Movie Review

Slumdog Millionaire 

This movie portrays poverty in India today. It not only showed the extent of the poverty in the country but the extent of the rich. There seems to be extremes, not a lot of middle class people. In the story, a group of three children from the slums were taken by a child trafficker. The story follows the children throughout their lives. The worldview for this movie is related to working hard and never trusting others for anything. After working hard, one may never get anything back in return. Your home or "turf" should always be protected, no matter who or what you have to go against to protect it.

I agree with this worldview. The world is a bad place and having too high of expectations or trust for anyone could put you in great pain. Depending on only God and yourself to accomplish great things will never let you down. 

Emotional Battle

In 1969, psychiatrist Elisabeth Kubler-Ross outlined the 5 stages of the dying process -- denial, anger, bargaining, depression, and acceptance. She believes that suicide is wrong for terminally ill patients. She explains that "Lots of my dying patients say they grow in bounds and leaps, and finish all the unfinished business. [But assisting a suicide is] cheating them of these lessons, like taking a student out of school before final exams. That's not love, it's projecting your own unfinished business." Giving up too soon for these patients would give up the healthy process that sometimes brings the ultimate meaning to one's life.

I have always thought of the families' emotional battle with a terminally ill person, not necessarily the patients themselves. It makes sense to me that suicide would cut this emotional process short and I believe it is necessary but I also think prolonging a life could bring a great amount of suffering. I wonder which is more important.

Euthanasia in Athens

In Athens, magistrates kept a supply of poison for those who wished to die. The person wishing to commit suicide was required to plead their cause before the senate and obtain official permission. The guidelines were clear:

"Whoever no longer wishes to live shall state his reason to the Senate, and after having received permission shall abandon life. If your existence is hateful to you, die; if you are overwhelmed by fate, drink the hemlock. If you bowed with grief, abandon life. Let the unhappy man recount his misfortune, let the magistrate supply him with the remedy, and his wretchedness will come to an end." 

These "guidelines" really surprise me. It seems harsh to not only have the officials tell healthy people to kill themselves if they are not happy but to also give them the ways to do so. I wonder how the people of that time reacted to this.

Song Analysis

Hallelujah-Jeff Buckley

I like this song because it's difficult to figure out. It talks about God, music and love. The references to the women in this song are said to be about women in the Bible and their story. Musically, this song is acoustic and fairly simple which i appreciate, especially since the lyrics are so strong.

My favorite line from anything I've ever read is in this song, "Love is not a victory march, it's a cold and it's a broken hallelujah..." To me, it explains my life and what I've experienced with all kinds of love. It explains that love is never perfect, whether it's love in a relationship, with God, family or friends. Love is always hard, broken, cold but perfect in it's imperfection. I think this song explains that.

i heard there was a secret chord 
that david played and it pleased the lord 
but you don't really care for music, do you 
well it goes like this the fourth, the fifth 
the minor fall and the major lift 
the baffled king composing hallelujah 
hallelujah... 
well your faith was strong but you needed proof 
you saw her bathing on the roof 
her beauty and the moonlight overthrew you 
she tied you to her kitchen chair 
she broke your throne and she cut your hair 
and from your lips she drew the hallelujah 
hallelujah... 
baby i've been here before 
i've seen this room and i've walked this floor 
i used to live alone before i knew you 
i've seen your flag on the marble arch 
but love is not a victory march 
it's a cold and it's a broken hallelujah 
hallelujah... 
well there was a time when you let me know 
what's really going on below 
but now you never show that to me do you 
but remember when i moved in you 
and the holy dove was moving too 
and every breath we drew was hallelujah 
well, maybe there's a god above 
but all i've ever learned from love 
was how to shoot somebody who outdrew you 
it's not a cry that you hear at night 
it's not somebody who's seen the light 
it's a cold and it's a broken hallelujah 
hallelujah...