Slumdog Millionaire (Determinism)

In the film Slumdog Millionaire, the movie opens with a question and a set of answers in the style of ‘Who Wants to be a Millionaire’.

“Jamal Malik is one question away from winning 20 Million Rupees. How did he do it?

(A) He cheated

(B) He's lucky

(C) He's a genius

(D) It is written

I thought that this was a clever approach in which the filmmakers did, since this is the exact same question and answer format that is seen on the game show “Who Wants to Be a Millionaire,” (“WWTBM”) which plays a large role in the movie. Yet after seeing this phrase, it was brought to my attention that the themes of both Free Will vs Destiny (or determinism) were bound to be prominent over the course of the film. As free will and determinism have been debated for over centuries, Slumdog Millionaire demonstrates how we do not have free will, but rather, live by the idea of destiny and fate, as seen through Jamal’s character.

In answering the question that is presented to us above, the movie shows us that the correct answer is (D) It is written, at the end the film (Sorry friends for spoilers, but this explanation will only makes sense if we have this piece of information!). The reason behind why D (“It is written”) is the answer helps convey and imply the idea that our outcomes are based on fate and our own experiences alone. A theme of this film is how things (in the movie and in real life) are due to fate. We see this with the questions that were asked on the game show, and how they had accounted for and related to Jamal’s life, where we get a glimpse of his past, while he’s successfully able to answer each question correctly. We see evidence of this with the very first question, which reads “Who was the star in the 1973 hit film 'Zanjeer'?" In a flashback that Jamal has, he quickly realizes that the answer is “Amitabh Bachchan,” a famous Bollywood star in which Jamal admired when he was little. In fact, Jamal had received his autograph, which made it more special and memorable to him. We see that there is some empiricism involved, where Jamal had gained knowledge from past experiences. For a quick refresher, determinism (or destiny in this case) is “... roughly the idea that every event is necessitated by antecedent events and conditions together with the laws of nature," according to the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (Hoefer). The ability for Jamal of getting correct answer for the question was triggered based off a past experience, and those specific events had led him to win the 20 million rupees and WWTBM. As we can see, it is evident that destiny outweighs Free Will, and Jamal was “determined” to win by fate. Thus, at the end of the film, Jamal says “This is our destiny.” He says this line to Latkia, who is his former childhood acquaintance to whom he now is reunited with and kisses, and supports the theme that everything is written.

Another example in which there is a lack of free will but a presence in determinism involve Jamal and Salim’s lifestyle. Both of the boys become orphans, after their mother is shot and killed in front of them by soldiers in the Bombay riots (which was a real life event in History). Obviously, as sad as this event may seem, Jamal and Salim did not have a choice in which their mother was going to die or not, since this action had occured extranouesly. Moreover, their choice to become orphans or seek care from Maman (an antagonist in the film who provided shelter, food, water, etc. for survival) was not based on their desires to do so, but rather, an outcome that was based on a previous event and the utter horror between life or death.