Slumdog millionaire

I know, I know, we're a little behind the times, but last night we finally watched Slumdog Millionaire. Spoiler alert - don't read further if you are just as behind as I have been. I liked how the story was told through flashbacks, and thought it was a very good movie. I would not, however, call it "the feel-good film of the decade":

Sure, in the end, he finally gets the girl he's been searching for, but not after experience a slew of horrors that no child should ever have to live through. It isn't a feel-good movie. If anything, as a viewer, I'm relieved that, finally, something goes right for this kid at the end of the movie.

What did stick out to me in this movie, similar to "My Name is Khan", is how it highlights how much violence occurs due to the conflict between Hindu and Muslim individuals in India. In the US, at least in my experience, Hinduism is generally regarded as docile, but I suppose, like any religion (or most religions), it isn't inherently good or bad, but subject to the biases of its followers. I know a lot of wonderfully open-minded religious people (for which I count myself lucky), but can't help but feel like there are too many (i.e. more than zero) acts of hatred and violence perpetrated in the name of one religion or another.