I thought the Rihanna story was horrible, but at least they are adults. The Sun is reporting that when Azharuddin, the boy from the Slumdog Millionaire movie was beaten by his father because the boy was tired from his flight back from Los Angeles and wanted to sleep. Well, his dad was having none of that. His kid is his ticket out of the slum and he wanted to show him off to all his neighbors and have the boy perform for them. When the boy refused, his dad beat the crap out of him. Unfortunately for the dad, he did the beating in front of a crowd of western reporters and cameras.
Ummm. Not a good idea pal. Later the father apologized and blamed it all on stress from seeing his son for the first time in a few days. Uh huh. “I was very sorry I did what I did. I was confused and stressed by my son’s homecoming and I did not know myself for a minute. I love my boy and I am very happy to have him home.”
There is no way this story is going to have a happy ending. What was this great, feel good moment last week, and throughout the week as the kids were celebrated all over Southern California wherever they went is all gone. Now, I'm sure all of these kids will be exploited by their parents in an effort to get them out of the slums within which they live. Although the future schooling needs of the kids have been taken care of by the producers of the movies, and they are being given new apartments in which to live, I don't think it will ever be enough to satisfy their parents. When the lights and reporters and cameras are gone, it will just be a defenseless boy and his a-hole of a father.
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ReplyDeleteAt least he got schooling and a new place to live. What about the non-famous kids getting beat every damn day?
ReplyDeleteAnd I'm talking Americans.
I was one of them.
Nobody is saying that anyone who has been abused is more important than someone else, it's just heartbreaking to hear about how this little boy went from a moment where he was on top of the world to being attacked and exploited because his father wants to better life for himself and is probably jealous of all the opportunities his son has and will have.
ReplyDeletei agree with you,Enty! it's sad and i become blasé!
ReplyDeleteThis is what happens when you make a "feel good" film like Slumdog in a place like Mumbai. After all the glitz and glamour and excitement passes those kids won't go on to other films? They go back to the slums, they go back to doing what they know to survive and unfortunately they have to learn to survive a lot more than just poverty...i'm sure this little boy isn't the only one who takes a beating every day. I feel horrible for Rihanna but she's an adult who's clearly made her choice if she's staying with Chris "beat down" Brown but little children everywhere don't have the luxury of choice like Rihanna.
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ReplyDeleteThis is sad. But unfortunately he is just one of thousands of kids that get the shit beat out of them daily. Usually when you hear about them in the news it is because the child died. It breaks your heart, but what can you do to save them?
ReplyDeleteoh noooooooooo! that beautiful little boy. this is heartbreaking. :(
ReplyDeleteOnly 2 kids were from slum.Not all .And most slum kids are not getting beaten everyday.Most of them have good parents.
ReplyDeleteThere was another report about the little girl from the movie who's from the slums.
ReplyDeleteWhen she got home the crowd surrounded her with cheers, but then her mother and father started fighting over her in the street and the child became overwhelmed.
I heard that both of the kids were given new homes but they didn't say if it was in the slums or in a decent neighborhood.
I hope something good comes to those two kids instead of abuse and exploitation.
Enty, i didn't need to see the pictures..:o(
ReplyDeleteyes kids get beaten everyday,but why trivialize it? he's a fuckin human being people AND a child.
everything about this is gross.
No offense, but why shouldn't the parents use it as their ticket out of there? Thousands of people live in those shacks, hell this kid shack was torn down by the government a few weeks ago, so he's sleeping under a plastic tarp. The filmmakers exploited those kids by parading them down the red carpet. For the year since they've filmed the movie, those kids were living in that hell. And I don't think Danny Boyle lost any sleep over it. It's only when the "scandal" came out, and the studio feared losing their Oscars after all those nominations, that "suddenly" these kids were going to get an education and an apartment. If they media goes away, I sure the producers will forget about them and their promises too.
ReplyDeleteAs for the abuse, he's a kid, his father and those villagers around them think/know he's won the lottery, so to speak. He was probably upset because he thought his son was appearing ungrateful and rude. How people discipline their children is very much cultural. I know as a kid I couldn't tell my parent "no" and "I don't want to" -especially in public. I think the kid will be fine. If the producers keep their promise and pay for his schooling, $10 he turns out better than Lindsay Lohan.
It's ignorant to assume that the other parents involved will behave in the same manner as this boy's father. Shame on you Enty! As a lawyer, you should bloody well know better. After all, aren't all lawyers supposedly skeevy dirtbags who care more about the almighty dollar than doing the right thing?
ReplyDeleteJUST THINK OF THEM OF JACKSON'S OF INDIA.....THIS IS NOT A NEW THING PARENTS USING CHILDREN...MACAULAY CULKIN COMES TO MIND ALSO...
