Diamond, Rough But Still Shines
Blood Diamond
Movie review by Nick Olds
Blood
Diamond is a guilt trip through the
diamond fields of Sierra Leone. The
point is driven home right from the intro.
“Millions died in the diamond fields of Sierra Leone, most of them having never seen a diamond.” Hoo boy, this
oughta be a load of laughs. Next we learn America purchases two thirds of the world’s diamonds. Ouch, that’s a blow
and it doesn’t take long for the self-loathing to start up after that. Then factor in Leo DiCaprio as the cutthroat
smuggler who uses his African guide (Djimon Hounsou) to find a rare pink diamond for him, with the intention of
keeping it himself, only to change his mind and give up the diamond on his death bed. Questionable morals at best and
not exactly typical holiday entertainment.
“Millions died in the diamond fields of Sierra Leone, most of them having never seen a diamond.” Hoo boy, this
oughta be a load of laughs. Next we learn America purchases two thirds of the world’s diamonds. Ouch, that’s a blow
and it doesn’t take long for the self-loathing to start up after that. Then factor in Leo DiCaprio as the cutthroat
smuggler who uses his African guide (Djimon Hounsou) to find a rare pink diamond for him, with the intention of
keeping it himself, only to change his mind and give up the diamond on his death bed. Questionable morals at best and
not exactly typical holiday entertainment.
But Blood
Diamond does have a Hell of a storyline that is a microcosm of
the overall concept: wealthy white man
exploits African man to find diamonds by dangling a reward of something he’d care about, then white man eventually
liberates African man, only after finding the diamonds and not just for the goodness of his heart. This is what makes
the picture so true to life. Any help given to African is never just good will and sometimes people can be hailed as
heroes when their intentions were something else entirely.
exploits African man to find diamonds by dangling a reward of something he’d care about, then white man eventually
liberates African man, only after finding the diamonds and not just for the goodness of his heart. This is what makes
the picture so true to life. Any help given to African is never just good will and sometimes people can be hailed as
heroes when their intentions were something else entirely.
And if that weren't enough to chew on, there are
other fish frying in Blood Diamond's
pan:
1) When anything worth trading is found in Africa, it's worth killing for.
2) International aid is not being distributed to the people who need it most.
3) Africa is being forced to catch up with the industrialized nations of the world when their culture inherently doesn’t
value what we do. Family is the most important end of the African people, whereas we say it too, but arguably financial
security is the end justified by any means in Western Culture.
4) America is both corrupter and potential helper, which pisses the world off, because we are seen as an overfed beast,
content simply to eat and shit, though preferably not in the same place. Hey, we've got some class.
5) America’s impact on Africa mirrors the mess in the Middle East: Diamonds = Oil; Africans = Iraqis, and African
Rebel Army = Al Qaeda.
6) American consumerist culture has a dark underbelly that does whatever it takes to get fed.
7) The media are self-interested businessmen, only motivated to investigate real problems if they sell papers.
8) The most powerful country in the world doesn't care about you unless you have something valuable to trade.
9) The Diamond Conspiracy: The diamond heads keep millions of diamonds off the market- thereby giving the illusion
that diamonds are rare, which in turn drives up their value.
10) Money only breeds the desire for more money.
1) When anything worth trading is found in Africa, it's worth killing for.
2) International aid is not being distributed to the people who need it most.
3) Africa is being forced to catch up with the industrialized nations of the world when their culture inherently doesn’t
value what we do. Family is the most important end of the African people, whereas we say it too, but arguably financial
security is the end justified by any means in Western Culture.
4) America is both corrupter and potential helper, which pisses the world off, because we are seen as an overfed beast,
content simply to eat and shit, though preferably not in the same place. Hey, we've got some class.
5) America’s impact on Africa mirrors the mess in the Middle East: Diamonds = Oil; Africans = Iraqis, and African
Rebel Army = Al Qaeda.
6) American consumerist culture has a dark underbelly that does whatever it takes to get fed.
7) The media are self-interested businessmen, only motivated to investigate real problems if they sell papers.
8) The most powerful country in the world doesn't care about you unless you have something valuable to trade.
9) The Diamond Conspiracy: The diamond heads keep millions of diamonds off the market- thereby giving the illusion
that diamonds are rare, which in turn drives up their value.
10) Money only breeds the desire for more money.
Those last couple nuggets touch on the underlying theme of Blood Diamond. Why fight when corruption only gets
worse? Get what you can while you can. According to the filmmakers this is why Africa’s in the shape it is now. But,
on a broader scale, isn’t that "take the money, diamonds, oil, Furbies, etc. and run" philosophy what cynics mean when
they say the world has gone to Hell, we've said screw it to our values and it's all just a big money grab now?
But what else are we supposed to do?
Everybody's gotta eat, ya know. And
when
was the world a Utopia of equality
anyway? Last I checked, the planet is a lot more equal and tolerant than it was 100 years ago. And ya know what else
bothers me about this movie? The filmmakers are telling this story about the African people so the studio can turn a
profit. I bet with the money it took to make Blood Diamond they could have fed all of Africa a Thanksgiving dinner.
So director Edward Zwick, screenwriter Charles Leavitt and Warner Bros. Pictures can bugger off and keep their back-
patting holiday guilt trips.
anyway? Last I checked, the planet is a lot more equal and tolerant than it was 100 years ago. And ya know what else
bothers me about this movie? The filmmakers are telling this story about the African people so the studio can turn a
profit. I bet with the money it took to make Blood Diamond they could have fed all of Africa a Thanksgiving dinner.
So director Edward Zwick, screenwriter Charles Leavitt and Warner Bros. Pictures can bugger off and keep their back-
patting holiday guilt trips.
So with that in mind, I highly recommend seeing Apocalypto in theaters. I didn’t see Mad Mel's latest and I kinda
want to. Though honestly, Blood Diamond is worth catching too, if for nothing else than to see the unraveling of the
diamond industry conspiracy, which inspired the DeBeers Corp. to start a multi-million dollar marketing campaign to
destroy the movie in the press. Also, Leo DiCaprio is worth the $10.50 himself and as usual he makes you believe he is
the character he plays (see The Departed). And I don’t care if he’s on the cover of People every month. I like him. cialis levitra vs
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