By Scott Van Dorn
Jamal Malik, a boy from the slums, runs across a deserted underground to reunite with his childhood love after gaining national recognition by winning the top prize on a popular Indian game show.
“I knew you’d be watching,” Jamal says in his first words to her.
The real question is: Were you watching as “Slumdog Millionaire” completed an uncannily similar Cinderella story to trump some of the biggest names in Hollywood and win best picture Sunday night at the Academy Awards?
In an informal Elon University poll of about 100 students and faculty, 56 people said they watched the awards show.
Out of the 100, only 44 had actually seen the movie, however.
In the plot of “Slumdog”, police detain Jamal after they believe he is cheating. They cannot believe that a boy who grew up so poor is capable of winning so much money.
So did the movie deserve the award?
“I’m getting choked up just talking about it. It was incredibly well acted. It had such a journey,” Catherine McNeela, the head of Elon’s music department said, “I just thought it was an excellent movie, with a lot to say.”
There were a few students, like Edward Schmit, who did not believe “Slumdog” was better than some of the other competing films.
“I was rooting for Milk or Frost/Nixon,” he said, “I didn’t like “Slumdog” very much.”
There were others, however, who had no idea what was going on when asked who won best picture.
“Was it Batman?” one Elon University student questioned.
While “The Dark Knight” earned the highest amount of box office reciepts of 2008 and brought in over one billion dollars, it was not even nominated for best picture.
“Slumdog” currently has grossed nearly 161,000 dollars the box office worldwide.
Scott Van Dorn 