Tuesday, June 23, 2009

Slumdog

Damn... it should have won the Best Picture Oscar.
The premise was that - all of one's previous experiences dictate one's future.
The protagonist had an effed up life - but when his time came to shine, it was the lessons learned from those experiences that enabled him to act and answer correctly.

Do I hate fat women? I don't think so.
Do I hate loud women? Not necessarily.
Do I hate forceful women? Not all
But do I hate fat, loud and forceful women? Yep. But it's based on the experiences from my childhood.

This can also be applied to racist people.
Racism is learned.
No one is born hating another person predicated on race.
One's previous experiences and that which he is taught by his prevailing culture will determine one's level of racist views.

If a little white kid was always beaten and robbed of his lunch by all the Black kids at his school - he will probably resent Black people.
If a little Mexican girl was raped by a white guy - she will probably hate white people.
If a little Black kid is made to feel inferior by his mostly Asian environment - he will probably grow up to resent Asians.

But the inverse is also true.
If one is treated well by another group - his resentment and fear will be less.

Fear is natural. So are hate, love, trust, envy and admiration.
These emotions (well... any emotions) don't have to be taught.
The only things that are taught are who to hate, fear, trust, admire and so on.
This is just a part of one's learned culture.
Racism, sexism, elitism, etc. are just learned responses - they are not inherent.

So why Slumdog?
Because the smart thing to do is to use even one's bad experiences and hardships as a learning ground to develop one's abilities.
Because even bad experiences can be used to one's advantage.

10 comments:

brohammas said...

My having sworn off rated R movies leaves me both out of touch and un-cool.
That movie has me questioning this specific conviction.

uglyblackjohn said...

@ brohammas - 'Slumdog' was rated "R"?

C'mon bro, the shows on regular TV are pretty much "R" rated.

FreeMan said...

I agree as I can always remember not being part of the group as the reason why I was able to deal with a lot of time being by myself in my thoughts through life. Mexicans are case in fact for me because since I grew up with them they were never a problem. Now I meet other blacks who damn near want to kill them. So what's the answer?

brohammas said...

yeah, I know. I don't watch many of them either.

uglyblackjohn said...

@ FreeMan - I thought YOU knew...

Blah Blah Blah said...

...funny that...
Well, of course I have my own thougths about my recent life experiences and I have come into some kind of feelings about who I am that has made me have to write it...yet, because of said life experiences...I have yet found the words to write it. Confused yet?....yea, well me too...but it's going to be written and all because...well in part due to you ...this post.

yea...blah blah blah...

Good read.

FreeMan said...

I know what works for me and I speak from that point of view. I don't know everything but I have a good idea on how one should proceed!

RunningMom said...

I knew a white guy once who said that generally he didn't like/trust black people because a group of black guys locked him in the trunk of his car.

So I asked him: "if a bunch of white guys would have locked you in your trunk would you hate them too?"

Why is it that we can hate other races or social groups based on a singular incident, but not hate our own group if they do the same thing? Aren't we smart enough to know that you cannot base an opinion of an entire population on the actions of a few?

I'm glad I was raised to know better.

RunningMom said...

Oh, and Slumdog was a GREAT movie, brohammas - break the rule, it's worth it.

uglyblackjohn said...

@ Blah... - Confused? Yep... quite often.
I've found that the more I thought I knew - the less I actually knew.

@ Freeman - I think that THAT is the idea (The telling of one's methodology for use by another who may wish - or be forced - to follow the same path.).

@ RunningMom (And FreeMan @ 10:36) - The lack of interaction usually causes us to have a limited (and usually flawed) view of another group.
Because many of us have a possitive to balance the negative experienced by our own, we can generaly gain a better understanding of the whole.