Article: Slumdog comprador: coming to terms with the Slumdog phenomenon.(GLOBAL CINEMA)

Every time a film made by a Western director about India gains critical acclaim in the West, two related phenomena seem to also occur: the greatest hits of negative stereotypes are brought out and served up in the film (think poverty, squalor and general backwardness), even as the 'usual suspects' emerge to tout its merits. I am referring, of course, to the comprador class of critics, those native-born, self-styled authorities who are summoned to validate the authenticity of the work at hand--and to defend it against the potential critiques of their brethren. With this year's Oscar winner, Slumdog Millionaire (2008), one witnesses the reemergence of both phenomena. In ...

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