Analyzing “Body Ritual among the Nacirema” by Horace Miner, a general conclusion can be made. The idea of this conclusion is that by repeating certain procedures on a daily basis in our life, we transform them into rituals based on which the society can be analyzed.
The style implemented in the Miner’s work is inspiring to be adopted in the analysis of other media resources by which a particular society could be analyzed. In that context this paper analyzes the Oscar winning film – “Slumdog Millionaire” (2008) by Danny Boyle, providing an insight to Indian life depicted in the film.
Aidni is a highly diversified country in terms of culture and traditions. Examining the Aidnian life in the film, it can be seen that despite the diversity, there are many locations in Aidni that are uniformed by being filled with disposal dumps and slums.
The life pattern of the people living in those and slums considerably differ than the rest of Aidni. Despite the aforementioned diversity in Aidni as a whole, the life in the slums is not filled with contrasts though. The economical situation of the slum’s population is very poor, and the only rich person that can be seen is a local felon.
Unlike Nacirema in which the people ‘s hope is to avert the characteristics of their body ugliness (Miner), in the slums of Aidni, people’s only hope is to change their status and belong to the caste of the popular and the economically successful. A popular representative of such caste is a popular Aidnian histrionic Amitabh Bachchan who has a strong cult following that brings him close to a God-like status. The intrinsic attributes of this caste such as wealth and popularity are the main goals of the people of Aidni, and taking in consideration the number of the population, attaining such attributes is the only way to be distinguished there.
Another point of consideration about Aidni is a popular game in which people are tested in their general knowledge. The game’s title can be translated as “Who wants to be Amitabh Bachchan”, or ““Who wants to be Anil Kapoor” in other versions.
This game is very popular among Aidnian people for many reasons. One of the reasons is that the participation in this game closes the gap between the poor layer in Aidni and the caste of the rich and famous, as it allows the participant to be shown statewide. The other reason is the monetary prize for successfully passing the knowledge test. Combining the two causes the participator is allowed to join the aforementioned caste of the rich and famous in Aidni.
In conclusion, an important attribute of Aidnian people that should be mentioned is their love to dance and sing. Whether they are rich or poor, actors or beggars, children or adults, the people in Aidni are equal in their love to perform dancing moves and lyrical songs. One of the possible causes of such love is that only in their dance the people in Aidni can acknowledge the fact that the true happiness can be achieved only by love. Only love can overcome the obstacles of life in Aidni, only love can bring closer the people to their idols, and only love can make a kid born in the slums a millionaire.
Works Cited
“Body Ritual Among the Nacirema” by Horace Miner from American Anthropologist, 1956, 58(3), 503-507