AP Photo
On Monday it was awesome to read that on the 81st Academy Awards (Oscars) “Slumdog Millionaire” won 8 Oscars. It is a great achievement, especially knowing that the some of the actors and actresses were directly from India.
Christina and I have not watched it yet (it has been our list of things to do), but after hearing that it won so many awards we are going to try to bump it up on our list of things to do.
I always like it when there are no-name stars who end up getting recognized. I don’t think any of the audiences in the U.S. have heard of these actors and actresses before the Slumdog Millionaire movie.
It is interesting that Bollywood (another name for India’s film industry) is now coming out with movies that are competing with movies produced in Hollywood. Even though the movie was directed by Danny Boyle (from the U.K.), it has been mentioned that the movie really showcased a lot of India.
I am also amazed at how the Korean dramas have invaded all of Asia. I don’t know if here is a single Asian country that does not know about the infamous Korean dramas. It is really fascinating to hear in my travels to Asia that people are addicted to the Korean dramas.
The thing that excites me about all this is how cultures are coming together and people are able to discover various things about another. This goes to show how the arts (movies) can bring people together. The “rags to riches” story line always universally speaks to the hearts of people regardless of what culture and ethnicity you represent. The reason why it is so powerful is because there are glimpses of the Gospel in any “rags to riches” story.
In this globalized world, we will probably (hopefully) see more integration of cultures in future movies with universal themes, whether they are produced in Hollywood or Bollywood.