ReplyDeleteYeah, I wonder about the culture of how abuse is viewed over there. I used to work with a couple Irish peeps and we would all share our stories of growing up in an Irish family. The non Irish people that were with us were like WTF? "That's abuse!" Yeah, it was and still is but wasn't unusual for us. I do have to note though that it was normally the males that got the beat down and not the girls. I was never touched but I can't say the same about my brothers. Most Irish families I've known were very against touching women but I've heard different from others. :shrugs: Before someone says it, not all Irish people beat the shit out of each other however they ARE all alcoholics. ;)
ReplyDeleteIt's scary that if the dad did this in front of the press, what the hell does he do to the kid in private?
Ummm. O..k. President Sambo is scaring me a little...
ReplyDeleteAgreed, this is so sad. I do agree that many kids get beatings and really there isn't much we can do but feel pity for them and shame on their parents.
If every abused child was taken away and put into foster care, would the world become a better place? I got beatings by my father and although I hated it, I grew to be much more resilient than many of my friends whose parent's never laid a hand on them. I am NOT saying that the only way to be a tough adult is to be beaten as a child, hell, I HAVE a child who doesn't get beat and is one tough cookie...
I guess I just believe that abuse comes in many forms and there are many children going through this. And all we can do is keep our eyes open, because that one child in every 10 who is getting it to a potentially fatal degree needs help and shouldn't be ignored. As for the other 9, little will be done as sad and f*cked up as that is, and sometimes we need to just understand that this is the world we live in.
Man, I sound f*uckin evil tonight.
President Obama has nothing to do with how idiots worldwide treat their kids racist fool at 6:20. Spew your bile somewhere else.
ReplyDeleteAs to the story, the man seated with thinning hair is supposedly the boy's (ill) father. If the guy in the hat hit him (possibly an imam) then what's new in these cultures? The imams rule them all with rods of stupidity.
He did it in front of the cameras because in his view, it's not wrong to beat your child. I'm NOT defending him, but from his perspective it's probably as routine or benign as me wiping my kid's nose with a tissue.
ReplyDeleteNicola, I totally agree with you. Those kids were exploited on the Red Carpet. And there are cultural differences in how child discipline is handled. I choose not to judge his father.
ReplyDeleteSO EXACTLY WHAT DO YOU HAVE TO WRITE TO GET BANNED...PULLED....WHATEVER...PRESIDENT SAMBO HAS ANGER ISSUES....ENOUGH
ReplyDelete... the *"Em"GNORANT/ANGRY white racist/RePUGNICAN'T TROLL* above there notwithstanding... I think the point of the "Slumdog" story is that these backa$$wards Third World countries treat their kids (and women) like cattle... or more accurately... like SHEEP who have no Rights or "value" whatsoever. We need a GLOBAL LAW to RESTRICT BIRTHS and STOP the Third World BREEDERS (and 'OTHER' BREEEDERS in "First World" countries who HATE Innocent children) from "having" them in the FIRST PLACE and CREATING MORE "poverty"...
ReplyDelete... 'nuff SAID... except for BAAAAAAAAAAAAAA...
Well, I see the 49 year old friendless, racist loser has returned with a different name - again.
ReplyDeletePretty sad and pathetic that this is the only way you know how to get attention.
(could someone alert Enty, please to delete these racist comments)
,,, unfortunately, I supported the now "chicken-hearted" Ron Paul... but *racist/REDNECK "Em"BECILE "Sambo" TROLL* 'JUST' can't HANDLE the FACT the American Public VOTED FOR a BLACK MAN for President and systematically REJECTED the REPUGNICAN'T "ticket", Not even the (albeit gorgeous) IDIOT MILF *Sarah Pailin* could make voters "sway" towards "voting for" the "dubious" J,McKAIN... who would've ALSO "coddled" to Third World countries like MX and SWUNG the U.S.BORDERS EVEN FARTHER *open* THAN THEY ARE "now"...
ReplyDelete.
... "BAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA...
don't worry guys. the trolls seem to come out of the woodwork during school breaks.
ReplyDeletei don't give a damn what the cultural norm is. this is a little boy who was exhausted by a long trip. and i am mortified that someone pulled him out of a slum to make millions off of him, and then dumped him back in a slum. i just don't have the words.
Do we know the extent of the beating? From what I read at Indian news sites, it was a slap across the face, and God knows I received more when I was his age.
ReplyDeleteThe father is now demanding more money from the producers, and I think it's part trying to get out of poverty, part famewhoredom.
I think I should clarify my comment--
ReplyDeleteI'm not insinuating that the poor child deserved any kind of physical attack by his father, but that 1) we may be blowing this out of proportion, and 2) we should think about the circumstances here. I absolutely agree that these kids were exploited by the producers; yes, it's wonderful that they got to go to the Oscars, and that somebody finally got smart and gave these kids what they deserved, but it was only to avoid scandal. This family has been living under a blue tarp for some time now, his father is willing to do anything to get out of that.
I was one of the American kids beaten too....I was in the hospital at age 3 from one beating. This story makes me really sad for him.
