Why "Slumdog Millionaire" shocked America!

I am a huge fan of SlumdogMillionaire, and of course AR Rahman's incredible soundtrack that has becomeworld famous. Indians across the world feel empowered by Jamal's story oftriumph! Jai Ho!But, generally when I ask my American friends whatthey thought about Slumdog Millionaire I get two reactions:"Wow, isthat what India is really like?""I hated it. That movie was too difficultto watch."Why such fascination and such disdain all within the samefilm? Why did Slumdog Millionaire produce such reactions from so much of theAmerican public?And the answer for a millionrupees......Was it?A) the scenes of the slumlord's blindingJamal's friendB) the child prostitutionC) the massive pile of poopthat Jamal voluntarily lands in to get Amitabh Bachchan's autograph?D) allof the above.I'd say D.Most Americans like comfort. Welike to shade ourselves from hearing sad stories, especially if they involvechildren. We labour long and hard to invent new contraptions that will make ourbaby's life easier.We work long hours to save money for vacations to warmbeaches and quality family time with our kids. We like our light-hearted Disneycomedies, but we also like our "Saving Private Ryan" with historical militaryvalue, blood and gore. So why the hard feelings aboutSlumdog?My quick answer----the children.SlumdogMillionaire defied our comfort. It put us in the stinky, scary slums of Mumbai.It showed violation of children's rights laws that we detest in America. Itshowed people getting away with crimes that are punished by imprisonment in theUS.It offended America's sense of justice and left us with a feeling ofraw emotion and shock. Slumdog Millionaire took us beyond the walls of shinyHollywood life. Jamal, Latika and Salim usher us into a world that often timesis invisible to the public. Most Indians know that most children donot live like this. Most parents invest in their children, send them to the bestschools they can afford and do their best to prepare the nextgeneration.But there is always that bottom 100,000,000 to 200,000,000people in India for whose lives we can't see. Indians have somehow learned tolive with the messiness of life and the fact that extreme poverty DOESexist.The thought of that kind of child abuse was simply unbearablefor most American people. Americans are in love with JUSTICE. Punishing the badguy. Fighting corruption and seeing the underdog win. We have a superherocomplex.When Americans see that kind of suffering, we feel badbecause we can't do anything and therefore write off a movie like Slumdog 'bad'or 'difficult to watch'. With that being said, there are many things Americanscan learn from Slumdog Millionaire.We should be able to live withthe messiness of life. Yes, it is important to be aware of the suffering thatpeople are going through around the world. But we can't load a guilt trip onourselves for not being able to fix it.Compassion is important.Advocacy is important. But we have to start at the firststep---KNOWLEDGE!