for money from him, surprisingly tells him to win it all.

Pathos
The director of this film wants the audience to feel sad throughout the movie and
then happy at the end. The whole movie is about Jamals troubled life in the slums.
Jamal, along with his brother, grow up fatherless and witness their mother get killed by
Muslims at a very young age. They struggled growing up finding a place to live and
making money. The progress through the game show was the only thing giving us, as
the viewer, hope that something good can come out of this. Nearing the end of the

movie, Jamal guesses on the last question, fortunately getting it right. He didnt care
what the outcome was because he knew that the love of his life, Latika, was safe.
The first good example of pathos in the film is the films name in general,
Slumdog Millionaire. The director came up with this name when he was down in India
and saw a pack of dogs running in the slums, and it reminded him of how the children
are constantly running around there as well. This is an appeal to the audience by
comparing the lowly lives of those in the slum to those of mere dogs, which here are

simply treated as objects of which we can choose when we pay to attention to them and
just throw their food in a bowl a few times a day.
One example of how this movie shows the division between social classes is
made very visually apparent by the author towards the beginning of the movie. The poor
are all crowded in this makeshift bathroom on the pier and as the plane flies overhead
they all watch the rich men and women flying in the plane. The reason a lot of the time
that the rich flew over though was to do the same thing, and watch those poor slum
children, men, and women. This is clearly a poke at the division between social classes
and socioeconomic status in the region.
Another appeal to emotion in the film is watching the boys grow up. The film
follows the beginning of their life to when they were forced to live on their own and how
they were forced to adapt to the new lifestyle they are forced to live. The film takes the
perspective as though you are in Jamals head and what he wants is the proper and
appropriate response, while Salim is slowly but surely heading toward corruption. The
film is meant to inspire a sense of family even though the boys are heading towards
different paths by showing that they always end up together even after the awful

incidents, at one of the beginning scenes in

the film when the boys are brought in by a
wealthy gangster who they thought must be
a saint, it seemed as if Salim was going to
allow his brothers eyes to be burned out by
the gangster but at the last moment Salim
throws the acid on one of the gangsters and
they all run away as a family. Watching the
boys grow up is an appeal to make the audience have a stronger connection with the
feeling of how much suffering, luck, and risk that these boys have had to grow up with
and to make us feel lucky for not having to live the same life that they are forced to.
One great example of pathos is how the
director incorporated sound. The sound in India
is a constant hum of traffic and construction.
The director did a great job of incorporating this
in the film, if you pay attention during almost any
film there is always some sort of street music,
traffic noise, or construction to set you in the
mood as though you are actually in India. He
also threw in visual examples, such as when
Jamal and Salim reunite in the new skyscraper
building that is being build and as you look down from the building, you see a whole
new perspective on the town showing the clear appearance of the slums as well as the
many construction zones.
A visually appealing example of pathos is when the boys head into the more
shady parts of town. A good metaphor used in the film is when they enter through a
shroud of smoke into this almost black market part of the city where there is prostitution
everywhere, this is a metaphor for the boys walking into a dark, crime infested, unclean
part of the city. This is also an example of foreshadowing, showing that Salim is
descending into his dark path in life .Another way the director made this scene effective
is he slowed down the movement, to show all of the crime and poverty around the boys

in this neighborhood. This prostitution is also meant to make an appeal on the audience
and shock them at how prevalent it is, to entice them to think that something needs to
be done that these women have many better opportunities in a better society than just
selling their bodies to the highest bidder just to stay alive and have basic necessities. As
they enter through the shroud of smoke, this also can be used to symbolize Salims
enter into his dark career as not much later, he commits murder on the gangster that
took him and Jamal in earlier in the film.
A good example of how this
movie has effective sound
effects would be when the
gun goes off you can hear the
ringing in Jamals ears, giving
you the feeling as though you
are Jamal in that moment of
time. It is a very realistic
example and the director
slowly decreased the deafening levels of hearing until the next scene, again playing it
as though the gun actually went off by the audience in real life.
Another example that shows the social classes is when Jamal and Salim meet up
on the skyscraper being built. They look down on the slums, where they grew up. They
are now up on this tall building, showing that they started from the bottom and are no
longer in that low of poverty.
The music plays a large factor in pumping up the audience. The music when
Salim is about to go is very energetic because he is supposed to be sneaking out, but
Jamal woke up as well and decided to follow his brother in hopes it will lead him to
Latika. The music is very energetic at this point, and the director compares the scene to
that in one of James Bond by tailing his brother secretly.
During the end of the movie, the director does a great job of making the mood
uplifting by playing a slow melodic song (another example of effective sound in the
movie) as Jamal and Latika are finally able to reunite for the final time and are now able
to leave together.

Ethos
The film shows many examples of appealing to the credibility of the audience. One
example of the credibility is the character of the game show, Prem who is played by Anil
Kapoor. Kapoor has been in many Bollywood films as well as popular American films
such as Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol (2011) and many Bollywood films as well,
winning 15 awards and having 11 nominations in his career so far (IMDB). Anil also
grew up in the slums himself so he is able to accurately depict the harsh life that those
individuals have to live with.
Another appeal to ethos is how accurate the set was for Who Wants To Be a
Millionaire. It was built by Synergy for the movie, which is the same company who built
the set for the American version of the show. Other examples of how ethos is present is
when the film is shot at the Taj Mahal which is a sacred and famous Indian landmarks.
Another appeal to credibility on the heritage of the Indian culture is the portrayal of how
the gangsters mutilate the children in order for them to get more money. The director
also had a good representation on the knowledge of Indian religion, showing Rama, a
favorite god among many of that religion.
Having Anil Kapoor acting in the film and having the correct look for the set of the
game show are both ways the author appealed to ethos in Slumdog Millionaire.
Regarding both examples, the director planned this for a reason. To add to the tone of
the movie. Anil actually growing up in the slums, for example.
Analysis Summary
Slumdog Millionaire is more than just a great film, but an academy award winning film
as well. The storyline includes the issues of poverty, inequality among socioeconomic
status, and religion to support the rhetorical objective. This helps to inform the audience
about the rhetorical objectives present in the film, through a more enjoyable outlet, a
movie, rather than just reading it. Director Danny Boyle wanted to show the harsh
realities through graphic scenes and different changes in color. They wanted this to help
the audience adapt to cruel moments and get a better sense for it. Overall, the film

worked hard so portraying how life is in the slums and the inequality of socioeconomic
class and how it has a negative effect in this world.

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