Another Slumdog Millionaire Child Actor Homeless

Hello World Family,
Falcon here with a story that just boggles her mind. Two young stars of the OSCAR award winning Best Picture. “Slumdog Millionaire” Rubina Ali and Azharuddin Mohammed Ismail and their families are homeless after police evicted them and tore down their homes right in front of them. Ali’s father was also beaten and hospitalized. These children came from the slums of Mumbai, and have been returned to those conditions, and now have no place to live.

There is a trust fund for the young actors and other children in the slums called Jai Ho, but it is for homes and education in their adulthood, not for living expenses right now. They are in school for the first time in their lives, but without a place to live, it seems a bit ridiculous that something cannot be done about their circumstances.

Okay…that was my really nice presentation of the facts: Here’s how I really feel: ARE YOU KIDDING ME?! Why in the hell can’t someone do something to improve the overall conditions for these families? These children are in an Oscar winning film that has made in excess of $300 million, and NO ONE can help these families?! COME ON!

It makes no sense to me that in the midst of all that success and affluence, people can live in Mumbai and simply ignore the abject poverty around them. It is equally grotesque that those who are making millions in part because of the artistic contribution of these young people cannot step up and help their families and bring them into a tolerable human condition.

I know personally of cases (too many to mention) where individuals and/or groups have made lot of money at the expense of/or from direct intellectual property of contributions made by people who are completely uncompensated and frankly, I don’t know how they sleep at night. Probably, they don’t sleep well. I am sure that there is some human metaphysical malfunction that allows them to reason through their indifference that it is somehow not their responsibility or that they are actually entitled to their prosperity, while others are simply doomed to their misfortune. Again, sleeping at night must be difficult, if they still have enough connection to human compassion to realize their arrogance. Here’s the facts: those that feel most separated and entitled to their feigned prosperity are the most responsible. Your deeds are built on the backs of those who are exploited in your presence, or as a result of your inaction. If you have prospered while someone you know has faltered and you used their energy to garner your spoils, you are on the pathway of despicable and reprehensible contribution to those less fortunate.

Rectification can be somewhat achieved by the following actions: do what you can as a person who has more than others to improve the condition of others in whatever way you can. Those sitting in the high-rise towers looking down on the slums of Mumbai must have a higher tolerance for pain than I do; I couldn’t look down on that situation and do nothing. So do something. Help those in your community to empower themselves more profoundly. Take a meal to an elder in the community; donate to the food bank, volunteer at a shelter, regularly. Work in the community to improve conditions for everyone. I know, we are all busy, but anytime that you can spend will be more rewarding to your soul than you realize, and it will make someone else’s life better, sometimes in ways you can’t foresee.

Second, pay it back and forward. If you know where the contributions to your quality of life come from, make sure to let people know that they are appreciated every day. Be kind to service workers, and those who serve you, usually without thanks. Give an extra tip to a maid, waiter, service-worker at the holidays who may just be planning simply to get by, rather a lavish celebration of a given day. Give it where you owe it. Pay it forward where it can do an expanded good. Pay it both ways, because that’s how you got where you are.

It would be easy to make whole cultures responsible, and that blanket doesn’t put individuals in the position of becoming activists to change intolerable conditions within a system that is clearly depraved. There is no excuse for lack of courage when so many are suffering. There are so many atrocities around the world every day; this is a microcosm.

These children got a taste of life away from that poverty, and did a job that has earned them the opportunity to be out of it, along with their families. These young people need to be fairly compensated the way a union actor would have been and give them a quality of life that anyone would be proud of today for the same amount of work.

I am constantly reminded of how lucky I am to live where I live, and do what I do. I am committed to spending time doing more for those who cannot, teaching those to fish so that they can be fishermen, as it were. I hope that we all do that in our lives. This example is making me more aware of how frequently (or infrequently) I participate in paying it back and forward.

Peace,
Falcon and Dove

Oscar Nominations Announced: Button gets 13, Slumdog Gets 10! Dark Knight has 8!

