comment #1

DeafBrownTrashPunk says ...

That doesn't surprise me. Desperate situations call for desperate measures. And fuck News of the World, such a stupid, tacky, xenophobic racist newspaper.

comment #2

AndrewOwens says ...

Man, this really crosses the line. It remind me of how psychologist would carry out soul destroying experiments on volunteers just to see how far people would go, without any thought to the long term psychological effects on the volunteers. The guy is from the slums, dealing with a rich sheik. He was probably terrified.

comment #3

AH says ...

What is going to happen to this kid now? Is the government going to step in and take her away from the family, esp. since this has become a high profile story?

comment #4

AH says ...

FYI: Not saying what the government should do, just curious what it will do.

comment #5

Chicago48 says ...

The girl is denying it -- she would because her dad probably punches her around. Poor kids, someone should rescue them.

comment #6

Chicago48 says ...

What's really sad is she could have been the Oscar nominee; or a Kids Choice nominee, and look how her family treats her.

comment #7

adaml says ...

Andrew,

Why would he be terrified? They didn't say 'give us your daughter or we'll kill you.' It was 'give us your daughter and we'll give you $200k'

comment #8

MeandMyselfandI says ...

Think I saw something like this on Law & Order.

comment #9

BurmaShave says ...

DeafBrown, I know this hits you close to home, but how backwards are you willing to bend over to defend this?

comment #10

DeafBrownTrashPunk says ...

why the fuck would I defend this, Burma? Being from Bihar (the poorest state in India), I've read too many stories like this and this isn't "shocking" anymore.

It's the Indian government's own goddamned fault that they're not helping the poor slum dwellers, who need money so badly, they'll sell their kids or marry their 5 years old daughter just for a goat.

comment #11

BurmaShave says ...

My apologies. "This doesn't surprise me" and "Desperate times..." sounded like rationalization to me. Glad I was wrong. I get what you mean now about not being shocked.

comment #12

D.J.Z. says ...

It'd probably be more helpful if Boyle wasn't such a cheap-ass about paying the kids now, instead of giving them some escrow account for when they reach a certain age. But then he only used them for Oscar-bait, so I guess he's not much better than the parents.

Deafbrown: It's really our fault for short-changing the country with our outsourcing, just because we can. At least China's smart enough to leverage our currency against us as payback for our half-assed manufacturing and food processing standards.

comment #13

BurmaShave says ...

Alright he speaks like DZ, he's as dumb as DZ, and he certainly shows the same shocking misinterpretation of facts as DZ... I'm confused. Genuine article? Is that you John Wayne? Is this me?

comment #14

AndrewOwens says ...

Adaml, he might be terrified because he's poor and (I assume) a little unworldly and thinks he's dealing with someone rich and powerful. People like that don't need to say "give me your daughter or we'll kill you". You would just assume that these people are not people you want to fuck with. So, maybe you be polite and pretend to consider it. I don't know, obviously, but the whole thing stinks of tabloid bullshit...but that's just me. Tragic situation for the kid, either way.

comment #15

BoshBarnetWonkyDonkey says ...

I liked the Fake Sheikh better when he was hoodwinking Sven.

comment #16

Chicago48 says ...

DJZ, you call Boyle "cheap"? You gotta be kidding? You haven't read his reason for setting up the trust fund have you? It's because of what type of fathers they live with, who drink the money away. And they're still "begging" for more money....as if the studio owes them a residual for life! Give me a break. The father should be glad that his daughter is the only one able to make money in the household. Too bad she doesn't have aunts and uncles who can take her away, or a British family that would take her from her family. This time next year we'll read that she was indeed "sold" or married off at 10 years old. The father should die a thousand deaths to give the family some relief.

comment #17

MovieBob says ...

If this is legit, in a perverse way maybe it can be a good thing. Everyone in the civilized world has seen Slumdog by now and most of them liked it - maybe having this thing that is a tragically common-enough practice in India and elsewhere happen to a child who's "real" to them will spur some action. India isn't "independently wealthy," it's recent boom times all have an external component, i.e. "business partner" developed nations that can "lean on them" to curb this sort of thing. Like it or not, it's the way The West is wired: Massive abject poverty? Eh, we feel bad but whatever. Fuck around with a cute kid from a movie we liked? MONSTERS!! WE MUST DO SOMETHING!!!

This is gonna sound very "ugly American" of me, but... yeah. If India (and China and Afghanistan and so on while we're at it) want to be "grownup" countries with nukes and free markets and international trade and all that, they need to knock this crap off. Or, hell, if they ARE gonna sell kids; sell `em to rich-ass people HERE who're at worst just looking for a trendy brown adoptee as opposed to a rape-doll (which, lets face it, is what any remotely worldly person has to assume would be the intent of "a rich sheikh" offering to buy a 10 year-old girl.)

comment #18

D.J.Z. says ...

Chicago: If the parents are that untrustworthy, why's he letting them stay with the children, when they're clearly being exploited? Considering what they do to girls in India in poor families in general, how does Boyle even know she'll live long enough to get the trust fund? Anyway, why shouldn't that family get paid more money? It was only the highest grossing movie of the year for Searchlight and an Oscar winner, and just another excuse for rich white people to pat themselves on the back by pretending they "care" about poor brown people. But I never once saw those fuckers giving back to the communities which got shot up by those terrorists around the same time.

Bob: Let's not knock India until we prosecute those Bush war criminals.

comment #19

Chicago48 says ...

DMZ: Let me get this straight. They should be paid "more" money, even though they signed a contract and were "unknowns" and are earning money as models and appearing in ads? So what do you propose -- residuals for life? And who gets the money? The alcholic dad or does it go into a savings account for the child, like here in America?

comment #20

Chicago48 says ...

The father is denying it...however, it all sounds suspicious from his side because the uncle chimed in and upped the price.

http://www.people.com/people/article/0,,20273620,00.html

Is this the alcoholic father?

If the newspaper is lying then the dad has a liable case against it, we'll see what he does. If they have a tape of the meeting, then he has no case.

comment #21

Chicago48 says ...

http://www.newsoftheworld.co.uk/news/271325/Slumdog-Millionaire-star-Rubina-Ali-who-played-Latika-is-offered-for-sale-by-dad-Rafiq-Qureshi-to-the-News-of-the-Worlds-Fake-Sheikh.html

Here's the link to the whole story. It sounds authentic to me. Poor kid.

comment #22

Jonah says ...

DZ said

"and just another excuse for rich white people to pat themselves on the back by pretending they "care" about poor brown people. "

Which is pretty much all you're doing.

comment #23

D.J.Z. says ...

Chicago: Why not? Boyle's good for it, judging by the movie's grosses.

Jonah: I'm rich? As for whether or not I care about everyone over there in general, well, I'm not sure about that. But I do know that Slumdog is basically the Bollywood answer to Crash and, as such, won't actually mean anything in a few months down the road.

comment #24

prairie_oysters says ...

If only she hadn't recently injured herself* falling of a horse I'm sure Madonna would have leaped in at this point and offered to pick up the tab for this girl. What about Brangelina? Surely their child minders could cope with another one too.

*the last time she 'fell off a horse' she strolled back into the public arena with a markedly more taught face. What's the chances she'll look fresher around the eyes again this time?