I’m extremely picky about my love stories, mostly because they tend to lack any amount of substance. A fair amount of movies drive you onto an emotional freeway and kick you out of the car, leaving you to dodge tension and irony until you finally end up getting hit by an 18-wheeler of distress. The ambulance arrives, an I.V. of repentance is lodged into a vein, and you feel sudden relief. Anytime you combine good looking people and a fair amount of yelling you can convince an audience that there’s a problem. The truth is the world isn’t impacted in any profound way when a couple argues over what the other wears, or who left the toilet seat up. The real arguments are the ones between races and religions, between people with money and those with none. These arguments help to germinate environments of hate that unwillingly tear us away from those we love. “Slumdog Millionaire” explores the lengths someone will go for love in a world that seemingly won’t allow it.

“Slumdog” follows Jamal Malik, a boy growing up in the slums of Mumbai in India. After his mother is killed by religious rioters, he and his older brother, Salim, are forced to leave their home and survive any way they can. A young girl named Latika follows them, and eventually all three children are picked up by an orphanage. They try to escape one night, but only the boys make it out without being caught. Jamal then spends the rest of his youth trying to find her while Salim looks for new ways to make money and gain power. When all of Jamal’s efforts come up short, he decides to become a contestant on the Indian version of the famous television show “Who Wants to Be a Millionaire” as a last resort for finding the love of his life. Since it’s currently the most popular game show in India, he’s sure she’ll be watching.

This movie, as I’ve described it, isn’t much more than your typical love story. The genius is in how the movie is presented to the audience. While the story could have simply followed the protagonist through his life, it instead takes shape through flashbacks. The movie begins in a police station with Jamal being violently interrogated by the local authorities. They believe he cheated and they’ll only let him go if he explains how he knew all the answers. Each question he’s asked on the show happens to reflect a significant event in his life and in his search for Latika. This method of exposition gives us a reason for why we need to know about such specific moments in his life, and therefore keeps us interested in Jamal’s growth as an individual.

While most love stories obsess over the tension between lovers, “Slumdog” focuses on how current social issues affect the ways people live and love. For instance, the riot that takes Jamal’s mother’s life refers to real riots that took place between Muslims and Hindu people in various parts of the country, killing nearly 1000 civilians. The influence of the importance Western culture has placed on money also plays a big role in the film. At one point Jamal gives an American couple a tour of some countryside while Salim and other children strip a Mercedes the chauffeur left parked nearby. When the couple return to the vehicle and see it on bricks, the chauffeur starts beating Jamal. The husband has to rip the man off Jamal, who says, “Here’s a piece of the real India.” The wife replies, “Well here’s a part of the real America,” and looks at her husband who pulls out a c-note and passes it to a puffy-eyed Jamal.

“Slumdog Millionaire” is an extremely well-made film that shows us how culture affects the way we act and treat other people, as well as what we find important. As you follow Jamal’s transformation from boy to man you will begin to feel for him more intensely, in moments both painful and triumphant. I also encourage couples to see this film together because common relationship problems are merely spilled milk compared to the complexity of the obstacles these characters face.