Othello

Othello, the Moor of Venice is a tragedy by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written in approximately 1603, and based on the Italian short story “Un Capitano Moro” (“A Moorish Captain”) by Cinthio, a disciple of Boccaccio, first published in 1565. The work revolves around four central characters: Othello, a Moorish general in the Venetian army; his wife Desdemona; his lieutenant, Cassio; and his trusted ensign Iago. Because of its varied themes — racism, love, jealousy, and betrayal. (Wikipedia, 2010).
Regarding to the element of the main character of most of the Shakespearean plays were flawed and easily manipulated, Othello was not an exceptional. During the time this play was written, black people or “moors” were banned from Britain unless they were slaves. This is because before the 1950’s there were no equal rights for human beings. People of any other colour than white were seen as inferior and as barbaric, (which when translated from Latin means someone who cannot speak a language). This is the stereotypical view most people had of black people at the time, however discrimination was accepted in society and was not questioned, and so because it was not a crime to be prejudice against black people, because at the time black people had no rights. In addition, a number of ethnic groups were subjected to racism and suffered as a result. These include racism against towards the presence of Moorish, Black and Asian immigrants coming into England. These ethnic groups were disadvantaged as they were given limited employment opportunities/entitlements and forced to take some form of domestic service. They were paid below the minimum wage which did not give them an adequate income to support themselves and their families. They were seen as second-class citizens, often treated with little respect and value and were perceived and treated as lesser beings and brutally persecuted for minor offences. Because black people are associated with peasant, ironically we can see that in this play, Othello is being honest, clever, and naive
There are three major points will be discussed further in this review.
First, the reason of Shakespeare using black people in this play is to make fun of the black people community as a whole. Since Shakespeare live in Elizabethan period, it is widely known that in this era, racism is the major concern. During the Elizabethan era, there were two primary types of racism. First, racism that discriminates (cultural, institutional). This form of racism was common in the workplace as well as in public places all over England. Second, racism that kills mainly as a result of extreme poverty. This type of racism is generally referred to as paternalistic racism. Paternalistic racism implies that white people have the right to interfere in the lives of blacks for their own good and the power to define that good. This, implied in this play. We can see that Iago is using everyone for the sake of letting Othello down. For this reason, Shakespeare make Iago as an antagonist character and Othello as the protagonist. However, the protagonist is so weak that he was able to be manipulated by the antagonist. Thus, the audience those days will have the idea of how weak black people could be and how easy of them being manipulated and influenced by the white people (represented by Iago) . The main input here was to make fun of the presence of the black people in England. Which mean, Shakespeare, suit with the living in Elizabethan era, was trying to pour the idea of the weaknesses of the black people. However, this point will be seen vague if the manipulation of Othello being compared to Cassio and Roderigo. Because, both of the characters are of white people. Therefore, second thought of the reason on why the main character was flawed in Shakespearean plays has been drawn.
Second, Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English defined ‘Moor’ as one of the Muslim people from North Africa who entered Spain in the 8th century and ruled the southern part of the country until 1492. Hence, Muslim is being referred here. Therefore, the reason of using flawed character in Othello is that, Shakespeare is trying to invade the idea of Muslims, being easily manipulated and influenced by others. Even for now, there are a lot of manipulation of Islam takes place. Sadly, there is no one to turn up for Islam. Islam community is seen defeated slowly by the others. We are easily influenced and manipulated. Our lifestyle changed and becoming more westernise. Othello is a Moor and therefore, he is easily defeated by the evil Iago. The characteristic of Othello being good, kind, and honourable man may represent Islam’s faith, but the characteristic of easily manipulated and influenced is the way, weak believers of Muslim carry themselves.
