Slumdog Millionaire is set in genuinely horrific circumstances, involving extreme poverty and the foulest kind of child exploitation.  I also discovered it is a Power of Idealism film about the triumph of love and the human spirit.  It is must-see viewing this 2008 holiday season.  I cannot recommend it highly enough.

Power of Idealism films are about the difference between fate and destiny. Chance, God or the Universe determines fate. “It is written”.  You can’t change your fate.  It is outside of your control. Your destiny is an opportunity that lies before you.  You recognize this chance and choose to walk away or hurry toward it.  This choice defines who you are.  Seizing your destiny determines your legacy, how and for what you are remembered.

Dr. Howard Suber, film structure professor to generations of UCLA students, writes eloquently about the distinction in his excellent book, The Power of Film.  In brief, Dr Suber says: “You seek your destiny; you succumb to your fate.”

Power of Idealism Heroes

In addition to Slumdog Millionaire, two other, very different, Power of Idealism films demonstrate the same principles and choices—Lawrence of Arabia and Ratatouille.

His birth determines the hero’s circumstances in all three films.  His circumstances are impossible to escape.  Fatet is a condition that cannot be changed.  It is entirely outside the hero’s control.

In Lawrence of Arabia, young Lawrence (Peter O’Toole) is born an unrecognized illegitimate son of a wealthy man.  Lawrence is eccentric and a social misfit.  In the class-driven British system, such an outcast should never rise to orchestrate and lead one of the most significant military campaigns in history.

Young Remy (voiced by Patton Oswalt) in Ratatouille is born a rat. Chefs consider rats filthy vermin. Remy is also an outcast and should never rise to become a famous chef.

Young Jamal Malik (Dev Patel) in Slumdog Millionaire is born in overwhelmingly dire poverty in Mumbai, India.  He is considered no better than human vermin. Jamal, too, is a social outcast and should never hope to rise above and triumph over his circumstances.

Each of these Power of Idealism heroes has an over-riding passion, a great love that calls him to seize his destiny and attempt the impossible. Lawrence’s great love is the desert and freedom of the Arab people. Gourmet cooking inspires Remy. Jamal’s great love is the beautiful young Latika (Freida Pinto).

Lawrence of Arabia

A pivotal scene in Lawrence of Arabia illustrates the difference between fate and destiny.  Lawrence attempts the impossible, to cross the worst desert on earth, “The Sun’s Anvil,” with a handful of Arab fighters.  He aims to launch a surprise attack on the city of Aqaba.  Near the end of the arduous journey, Lawrence notices one young fighter (Gasim) is missing. Gasim’s camel trots along riderless. Lawrence demands they go back into the desert to find him.  Sheik Ali (Omar Sharif) refu

Sheik Ali: “In God’s name understand, we cannot go back.”
Lawrence: “I can.”
Sheik Ali: “If you go back, you’ll kill us all. Gasim you have killed already.”
Lawrence: “Get out of my way.”
Another Arab Fighter: “Gasim’s time is come, Lawrence. It is written!”
Lawrence: “Nothing is written”.

Sheik Ali (riding along with and haranguing Lawrence): “Go back, then. What did you bring us here for with your blasphemous conceit? Eh, English blasphemer? Aqaba? You will not be at Aqaba, English. Go back, blasphemer! But you will not be at Aqaba!”

Lawrence (riding ahead he turns back toward Sheik Ali): “I shall be at Aqaba. That is written… (He points at his heart)… in here!”

Lawrence then courageously retraces his steps and finds the half-dead Gasim.  He returns with the young man strapped to his saddle. Lawrence defiantly repeats to Sheik Ali: “Nothing is written.”

Later in the film, Sheik Ali acknowledges Lawrence’s remarkable courage and fortitude, first witnessed in Gasim’s rescue. Sheik Ali says: “Truly for some men, nothing is written unless they write it.”

Nothing is written for Lawrence, Remy, or Jamal unless each writes it in his own heart.  For each of these three characters, seizing his destiny is an extraordinary act of faith powered by an overwhelming passion for one great transcendent love.

Ratatouille

The lesson of being an extraordinary Power of Idealism hero is voiced in Ratatouille by Restaurant Critic Anton Ego (voiced by Peter O’Toole).  He writes about the talented rat and chef, Remy saying:

“…Last night, I experienced something new, an extraordinary meal from a singularly unexpected source. To say that both the meal and its maker have challenged my preconceptions about fine cooking is a gross understatement. They have rocked me to my core. In the past, I have made no secret of my disdain for Chef Gusteau’s famous motto: ‘Anyone can cook.’ But I realize, only now do I truly understand what he meant. Not everyone can become a great artist, but a great artist can come from anywhere. It is difficult to imagine more humble origins than those of the genius now cooking at Gusteau’s, who is, in this critic’s opinion, nothing less than the finest chef in France.”

