Slumdogging it: will a movie boost India’s ‘slum tourism’?
Will Oscar-tipped Slumdog Millionaire see a rush of tourists on Mumbai’s shantytowns? That’s what the Telegraph has predicted. It seems this could be the City-of-God-versus-the-favela-tour controversy all over again.
The subject was picked up today on Vagablogging. “I’ve never really understood how movies inspire people to travel,” writes the author. Really? Big sweeping movie images of a foreign land just don’t do it for you?
A Vagablogging reader adds: “It’s easy to judge a ‘poverty tour’ without actually experiencing one but ironically slum tours can be very educational and may be the very way to start change.”
I’m not sure about the irony, but other than that, I agree. I’ve touched on this subject before with Harlem “ghetto” tours and I’m sure I will again.
Tourists here in Buenos Aires could confine their entire visit to the trendy neighbourhood of Palermo and think Argentina is the land of milk and honey (with lattes, wine and steak thrown in too). Many will never see the shanty towns here, which unlike Brazil, are kept more hidden away.
I visited one – the notorious Villa 31 – on a previous stay, not on a tour but with a friend. She was a local headmistress, who was looking to set up a teaching programme there and get some volunteers from overseas to help out. I can’t see that this is a bad thing. I’m meeting up with her again in the next couple of weeks and will report back on how she got on…
dear vickey, this film is a fiction, do u think that it is the real and whole india or u think that ppl will come to see slums in india. yor are welcome to my place i will show u what is india on my cost. not only u but every one is makin noise on slumdog
Hi Kishore. I have spent time in India. Of course, it’s not one big slum! The film is fiction, but are you saying there are no areas like the ones featured? Some people already do take these tours with a company called http://www.realitytoursandtravel.com/
Oh and many thanks for the offer to come and visit! If I end up that way, I’ll get in touch. Am sure you could give me a v interesting local perspective. There’s certainly a vast amount to see in India and, like any country, so many different sides to it.
hi vicky i am a dam fan of your writing reading you and also following you coz u r really tooo good. i agree vid u that we hav all these things around us but it is’t the last fact. i will wait for nice company , thaks
Hi Vicky
Looking forward to the follow up blog you mention when you next catch up with your friend
This story about SlumDog boosting what some call ‘voyeuristic’ tourism is getting quite heated and probably not going to go away
I can only hope that the film will encourage people to get under the surface of India and all its parts rather than just skimming over the surface.
I do agree – raising these issues is good and could lead to change in perception, and it’s great to raise awareness of local issues.
But there is always the risk of bandwagon jumping and ultimately exploitation with poorly managed tours.
Prefer the idea of visits being tied in with well managed volunteering programme (another hot topic!!) so really looking forward to reading more.
Sally
For YSP
Thanks Kishore! Very nice of you.
Good to see you on here too, Sally. Thanks. Absolutely spot on, as always. Sensitivity is the key, and no bandwagoning.
I think the danger is when these things become a “must do” and people sign up without engaging their brains. I saw this happening in the Bolivian prison I wrote about the other wk. Sure it’s a bit of a thrill, makes a gd story for the folks back home etc. But there’s a lot more to the story that that…
Ok that wasn’t slum tourism, but it was voyeuristic.
Isn’t it odd how some tours can be so voyeuristic and yet people still go into them with their eyes closed?
Movies have definately inspired me to travel to certain places. Not that I didn’t already want to visit the place, but a well shot film with an interesting story line makes a location even more desirable.
I agree with the prediction that more travelers will head to India’s slum because of the film, but they’re hard to miss for any traveler to India. They not particularly well-hidden.