ReplyDeleteI think comments like "a place like Mumbai" and "third world countries" are inaccurate. (in the comments section) Mumbai is the financial center of India, despite the slums. There are poor places in the U.S. as well, and almost 50 million uninsured here.
ReplyDeleteI have spent two months in India, and my husband is from there. India is a rising global economy. It's time to update your old attitudes.
Wow, whatever talent this child has as a star, has been greatly comprimised by his father. This poor kid could have been an Osmond!
ReplyDeleteJulie, someone I work with who has traveled extensively said that Mumbai and Cairo are the two worst poverty-stricken places he's ever seen. You definitely have a point that the slums do not define the whole country or city, but you don't want to diminish the problem either. And parts of the U.S. are regularly referred to as being like a third world country, so it isn't just India that's described that way. (Not trying to argue with you, just think it's an interesting and important subject to think and talk about.)
ReplyDeleteBut isn't 50% of Mumbai a slum? So despite it's progressiveness in many ways and the increase in education being more available for members of all castes, there are still major inequalities there - of a type that simply isn't happening here in the U.S? Correct me if I'm wrong. But 50% of New york City, our financial center and one of the most progressive cities in the US, is not a slum. We have a boatload of problems, but we don't have the deeply embedded caste system that India has. Sure, we have our own "undesirables," - being poor in this country sucks - but I think we still have every right to be outraged at a child being beaten and to comment on the fact that this incident takes on a different tone given that it's happening in India vs. , say, Detroit.
ReplyDeleteDon't get me wrong - I think India is an amazing country, with super sharp and spiritually inspiring people and some of the best technical minds on the planet right now - so please don't be offended by my comments, I'm just venting.
The issue of the child and India as an entire country are two separate issues. 50% of Mumbai? Where did that number come from?
ReplyDeleteI certainly don't mean to deny the slums and poverty-nor did I. I am just tired of ethnocentrism.
My Indian husband's family had far more money than mine did-we were on welfare. My husband has a PhD and his brother is a surgeon. India is not all poverty, you guys. It is changing dramatically by the day. I have been watching it for the last decade. It is just time for the West to rethink their notions of superiority.
Whoops, the slum number is accurate. Sorry. But it does not really change anything else I said. Indian has around a billion people. The challenges they face are different from ours. I have spent two months in Kerala, India. Why don't you read about that state of India? I am not trying to be mean, but a lot of us judge what we don't understand. Your friend had "traveled extensively." Wow. Just take him at his word, then. I come from the perspective that I have LIVED in India, have family (in-laws) from India, and I am married to an Indian. But I guess I just don't know what I am talking about. Not all of India is poor. What an outrageous and uneducated thing to say. If it makes you feel better, so be it.
ReplyDeleteBoy, did you misunderstand me. The guy I talked about is one of the leading scholars in the world on certain international issues. Where on earth do you see that I said "all of India is poor?" I said that Mumbai was poverty-stricken. I'd say that 50% slum is pretty damned poverty-stricken, wouldn't you? I also know that India was the main source of the brain drain to the US before the post-9/11 restrictions, so I'm well aware that some of the brightest and best in the world come from that country. Be careful when you're on your high horse - you can't clearly see who you're trampling.
ReplyDeleteIs that a threat? I was saying that I said "not all of India is poor." I was being sarcastic about my "uneducated and outrageous statement." I was talking about ME and my perspective. I am not on a high horse.And who's on a high horse? I'm not bragging that my friend is "one of the leading scholars in the world on certain international issues." Good for your friend. Damn right India has some of the best and the brightest. My husband, the light of my life, is one of them.
ReplyDeleteAnd to see people use the outdated, offensive, and no-longer-in-use term "undesirables" and people would wonder why I am offended? (You mean "Untouchable", BTW) And, no, the U.S. is a superpower--it is never called a third world country.
ReplyDeleteAgain, I say look up "ethnocentrism." Why is it so important for you to put a country you have probably never been to down?
No, of course that isn't a threat, I was saying that I think your emotion is making you misinterpret things. And I clearly misinterpreted you as well, sorry. I really wasn't trying to disagree with you, just saying that it's a very complex situation.
ReplyDeleteI'm sorry. You are right. I have heard a lot of negative things about India during my marriage, and I am sensitive and defensive about it. It's just that people I care for live there, and I love that country. But the post really was about that poor little boy. I saw worse pictures than the one ENT put up, and I don't agree with the way he was treated by his father. He went from Disney back to the slum. It must have been a bit shocking. He will get out of the slum, but the sad fact is, millions of others won't. The prostitution rings are also disturbing. I guess I was just trying to say there are other parts of India, as well. I just said it very badly.
ReplyDeleteIf a movie gets 8 oscars you must see it. If you don't want watch Slumdog Millionaire onlone you may download it from one of video sources or using such link Slumdog Millionaire download
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