by Chris Marshall:
On the surface, a movie about trivia seems like it would be
perfect for me. I’ve virtually dedicated my life to the pursuit of becoming a
great trivia player[1].
Then again, Slumdog Millionaire is no
more about playing trivia than No Country for Old Men was about finding a briefcase full of money. It’s a love story,
and the game show plot is only a contrivance to facilitate the real point of
the film.
Jamal Malik finds himself on the Indian version of “Who
Wants to Be a Millionaire?” and stuns the world (well, at least India) by
advancing all the way to the final, 20 million rupee question. The buzzer
sounds, though, meaning he will have to wait until the next night to see the
question. Immediately after walking out of the studio, he is arrested on
suspicion of cheating.
Why does he seem so suspicious? He’s from the slums and has
extremely little formal education. How, then, could he possibly advance so far
when doctors, lawyers, and professors can’t advance past the 16,000 rupee
question? After some rudimentary torture at the hands of the police, he
explains how he knew each answer.
