Danny Boyle Says He Couldn’t Make ‘Slumdog Millionaire’ Today

When asked whether the production itself amounted to a form of colonialism, the director denied that but added, “Well, only in the sense that everything is. At the time it felt radical. We made the decision that only a handful of us would go to Mumbai. We’d work with a big Indian crew and try to make a film within the culture. But you’re still an outsider. It’s still a flawed method. That kind of cultural appropriation might be sanctioned at certain times. But at other times it cannot be.”

At the time, Slumdog Millionaire was a box office hit and went on to earn 10 Oscar nominations and win eight Academy Awards at the 2009 ceremony. Boyle won for best director.

[quote] Years later Boyle says he’s “proud of the film” but noted, “You wouldn’t even contemplate doing something like that today. It wouldn’t even get financed. Even if I was involved, I’d be looking for a young Indian filmmaker to shoot it.”

Well then it'll never get made. Because if Indians wanted to make a movie like that, then they would have made it. But they didn't.

This is such bullshit. "Cultural appropriation" is bullshit.

EVERYONE AND EVERYTHING has been "culturally appropriated." That's how the world has progressed. Without it, we'd all be living in our own little bubbles, never knowing anything else.

I am so fucking sick of this Woke shit.

If that's the case, then it should be a two-way street.

Only white people can play classical music, and act in classic theater and movie roles, and eat pasta, etc. etc. Because that's white culture. Right? And any other race that tries to do these things are engaging in cultural appropriation. RIGHT???

Fucking idiots.

Disney should animate the feature, making the title dogs literal. With a Phil Collin’s and Elton John duet.

R2, you sound like an idiot. Pull yourself together.

Jesus Christ. We need another world war to toughen everybody up again.

The UK is very woke now and has descended into an authoritarian system of government, embracing more a spirit of socialism than representative democracy.

Freedom of speech is very restricted in the UK, which is jailing people who did nothing but post dissenting opinions on social media, criticizing the government's policies and disagreeing with woke ideology.

UK artists and filmmakers have to toe the line or risk being cancelled/ostracized.

I don't care for that movie because he used real slum kids and then sent them back to the slum after production wrapped. He payed for their schooling after word got out and people complained, IIRC. I've never rewatched it.

Isn’t it just about Indian hobos?

I can never forget the poop scene.

Friends from India hate, Hate, HATE the movie.

Apparently, the term”Slumdog” is considered to be close to the “N” word and the “F” word in offensiveness.

What Danny Boyle would decide to do now is his own business, frankly.

I can't imagine the film being canceled today if it were made by a British white director, except by the nuttiest of extremists. We're past the hyperwoke excesses of the 2010s.

Paid, R7.

He has a point and people shouldn’t be so sensitive to what he’s saying and accept it.

Society has progressed since 2008. White America is having a hard time with it but because of social media, marginalized groups have more of a platform and more power today and we no longer live entirely through a filtered white mainstream media.

So with that said, it was a movie of that time before.

You could compare it to “Uncle Tom’s Cabin”. That was a book written by a white woman for white audiences about the horrors of slavery.

Did it make a huge difference back then and open white people eyes to slavery and humanize them? Yes!

Did it age well? Absolutely fucking not!!!

But I think that’s okay. And that’s how I see “Slumdog Millionaire”.

Was it any good? I never saw it.

You said “marginalized” R13 so I canno longer take you seriously.

It seems pretty stupid I never saw it either

[quote]I don't care for that movie because he used real slum kids and then sent them back to the slum after production wrapped.

What would you prefer that he have done?

I remember watching this with my parents, they took me along.

What if he made it as a zombie picture

Would an Indian even give a shit about making a movie like Slumdog Millionaire for a western audience? India has a huge, thriving film industry. I doubt they need westerners to make movies for them or they even care about making movies "explaining" India to westerners.

Boyle's "colonialism" lies in the fact that he thinks a young Indian filmmaker would even want to make such a film.

Never saw it. But I think what he means is that it shouldn’t be made like that today.

Of course, anybody could make it and Scarlett Johansson can play a tree, if she wants, but it SHOULD be made by native peoples.

I finally saw Payal Kapadia’s All We Imagine As Light, which is every inch a Mumbai story, and it was wonderful. And universal.

Look what I found.

[Quote] it SHOULD be made by native peoples.

Romeo & Juliet SHOULD have been made by Italians.

Hamlet SHOULD have been made by Danes.

India has had a crushing caste system for 2000-3000 years, but let’s stifle artistic expression lest it seem like an abuse of power.

Dev Patel was and is a cutie. So I forgive.

R2 India’s population is five times larger than the United States. They have a massive movie industry with their own galaxy of stars, film makers, creatives. They are one culture with an entertainment industry that can thrive completely independent of Hollywood or the need to import our movies. Boyle’s conversation is not one between two cultures, it’s one solely in the scope of the western world and its troubled history with colonialism. It’s us journeying into their world and not an exchange. It’s our desire to explore who they are. So given that, it probably would be more responsible to have them show it to us instead of us telling their story. He is right.

The film was loosely based on an Indian book Q & A (2005) by Indian author Vikas Swarup.

According to Wikipedia, It has an 81% approval rating on All Bollywood (based on an aggregate of 25 reviews from Indian film critics).

Cease and desist spaghetti westerns!

I think that already happened about fifty years ago ago r28.

I think with the AI revolution they're going to go back and fix all the spaghetti westerns so that all the facial movements and actor dialogue work seamlessly and you'd never know about the language thing

I'm not sure if this is good or bad, though.

This has nothing to do with anything I'm just thinking out loud.

[quote]The UK is very woke now and has descended into an authoritarian system of government, embracing more a spirit of socialism than representative democracy.

[quote]Freedom of speech is very restricted in the UK, which is jailing people who did nothing but post dissenting opinions on social media, criticizing the government's policies and disagreeing with woke ideology.

Democrats via Europeans attempted to install a similar government the last four years during Biden's term and were expecting to complete the socialist takeover with Kamala.

UK prime minister Keir Starmer even sent people over to drum up support for Kamala to help her win.

Unfortunately for them, Trump's victory foiled their plans.

But now they're trying to bring down capitalism in America another way by causing chaos and trying to make Trump look bad in order to impeach/overthrow him.

The UK/European media go out of their way to constantly vilify Trump and Republicans, but it won't work on most Americans.

R31 Did you stumble into the wrong thread?

Europeans know Democrats are pushovers for Europeans.

India seems like an awful place and I’m thankful everyday I was not born there. the Indians I’ve known don’t miss it. The only Indian thing I give a shit about is their food.

Buy them each a shitty apartment so they don't have to go back to a corrugated metal shack after they help Danny Boyle and the studio make millions, r17. How much could a cheap condo in Mumbai cost?