Third, contradict with the first idea, the reason why Othello is a flawed character is that Shakespeare was trying to be cynical towards those people who discriminate the black people at that time. Thus, this third idea is drawn from the conclusion of Shakespeare is not racist. And Othello is not a racist play. Because Shakespeare wrote a play about a black and white union, which was later destroyed, It is found that he is not racist. Shakespeare feels that the union between the two is right, but the relationship would never survive in a racist community at that time. He portrayed the union between Othello and Desdemona as a good thing, and the people who destroyed it, mainly Iago and Roderigo as evil. This shows once again that he approves of a black and white relationship and therefore was not a racist himself. This reason is the fine tuning of the first reason and therefore, answer the doubt of ‘if Othello is manipulated because of its skin colour, then why Cassio and Roderigo were manipulated as well’. The main idea here is, Shakespeare was trying to be cynical towards people in his era that discriminated the black people by giving a black man to act as the main character and represented as the protagonist, honourable, and kind. Evidence shown from this play is when The Duke of Venice whispered to Brabantio, father of Desdemona saying that, “If virtue no delighted beauty lack, your son- in- law is far more fair than black”. Hence, Shakespeare is trying to invade to the people and audience those days that, black people are not a bad people as they always think of.

Slumdog Millionaire: The Review

Slumdog Millionaire follows Jamal Malik, a teenage orphan from the ghettos of Mumbai who is one question away from winning 20 million rupees on the Indian version of the trivia game show Who Wants To Be A Millionaire?. As a "slumdog," though, there are those who believe that Jamal must have cheated to have come so far on the show, namely the police.
As a no-nonsense police inspector and his brutal, porcine subordinate relentlessly grill Jamal, the young man relates how he knew the answer to each question. Proving that life experiences count for as much if not more than learned knowledge, Jamal recounts how he and his older brother lost their mother when they were children to an anti-Muslim mob. Left to fend for themselves on the streets of Mumbai, Jamal and Salim turn to hustling and petty crimes to survive. Along the way, they meet another young orphan, the fetching Latika, whom Jamal falls in love with and will spend the next several years chasing.
Jamal and Salim encounter a benefactor who turns out to be a ruthless criminal and they soon make a desperate escape from his clutches. Latika, however, is not as lucky and, as he matures, Jamal makes it his mission in life to locate and save her. His brother Salim, meanwhile, grows more brutal with age, eventually becoming an outright gangster while Jamal gets a legitimate job as a tea boy at a call center. It is while working there that Jamal lands a spot on Who Wants To Be A Millionaire?
It becomes clear As Jamal relates his story to the inspector that the youth has no real interest in the fortune that he stands to win. So what's driving him? As Jamal gets closer and closer to the jackpot, he becomes an overnight celebrity and a beacon of hope for the millions of viewers who live the same hardscrabble life he has thus far led. Each chapter of his story reveals the key to the answer to one of the game show’s questions. Therefore, the game show really reflects Jamal’s life simultaneously. Still, Boyle succeeds in leaving these creepy beginnings behind to create a film that’s full of warmth and humanity and forever looks on the bright side of tragedy.
Jamal mentioned in the film “You don’t have to be genius” several times. For this reason, Jamal did not study anything in order to answer all of the questions given to him in the game show. Instead, the answers are all gained from his own experiences.
Jamal and his brother have been gambling about their life since they were kids. It is shown in the film when the police officer chased Jamal and his brother. In addition, there was a scene where people were chasing over Muslims community in Juhu. Jamal’s mother was killed and fortunately, Jamal and Salim managed to escaped. Unluckily, their escape brought them to the worst. There was a syndicate searching over Indians orphanage kids, and make them a beggar.
Their life was based on luck. Even in the game show, Jamal’s answers were determined by his luck. Surprisingly, all of the questions are parallel with what Jamal’s has gone through before. None of the questions asked, contradict with Jamal’s experiences. Even the police officers have doubt on him how he managed to answered all questions correctly because he is a ‘chaiwalla’. Jamal has the gut to play with his own life, destiny and fate. There are questions that he felt unsure, but still, luck has sparked on behalf of Jamal.
