I find it be very interesting how After The Wedding illustrates to the audience the world of non-profit philanthropy organizations. Jacob, the head of a non-profit that takes in orphaned kids in India, is very enthusiastic and passionate about his work. He cares for the children on a personal level, even raising one child, Pramod, as if he were his own. He has an invested interest in the future of the organization because of his passion for helping the children. Jørgen, on the other hand, is the investor who has no interest in the endeavor of the organization but has the money to help. Jørgen must donate money to worthy causes in order to keep up appearances as a successful but giving business man. In this instance, he does have the ulterior motive of wanting to find someone to take care of his family after he dies. But, he still does not share the passions of the non-profit director, Jacob. Jørgen does not care about the children or helping others in the way that Jacob does. And yet, Jacob could not do what he loves and cares about without contributions from the non-interested wealthy people like Jørgen. This calls under question the motives of non-profit philanthropic organizations and what may be influencing them. For instance, Jacob may have been put to better use in Africa at the orphanage, but because of the influence from Jørgen, the source of his funds, Jacob is forced to leave and run his organization remotely.
We also see the difference among cultures in the movie. The main characters, living in the developed world, are constantly bombarded by personal problems and relationship issues. They are shown to be rather unhappy through much of the movie. Pramod represents the developing world and he seems to be much happier and less troubled than the other characters. Granted, he is a child, but the lesson is still evident. At the end of the movie, when he is given the option of going to the developed world with Jacob, his father figure, he gives up the chance because he is happy where he is. He has heard Jacob talking about how he doesn’t like the people where he is from and so Pramod doesn’t understand why he would choose to be with mean and unhappy people when he could be at home with the people he likes. He has everything he needs in the developing world, though he has much less in the ways of material things and luxuries. This shows that perhaps those in the developing world have priorities more focused on having a simple, happy life rather than focusing on more material aspects of life like developing countries seem to.
Nice job, Amber. There's an interesting comparison to made between Jacob and Jørgen's adopted children, because the latter, too, has taken on a child that's not his. But whereas Anna seems to have an excess of parents (and we can see the effects of this on her), Pramod is virtually no one's child. Jørgen becomes a kind of father to him as well, but at a very great distance. True, it's harder to read the daily priorities of the people in India because we hardly see them, but it's interesting how their parallel concerns (death, for example--we see a funeral at the beginning) are shown in the footage of the streets of Bombay.
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