The Phantom menace the first film out of the Prequel to the Star wars trilogy was directed by George Lucas (the director and creator of the Star Wars franchise) whereas Slumdog Millionaire on the other hand was directed by Danny Boyle. Even though both films were directed by different directors they both introduce the theme of the underdog battling their social circumstances to create a better life for themselves.
This can be seen by Jamal Malik a Slumdog from the slums of Bombay (later Mumbai) who fights to get the girl and to change his circumstances and Anakin Skywalker who battles for his freedom from Watto his Naboo slave master. Jamal Malik and Anakin Skywalker are both characters that are able to challenge their ‘pre-set social standing’ and achieve their true potential. Both of these characters show the core theme of being able to achieve one’s goals despite the pre-set social standing.
The Directors of these two films are able to show this theme through their use of film techniques and character development. Throughout these films the directors give us real-world messages about how racisms and prejudice hinders the internal working of our society by giving us the analogy of their two respective characters and their social circumstances. Jamal Malik is presented to us by Danny Boyle as an intelligent, resourceful and caring person.
However, Boyle also shows us that most people wouldn’t believe that he was capable of being this type of person due to his position in the Indian caste system (aka his social standing) as many would believe that Slumdog’s were no better than primitive beings. The Inspector helps us to understand the mind-set that Boyle is trying to show us about the way that Indian citizens view the people that life in their slums when he says “Doctors, Lawyers never get past 60 thousand rupees. …. What could a Slumdog possibly known”.
The Essay on Film Auteurism Main Character
AuterismJared Goodwin Auteur is defined as a French term for the film director who places a personal style on his or her films. It was first coined by Francois Truffaut to describe the mark of a film director on his films. A director can be considered an auteur if about five of his films depict a certain style that is definitely his own. In other words, much like one can look at a painting and ...
This shows us that Indian’s view Slumdog’s as uneducated and stupid and this is a fact that Boyle keeps restating to us: “ Baali, keep up! The Chaiwalah knows more than you”. Even though Boyle uses India and Jamal Malik to express the idea of racisms and prejudice towards people, he is not merely referring to India as a point of prejudice Boyle is actually saying that prejudice exists in our society in many countries around the world in many forms and he only uses India to express this because it is a place, that many people associate with prejudice existing.
Though all this prejudice exists in India, Jamal is able to overcome his social circumstances by using his intelligence and wits to achieve his goal. This is mainly due to the power of love as Jamal seeks out his goal which is the love of his life Latika a girl from the slums that Jamal and Salim meet when their mother dies. Through his journey of finding Latika Jamal is able to prove himself and challenge other peoples believes about himself and other slum dwellers as in order to find Latika Jamal goes onto ‘Who wants to be a Millionaire’ where he is enduring Prem the TV show’s host mock his place in the caste system.
Even though Prem mocks Jamal, Jamal answers the questions and is able to prove to Prem and the TV show’s audience that he is intelligent and isn’t bound to others peoples prejudices about him. Another fact that shows the Slumdog millionaire viewers about Jamal’s true potential is when he is able to counter act Prem, when he is pretending to give Jamal the ‘correct’ answer but is instead deceiving him so that he is not out shone in his own show. Anakin Skywalker faces similar problems to Jamal Malik in the respect that they both have to prove themselves to others.
Anakin is imprisoned by Watto a Naboo slave owner who hinders Anakin from achieving his potential and thereby his goal of becoming a Jedi. The Post Pod Race sequence is a very important sequence in the film as it is where Anakin learns that his mother has not attained freedom from Watto. This sequence plays an important part in the movie as it shows Lucas audiences’ that achieving one’s goal comes with a sacrifice of one kind or another. Anakin’s main goal is that he could be free and become a jedi.
The Term Paper on Racial Prejudice Town Maycomb People
A Study of the Different Kinds of Prejudice in, 'To Kill A Mockingbird' Prejudice is the preconceived opinion of a person or thing. There are three main types of prejudice: racial prejudice, social prejudice and religious prejudice. These three are the types of prejudice most dominant in 'To Kill A Mockingbird'. The setting for the novel is a fictitious town called Maycomb. This town is situated ...
Anakin mainly battles his social circumstances in the Pod race as he is able to battle the other racers to achieve his freedom as Gi Gon Jin is able to place a bet on his freedom. This results in Anakin having a real conviction to win as he knows that by winning the Pod race he will be able to prove himself to the Jedi knights and achieve his freedom. Helping the two Jedi Knights is important to Anakin as he believes that by helping them acquire the parts they need he is doing a good dead.
This is something that threatens the social norm of the lower classes being uncaring and submissive as contrary to belief Anakin has a pure drive to disobey his slave master and to help his true friends. Anakin like Jamal faced sceptism and prejudice from others who judged him on his position in Naboo’s social hierarchy. This can be seen mainly seen through the film technique of dialogue and people’s behaviour towards the characters “you won’t beat me you slave scum! this piece of dialogue by Anakin’s racing opponent shows us how society views the lower classes as inferior beings that cannot succeed in life. This seriously hinders both the characters in their respective films and consequently hinders (but not stops) them from achieving their goals as people don’t take them seriously and mock them openly. However, Anakin doesn’t experience the same level of prejudice as Jamal as Watto recognises his ability in creating machines.
This helps Anakin as it allows him to gain experience and knowledge in making technology which would allow him to finally achieve his goal of becoming a Jedi through building and manning a pod in the pod race which he consequently wins. Jamal’s talents on the other hand weren’t recognised by many people as many believed him stupid. Anakin was mainly able to challenge his social circumstances because of the two Jedi Knights (Obi Wan Kenobi and Gi Gon Jin) as they kindle his spark and they help him achieve his goal of freedom from his slave master by betting their spacecraft on him.
The Essay on Commentary On Battle Royal
Ralph Ellisons short story, Battle Royal, takes place in any small town in the south. The main focus of this story is the reoccurring incidences of racial inequality. This is a story of several generations of an Afro-American family that dream about improving their lives in a racially segregated America. In the beginning of the story, a dying old man tells his son that he should keep up the fight. ...
Apart from the two Jedi’s Knights Anakin has his mother Shimi Skywalker, Anakin’s mother teaches him values and plays a large role in supporting and caring for him this allows Anakin to fight his social circumstances with much vigour once he has receives her blessing. This significantly differs to what Jamal goes through as his mother dies when he is very young so he has no real maternal influence to support him in his aspirations.
On the contrary to what you might think Jamal has Latika his true love to motivate him towards success in this way the two characters are similar as they both have people they love to support them and drive them on their journey to battle their social circumstances and to achieve their potentials. Lucas and Boyle show us an important message about that way that we as a society judge others based on trivial things like their sex, social standing and ethnic groups and how racism and prejudice hinders individuals from achieving their goals.
This is an important message for our global community as we live in a world of progress and innovation and by allowing others to achieve their aspirations we are consequently enabling our world to progress. Both Boyle and Lucas show us through Anakin Skywalker and Jamal Malik that changing these prejudices and overcoming them is not impossible as all one needs is vision and determination to battle these pre-set stereotypes. Battling one’s circumstances to make a fairer world is one of the main ideas explored in both of these films.
