Is Slumdog Millionaire a ‘poverty porn’?

Media allegations have accused the film of being ‘poverty porn’ and also that glamorising slum life appeared deliberately placed to play on the liberal guilt of Oscar voters. “Slumdog grit draws boos from Hollywood” was the headline on one story that reported some of Mumbai’s poor were offended by representations in the film.

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“They are making out that India is a Third World, dirty underbelly, developing nation," carped Amitabh Bachchan, one of the Bollywood's leading film heroes. Some Mumbai tabloids denounced it as a "slum slam" that has given the Poverty Tourism a monolithic pop-culture hook.