"Slumdog Millionaire" Child Stars - You gotta be kidding me on this one

This really just hits me in the gut. I realize we sometimes live in our own little "glass bubble", without thinking about how many countries are still "barbaric"... not just 3rd world, but plain living in horrid conditions, doing horrid things to their own families, especially their children. We are bombarded with child-slave labor stories, yet I kind of feel we let it roll off our backs, like ducks on a pond do. We have become so used to seeing and hearing the "bad" news, we are almost "Immune" to allowing it to sink into our brains.

Yet, when I read this... I was absolutely appalled on several levels. First of all, in my naive brain, I thought these kids that made this movie got paid, and probably paid well enough to help their families out. I also thought that if the movie was a "hit" or not, these kids would get some kind of residual income from the film. I had never given thought about the fact, that actors I guess are offered a certain sum of money up front, and that usually is the actors that are famous. It is hard for me to fathom these kids starred in this movie, and I am not sure if they were even paid a dime for it. If not, to me that is just as bad as child labor. Yes, they were in a movie, but it is still "working" when you are in a film.

Of course, when you "Google" this subject, you get all kinds of links to places... some stating the maker of the film "Danny Boyle" says that all of the kids were paid well. They also were brought over here to the Oscars night. He states they were also set up with education funds, and money later when they finish school and are adults. Some of the articles also state that all of their families will be given better housing, and taken out of the slums of Mumbai. Of course he is the producer, director and so forth, so I guess he could be hiding something, but all of us know the truth will come out one way or the other.

Here are a couple of links with the stories:

http://www.cbc.ca/arts/film/story/2009/03/01/slumdog-children-money.html?ref=rss

http://www.newsoftheworld.co.uk/news/271325/Slumdog-Millionaire-star-Rubina-Ali-who-played-Latika-is-offered-for-sale-by-dad-Rafiq-Qureshi-to-the-News-of-the-Worlds-Fake-Sheikh.html

The URL just above this is about the DAD of the little girl selling her off!!! Here she is, 9 years old and he is "cashing" in on his daughter like she is some kind of merchandise. This sounds like something from the dark ages... yet I in reality know child selling, child slave labor, babies being sold on the "black market" all still exist.

One step forward for humanity, then you see this and it makes me feel like I took 15 steps backwards.



Rhia



"How wonderful it is that nobody need wait a single moment before starting to improve the world."

- Anne Frank