Slumdog Millionaire

Slumdog Millionaire

            The 2008 film Slumdog Millionaire is an award winning masterpiece that captured the attention of millions, and tugged at their heartstrings, too. It is a love story that is different from any other, and shows the meaning of true dedication. There are also many psychological concepts present in this film, mostly having to do with memory. The main character uses his memory to ultimately be successful.

            The movie Slumdog Millionaire goes back and forth between three main settings and time periods. The first setting being Jamal Malik, the main character, on the set of India’s Who Wants to be a Millionaire? as a contestant on the show. The second setting is Jamal being interrogated by the police for allegedly cheating on the show. The third setting is actually several settings, and they are flashbacks to Jamal’s childhood. The plot of this movie is not completely obvious from the beginning, but as it progresses the plot becomes clearer. Jamal Malik is an eighteen-year-old orphaned assistant at a telecom company from the slums of India. He enters himself onto India’s version of Who Wants to be a Millionaire? and continues to get the answers to the questions correct. The fact that a “slumdog” with no formal education could get all of the answers to such difficult questions correct raised some suspicion among the authorities. After the first night of being on the show, Jamal was captured and taken to the police station for interrogation. Everyone assumed that he was a cheater, when in actuality he had personal experiences for every question that led him to the answers. The movie shows flashbacks of Jamal’s childhood and even recent past to show how he gets the answers. Jamal retells his experiences to the people that are interrogating him, and reveals his true purpose for being on the show. He did not enter for the money, but to find his lost love, Latika. Latika and Jamal met when they were small children, and were separated after they had grown very close. Jamal spent several years after that trying to find her, risking his life several times in the process. He knew that Latika watched the show Who Wants to be a Millionaire?, so he entered himself on the show hoping she would see him. Jamal was released from the police station after he convinced them that he truly did know the answers, and the next day he was back on the show to finish up. Jamal won all of the prize money because he got the final question correct, and then he goes to the train station where he told Latika he would wait for her every day until she came for him. Jamal waits and sees Latika in the distance and runs to her, and the movie ends with them sharing a kiss. Jamal’s hard work and perseverance paid off in the end because he found his true love.

            There are many psychological concepts in the movie Slumdog Millionaire. Most of these concepts have to do with memory. Memory is defined as the persistence of learning over time through the storage and retrieval of information. Jamal Malik had to use his memory throughout the entire movie, as he was on a game show that asked questions that required him to pull from his memories of past experiences. Jamal pulled many of his memories from something called his long-term memory. Long-term memory is defined as the relatively permanent and limitless storehouse of the memory system, and it includes knowledge, skills, and experiences. Almost all of his memories were experiences from his childhood that he had stored in his long-term memory. For example, his memory of meeting his favorite famous actor was stored in his long-term memory because it happened when he was a small child and he still could recall it years later. Most of his memories could be considered flashbulb memories, which are clear memories of an emotionally significant moment or event. All of his memories were of his past experiences that were emotionally significant to him in some way. For example, his memory of his mother being murdered was extremely traumatic to him, and he remembered every detail of the incident as a result. Another category of memories that Jamal’s memories fall under is called explicit memory. The explicit memory is memory of facts and experiences that one can consciously know and declare. All of his memories were explicit because he was conscious of them. All of his memories were also episodic memories, which is one type of explicit memories. Episodic memories give an important record of personal experiences. Because all of his memories were of his own experiences, Jamal’s memories can be classified as episodic. Jamal’s memories were measured using recognition. Recognition is a measure of memory in which the person need only identify items previously learned. Because all of the questions he was asked were multiple choice, Jamal only had to recognize the one right answer among the three wrong answers. There are many psychological concepts presented in the movie Slumdog Millionaire, and most of them have to do with memory.

            All of the psychological concepts in the film Slumdog Millionaire were presented accurately. The movie was centered around the main character’s memories, and concepts such as long-term memory, flashbulb memory, explicit memory, episodic memory, and recognition were obviously and correctly displayed. Long-term memory was accurately presented because all of his memories were from his past. Flashbulb memory was also correctly portrayed because he remembered every detail of what happened in his traumatic or emotionally significant memories. Explicit and episodic memories were correctly presented in the film because his memories were of his own experiences and he was conscious of them. Recognition was also correctly displayed by the multiple choice questions, which he only needed to recognize the correct answer, rather than recall it directly from memory. The psychological concepts in the movie were all accurately presented.

            Slumdog Millionaire is an intricate love story in which true tests of memory determine the fate of the characters. The main character in the movie enters himself onto a game show where his memories help him answer the questions, and lead him to his true love. There are many psychological concepts in the movie as well, most of which touch on the subject of memory. There are several different types of memories displayed in this movie, and there are all accurately presented. Slumdog Millionaire is a movie that is interesting and educational, and will be enjoyed by many for years to come.

Works Cited

Myers, David G. Myers' Psychology For AP. New York: Worth, 2011. Print.

"Explicit Memory." Brain Training Software, Brain Fitness, Brain Games, BrainHQ. Posit            Science, 2013. Web. 25 Feb. 2013.