Another important element in this film is religion—explicit religion. It has only a cameo with Jamal, Salim, and Latika’s Muslim identities being only incidental to the story but brings great impact to the audience Earlier, when a gang of Hindu thugs overruns a group of women washing clothes, a young boy appears dressed as the Hindu god Rama. How one in a desperate situation, have will to convert or pretend to be other religion’s believer for the sake of his life. It is a game of his life, whether he want it that way (in terms of safety), or remain Muslim but being beaten and labeled as a terrorist. Only once, late in the film, do we see Salim in prayer asking divine forgiveness for a sin he is about to commit.
There does seem to be a theology to the film, however. Embedded in the opening question, as noted above regarding the slum-dog’s success, is the question: “How did he do it?” Throughout the movie we are left wondering whether Jamal is a cheat—the police assume that initially; lucky—seems plausible; a genius, probably not; or whether “it is written.”
As we work our way to the fade-to-white-light finish and the final answer, we become less and less persuaded that randomness, cheating, or even his personal brilliance drives Jamal’s story. Dev Patel plays Jamal as a fairly modest, ordinary guy: street smart and resilient, but not a genius.
Despite the presence of primarily Muslim main characters, there does not appear to be a particularly Islamic vision of divine mercy and inscrutability amid the squalor, terror, and glitz of Jamal’s life in global Mumbai. Rather, the film evokes the Hindu idea of divine play (Lila); Hindu literature is filled with stories of the devotee who triumphs over adversity through unwavering devotion to his or her deity, while the notion of one’s life being written or in the hands of destiny is a broadly shared Indian cultural perspective.
In terms of love, the point of the story is not whether Jamal will win the money but if he will get the girl. Jamal is playing the game because he wanted to search for his lost love, Latika. This put another shed of Jamal’s life determined by luck and he is merely playing a game out of his life. He is very confident, and brave in doing that.
Other elements in this film that will be discussed are human dignity, values and attitude of upper class, and education. For human dignity, Slumdog Millionaire exposed to the audience the lack of human dignity takes place not only in India, but all over the world. Jamal (Dev Patel) who appears in the Kaun Banega Crorepati (Who wants to be a millionaire) is ridiculed by the anchor Prem Kumar (Anil Kapoor).  It is shown as selling tea is ‘mean’ job and publicly ridicules him, repeatedly. This, is closely related to the attitude of the upper class society and their values towards their own people (low class society). The attitude of the upper class was represented by Prem Kumar (Anil Kapoor) when he informs the police that Jamal could have cheated because he wanted no body in the show to win.  He could not tolerate a socially lower class (caste) boy winning the prize of million rupees. Jamal once, mentioned to the police officer, who could not believe that he managed to win the game show saying that “just because I am a chaiwalla?”. Another evident is when the police officer asked Jamal whether she (Latika) is pretty or not, and the police assistant said “Bitch of slumdog”. Jamal got angry and there was a fight took place. The police officer then said “well, well...slumdog barks” (with referring to Jamal’ anger). Furthermore, children do not have opportunity for education.  In fact, they are kidnapped, maimed and sent to beg on the streets.  The money that is collected by begging is taken by the gang leader Maman.  ‘Missing children’ in India mostly end up as child beggars in big cities.
The starving children steal food in a moving train, roughed up and thrown from the running train.  Miraculously they escape.  The way the children are treated for this crime is horrific.
This film revealed the true story of India and their poverty in life. Similar to ‘Who wants to be a Millionaire’, life is a game show for them. The movie important element is the heroic spirit and devotion that Everyman Jamal displays as he confronts the game show of life. At the opening scene, a title card is presented: "Jamal Malik is one question away from winning 20 Million rupees. How did he do it?
A) He cheated,
B) He's lucky,
C) He's a genius,
D) It is written.
At the end of the film, the answer is given as ‘D’ - written.  This promotes the idea of ‘karma’ where everything is predetermined and nothing could be changed. Thus, the film has opened the window to view the ground realities in India.  Instead of contesting the portrayal, leaders of India should work to address it.

REFERENCES
http://www.wikipedia.com
http://www.southasianconnection.com