May 14, 2009

Welcome to Hollywood Kid

I just read a news report that the home of one of the child stars from the Oscar winning film Slum Dog Millionaire was just demolished by the City of Mumbai, India. Seems he and his family had erected a tent on government land and were deemed squatters. The city tore the tent down and the child star and his family were left more homeless than they had been before. Meantime, Slum Dog Millionaire has grossed over $200 million dollars at the box office, making the fortune of several people who had already been pretty well to do.

Now my question is a simple one. I don’t expect the film maker to solve India’s poverty problem. That is a problem that is way beyond his ability but do you mean to tell me he can’t take care of his own? Do you mean to tell me that he cares so little about this kid that after filming the kid goes back to squalor and abject poverty? What would it cost to get this kid’s family off skid row? A thousand bucks a year? Five hundred? He can’t afford that? Welcome to Hollywood kid! Amazing!

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