Media Essay

Text: Slumdog Millionaire 
Question: Representation of Women 
Essay: Structurally the whole of Slumdog Millionaire is based on Jamal finding and being in love with Latika. Even though it is based on Latika she is hardly ever in the film and is a trivial part of the film. Every time that we seen Latika she is being controlled by a man. She is essentially Propps character type' Princess' and is a prize for the men in the film. When we first see her she is being rejected by Salim and is forced to sit out in the rain.She is the less important one of the trio and is ordered around by both but mostly Salim. When the trio are taken in by Mamon , she offers to help when working however is given a new born baby to look after. This is reinforcing the typical views that women are there to provide for a man and their only job is to look after children. After Jamal and Latika are separated the next time that we see her is when she is being controlled by Mamon, we soon understand that he is preparing her to entertain clients of Mamon which which are likely to be men. In the scene she is dressed in the traditional Indian women's dress and headpiece. They brightness of her clothing and dancing are juxtaposed to the dark and dingy setting of scene. But also challenges the views of Indian women and presents them as being objects that men control. Mamon calls her Cherry which could have sexual connotations. This is supported when he comments that she is his 'little virgin'. The scene sees Jamal and Salim turning up and eventually killing Mamon which in turn saves Latika. Towards the ending of the film we get a glimpse of the environment that Latika and Salim live in. There are girls that are simply there to dance for the men's entertainment and Latika can be seen as a slave who cooks and cleans for him. She is shouted at when she makes one of her sandwiches wrong. The end of the film sees Latika being won by Jamal. This is typical of her character type . The only other women that has a certain amount of screen time is Jamal and Salim's mother at the beginning of the film. We see her in a domesticated role, she shouts at the two boys when she catches them running away from the Police officer. She instantly drags them and throws them into a room which resembles a make shift school. Later on in the slum scenes she is washing clothes with other women, she is eventually killed off when she has served her purpose in the narrative and is never seen again in the film Even though the film does centre around the journey to find a women there is very little in terms of character development for women and shows that for this film they are provided with a negative representation. 

Completed: YES Word Count: (Highlight essay, look bottom left corner) 503 Grade: