Slumdog -- A Little Boy with a Big Heart

"In life, I've learned when you seek for the thing that's right, you sometimes get what you bargained for and more."

Reflecting

Today, I'm with a friend and I want to see and share a movie that I know will speak to me.

Understanding

I want to learn from different cultures and from others who are less fortunate.

Negotiating

Danny Boyle's Slumdog Millionaire touched my heart in more ways that I can count. The movie touched me in so many ways that I was twisted and torn. Yes, I was deeply moved by the amazing love story of an indigent, ill educated and illiterate boy who wins the big jackpot and the love of his life -- it was inspiring and uplifting. But I was saddened by the poverty and hopelessness that was so prevalent in the Mumbai slums. This is real life conditions in many places around the world: India, Colombia, China, Vietnam -- and a movie like this does only so much to educate the world of people's plights.

Another part of the movie I found ingenious was how Jamal knows the answers to "Who Wants to be a Millionaire." Certain things have happened to him in his life and the game show just happens to ask questions about those specific things.

And the real reason he is on the show is to get in touch with the girl that he loves but has lost. Jamal is not even there to win the prize money. He just wants to win his girl. In the end, he wins both.

"In life, I've learned when you seek for the thing that's right, you sometimes get what you bargained for and more."

Inspiring

Slumdog is inspiring because like Jamal, it is an unlikely candidate for this grass-roots story taken in the slums of Mumbai to win best picture. I truly believe this movie can win.

I was truly touched, inspired, and at times in tears.

Navigating

Today, I'm a winner because I learned nuggets of truth from the amazing, life-affirming story of a illiterate boy from the slums of Mumbai who wouldn't give up on his quest for love

We Are One Concert

Beyonce, Bono, The Boss -- Neida, Sarah and I attended this awesome and awe inspiring concert on the Mall -- and yes, we made History.

We arrived three hours before, and I'm glad we did.   We heard horror stories of people arriving as early as 0900 (7 hours prior).  And when we got done and were eating at a local Greek restaurant, heard stories of people being turned away (including my roommate who had to watch it from a jumbotron at the Washington Monument).

So we made it -- inside and in the mix of things.

This was the most amazing line of stars I've ever witnessed personally.

Beyonce, Bono, Bruce Springsteen, John Mellencamp, Usher, Shakira, Sheryl Crow, Josh Groban and James Taylor. 

Other performers included Stevie Wonder, Renee Fleming, Garth Brooks, Mary J. Blige, Herbie Hancock, Heather Headley, John Legend and Jennifer Nettles. Historical passages will be read by Jamie Foxx, Martin Luther King III, Queen Latifah and Denzel Washington

President-elect Obama, Vice President-elect Biden and their families attended.  Obama gave a terrific speech -- Wow, and from a previous speechwriter, it was better than anything I've ever heard in a very long time.

Also, my cell phone (Verizon) lost service in the Mall (it is more than likely that the cell tower signals were scrambled).  And I even lost my friends when I went to use the restroom -- Scary -- trying to find them without my cell was like trying to find the right duck in the reflecting pool.

And when the last patriotic tone was sung, we were joyful, inspired and enlightened.  Watching history, and making history at the same time -- was well worth getting up early and braving the crowds and blistering sub-twenty-degree weather.  

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QpwAPfidN5s