Social inequality in films

In this blogpost I’ll illustrate my views on how films can make you more aware of social inequality. I have chosen the two films “The Blind Side” and “Slumdog Millionaire”, and I’m going to compare how they both deal with social inequality.

I think films really can make you more aware of social inequality. By watching you’ll see an apparent class distinction around the world. You also see how many people growing up and living in bad conditions. Often a town can be divided into a rich side and a poor side. There are a lot of people living on the rich side, and they don’t even think about or notice the poor people. Some of them don’t even dare to visit the poor side and is thinking bad thoughts about the people living there. By seeing how people live you should appreciate more what you have and all the opportunities you have. You should also show more consideration to others and be aware of that many people suffer and are living in poverty.

I believe it’s great to see films with social inequality so you get more perspective on how the world is and how people live. This gives you more knowledge about other people and you learn to respect everyone and their lifestyle. There shouldn’t be social inequality in the world, and no one deserves to die because of bad living conditions. 

On school last week we watched “The Blind Side”. The film is mainly about a family that takes care of a homeless boy called Michael Oher. The boy has been living in different foster families since he was little because of his mother’s drug addiction. He starts at school and doesn’t manage so well. His new family hires a tutor to give him extra lessons at home. Soon Michael’s school performance improves. He starts playing football and everyone can see that Michael actually got football talent. He’s strong and good at protecting himself and the other team players.

This film contains social inequality by showing how Michael grew up and the clear separation between rich and poor in Tennessee. We see that he grew up in a poor district with almost no clothes, sleeping on the floor, a lot of drugs and violence. The environment the family lives in is richer, and the people can afford what they need. We can see a clear social inequality between the two class distinctions in the city. In the film when Michael and Leigh Anne went to visit Michaels mother on the poor side, we can see that Leigh Anne is sitting afraid in the car. You can easily see she doesn’t like the place or the environment Michael grew up in.

“Slumdog Millionaire” is about a poor boy called Jamal Malik. He lives in the slum in India and grows up with bad living conditions. Jamal joins the competition “Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?” and is one question away from the prize. Then the police arrest him and suspect him for cheating because of the impossibility of a “slumdog” knowing all the answers. He uses flashbacks from his life to remember the answer to the questions, and the film shows many of these. The film is also about Jamal’s way of finding back to his friend, Latika.

“Slumdog Millionaire” also contains social inequality in the way the police arrest Jamal. As said earlier they only arrest him because he’s a “slumdog”. They think he’s too smart to be able to answer the game-questions. The police are also treating him bad in prison and they’re hanging him from the ceiling and giving him electric shock. I believe this is wrong, and I’m sure many others will agree to this. Jamal is innocent, and they can’t treat him bad and set him to prison only because of his living conditions. There has to be allowed to have a lot of knowledge even though you live in the slum.

As a conclusion I’ll say watching films about social inequality is informative and helpful for later life. You get more perspective on how the world is and how people live. Both of the films includes social inequality but in two different ways. The first one is about two town-sides and the clear distinction, and the second one about being treated bad because of your lifestyle. Something common in the films is that people are being thought bad about if they live in poverty. The poor people in the films are also seen as less worth and dumber without an education.