Hello World Family,
Well, the Oscar nominations are out and most of the films you and Falcon and Dove have been discussing since the beginning of November are in the mix.

On the one year anniversary of his death, Heath Ledger gets a nomination for Best Actor in a Supporting Role. There are seven additional noms for The Dark Knight including Visual Effects, Film Editing, and Cinematography, to name a few. This was the number one film at the box office for 2008, and it should be honored for the hard work and superb acting that came out of this project.

Slumdog Millionaire is rocking and rolling! Falcon and Dove consider this to be the front runner for Best Picture, although the films selected are top notch: The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, Milk, Frost/Nixon, and The Reader round out the category. This will be a bit of a horse race, and all of these films are excellent! See them all at matinee if you can.

Some surprises:

Kate Winslett did get her Best Actress nom, but in The Reader. Falcon and Dove discussed this on the blog and in our podcasts that we thought she might get a Best Actress and a Best Supporting Actress nom, and that possibly The Reader would go Best, rather than Supporting. That is exactly what happened...but she only got one nomination. She is endearing and strong in this film, we think she is a frontrunner to get the win, even with Meryl Streep in Doubt. Anne Hathaway is in the mix, and we are so happy to see her there.
Revanche from Austria got in the Best Foreign Film finals, and we are glad to see that one rise to the top. It will have some serious competition from the animated Golden Globe winner,Waltz With Bashir.

Courtney Hunt's original screenplay is nominated for the film Frozen River. We are so proud of you! It will have some heavy competition from Martin McDonagh for In Bruges (Falcon just saw this film and it is hysterical), and Dustin Lance Black for Milk.
Pete Docter getting a nom in this category for WALL-E surprised us greatly, especially considering some of the 'plot' was considered a bit controversial (and cruel) by some. Ironically, that probably helped it. Our opinion: it wasn't that good, and there are a lot of original screenplays that could have made the cut in place of this one.

Tropic Thunder nominations for OSCARS? Well, we guess it's good to have a sense of humor, too.

Falcon and Dove are not surprised that Gran Torino didn't get one of the top main category nominations...wasn't even on our radar. There were lots of excellent films this year, so the competition was just too stiff for something like that to be in top consideration.

Michael Shannon for Best Actor in a Supporting Role was a nice surprise. He is with a tough group, including Heath Ledger.

Milk got a ton of nominations in many categories across the board, including Best Costuming. It should be. We hope this film gets a couple of Oscars before the night is over on February 22, 2009.

Art Direction is an extremely difficult category, maybe the toughest of the entire year. Changling, The Dark Knight, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, Revolutionary Road and The Duchess are all competing for top honors. Yikes! We are glad that we won't have to decide the winner, otherwise there would be five Oscars handed out right here. Can we have a tie?

Falcon and Dove wanted Taraji P. Henson to be part of the final group for Best Supporting Actress, and she made it!!! This is a world class performance in The Curious Case of Benjamin Button. The range she had to play was extreme, and she is with some very talented actresses in this category, but we believe she has a chance to win.

Let us know who you think will win. We will discuss more about these nominations as the date approaches. Again, if you can, see some of these incredible films.

Personally, Falcon and Dove thinks there should be an "Oscar Season" discount on nominated films on weekdays so that more people could go to see quality films with their families.

As an aside...this is far from an Oscar nom, but if you get a chance, go see Hotel For Dogs in theatres with your kids. This is a fun, heartwarming film full of talented teens and a variety of great dogs. This film shines a light on the issue of homeless pets, and a portion of the movie ticket purchase goes to help shelters.

Next post: After nearly 8 months of periodically looking at this list, narrowing and agonizing over choices...in celebration of their forty years (almost 41 now) of progressive rock music, we will have our YES Top 40.

I am sure we will get some feedback about that one: which songs made it, which didn't and why...

Enjoy the rest of this great week, World Family!

Peace,
Falcon and Dove