I usually hate happy endings in movies. They may be fine for movies like Rudy, but for many films, happy endings often ring false and feel like cheap cop-outs. Yet for reasons I explain in the video below, I actually enjoyed the ultra-gooey finale of Slumdog Millionaire. And I’m totally thrilled that the movie won the Best Picture award at Sunday’s Oscars.
Perhaps because America’s economic story and outlook has become almost as depressing as the childhood of Slumdog protaganist Jamal Malik, it’s somehow fitting that we allowed ourselves to be gloriously deluded by inspiring, well-earned Hollywood ending bullshit.
After all, isn’t that on some level what our faith in Barack Obama is all about – the ability to believe in happy endings despite the overwhelming obstacles in our way and the sheer absurdity of such beliefs.
Other Best Picture nominees this year have displayed some strikingly relevant themes for our time, but no film fits the current zeitgeist better than Slumdog Millionaire. So I’m thrilled that the movie got its own happy ending by winning the Best Picture award.
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