The news article about the Slumdog child actors being re-housed is confoundedly outrageous. Not that they are being re-housed, but that they even had to be. Imagine being in the spotlight briefly on Oscars night, then returning to the slums. That their participation in an Oscar-winning film did not earn them enough to even move out of the slums is unbelievable. Apparently, the fairy tale world in which they starred did not exist for them. There was no happy ending until their own government decided to provide them with decent homes.

I don’t care how Mr. Boyle wants to justify it. Paying them more than the local wage amounts to significantly less than minimum wage here. And it wasn’t even enough to help their families get a leg up. This is clear exploitation. And how much do you suppose Slumdog earned? Don’t these kids get a share in the royalties? The only millionaires in Slumdog were the executives.