Slumdogs and slavery

On the Monday morning following the Oscars, U.S. news websites splashed the announcement that the “little film that could,” “Slumdog Millionaire,” had garnered the Best Picture of 2008 award. Buried on many of the same web pages was news that 48 children had been rescued from prostitution, and several pimps were arrested during the previous week in an FBI sting operation. The juxtaposition and implied importance of the two news stories was striking.