Great Love

Here is how Jamal follows his passion for his great love in Slumdog Millionaire.  At the beginning of the film, the police interrogate Jamal. He is a contestant on the Indian version of ‘Who Wants to Be a Millionaire’? Jamal makes it to the final round of the quiz show and is in reach of the grand prize.  Jamal is kidnapped, arrested, and accused of cheating before the last round.  Even under torture, Jamal insists that he did not cheat.

The police chief is willing to give the boy the benefit of the doubt if Jamal can explain how he answered the show’s questions. Jamal tells the story of his life, turning his suffering and pain into an inspiring tale of enduring love.  The film flashes between the questions on the quiz show and Jamal’s childhood.

He recounts how he and his older brother, Salim (Madhur Mittal) grew up in the chaotic squalor of a Mumbai slum.  Their mother dies during an anti-Muslim riot and subsequent widespread arson. The boys escape the burning slum together.  Despite Salim’s objections, Jamal invites the orphaned Latika to join them.  It is love at first sight.

The three children scavenge in one of Mumbai’s largest dumps until other adults take them to an orphanage.  The orphanage is a front for a begging operation that uses horrific tactics to make the children more pitiful. Jamal is taught to sing.  Salim (a young Power of Will character) is recruited to capture and bully other children.

Salim is not afraid to use violence to help him, and his brother survive.  He protects Jamal and stages their escape. When the boys jump on a freight train, Salim lets go of Latika’s hand, and she is left behind with the gangsters.  Salim is jealous of Jamal’s love for Latika.

The brothers spend years scamming and stealing from tourists.  Jamal refuses to forget Latika.  He obsessively searches for her.  Jamal finally finds her only to lose her again.  His brother rapes Latika and vanishes with the young girl.  Abandoned, Jamal works delivering tea in a call center.  Searching the computer company’s mobile phone records, he locates his missing brother.  When he finds and follows Salim, he also finds Latika.

Salim and Latika live in the thrall of a powerful Mumbai crime lord.  Salim works as a thuggish enforcer. Latika is one of the man’s concubines.  Jamal convinces Latika to escape and meet him at the train station. Salim follows, recaptures, and brutalizes her.

The crime lord leaves Mumbai to escape the police.  He takes Salim and Latika with him. Jamal attempts to find and reach out to Latika by becoming a contestant on her favorite quiz show, the Indian version of ‘Who Wants to Be a Millionaire’?

Fate vs Destiny

Jamal’s fate is that of a slumdog.  He is poor, uneducated, and one of millions just like him.  Fate should dictate that he live and die in the slum, unheralded and unsung.  He should accept his fate as a piece of human garbage, disposable, and quickly forgotten.

Instead, Jamal turns the pain, humiliation and hopelessness of his life into the answers that complete an epic quest for the love of his life.  Jamal refuses to surrender to his fate or to the gangsters who control the slums.  He chooses instead to seize his destiny and pursue the impossible. The police chief’s reaction is much like Anton Ego to Remy in Ratatouille.  Jamal shatters his preconceptions and prejudice.  He rips up Jamal’s arrest warrant and returns him to the quiz show to play the prize-winning final round.

Jamal’s destiny is Latika.  However unattainable their love is, Jamal chooses to race toward his passion.  His choice defines who he is.  Seizing his destiny ensures Jamal will live forever as a legend in slums.  He never gives up.  He never gives in.  His unending quest finally inspires his brother’s admiration, who makes the ultimate sacrifice in recognition of the unquenchable intensity and purity of Jamal’s love.

Jamal and Latika find each other at the train station at the end of the film.  The two have a tearful and passionate reunion.

Latika: “I thought we would meet again only in death.”

Jamal (shaking his head): “I knew you would be watching.” (Jamal turns her head to gently touch the scar disfiguring the side of her face, which is Salim’s punishment for her previous escape. She tries to turn away.)

Jamal: “This is our destiny.” (He kisses her scar tenderly) “This is our destiny.” (He kisses and holds her tight)

Pearl S. Buck. the first American woman to receive the Nobel Prize in Literature, famously wrote: “The young do not know enough to be prudent, and therefore they attempt the impossible—and achieve it, generation after generation.”

As President Barack Obama proved— Nothing is written unless we write it in our hearts.  This year, resolve to write your best self.  Defy the odds and fly in the face of your fears.  Make a Leap of Faith. Restore America’s, broken heart. I will be cheering you on, every step of the way.

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