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Is he a slumdog millionaire?
An Australian influencer has been accused of engaging in “poverty tourism” after filming himself “surviving” in an Indian slum, as seen in a viral Instagram video.
“I Tried Surviving India’s ‘Deadliest Slum,’” the content creator, known as Pete Z, captioned the controversial clip.
The neighborhood in question is Dharavi in Mumbai, one of the world’s largest slums, which was prominently featured in Danny Boyle’s Oscar-winning 2008 film “Slumdog Millionaire.”
The controversial clip starts out with footage of a woman being robbed before cutting to the Aussie and his friend Ayushi, who accompanies him on his pauper pilgrimage.
“We’re staying here for three days,” announces Pete while walking through a labyrinthine alleyway in Dharavi. “So this is actually the inside of the slums. Look how thin this area is that we’re in right now.”
The Youtuber then arrives at the site of his slum stint — a literal hole-in-the wall with a dinky kitchen and a ladder leading to the cramped bunk bed where he’s staying.
“Oh my goodness, time for me to go sleep now,” exclaims the content creator while climbing into the cot as he and Ayushi laugh at the shambolic arrangements.
In a longer version posted to YouTube, the poverty cosplayer is seen interacting with locals, including a pimp, and seemingly avoiding several robbery attempts as locals warn him it’s a “bad idea” for foreigners to stay there.
The clip did not sit well with commenters, who deemed the experiment sensationalist and accused the influencer of slumming it for social media clicks.
“Dharavi is not your adventure park,” criticized one, while another wrote, “This isn’t survival, it’s poverty tourism. Dharavi deserves respect, not clickbait.”
“Hey dingus, I’d suggest you to explore the other sides of India too,” said a third. “As most of your recent videos have just been placed in Mumbai’s rural areas.as an Indian myself, I do think there is some part of your audience who’s gonna judge the entire country based on that particular area you’ve covered.”
“This is just racism, hateful propaganda,” wrote one. “You don’t have to be scared. These people are poor but not like [the] ‘hood’ in Western countries.”
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