Blood Diamond. This movie opened my eyes to several things. Before that, I must clarify that i am not a Leonardo fan - i wasn't overly impressed with his Titanic fame. As such I did not go and watch Blood Diamond because of him. I did so because of all the raved reviews it received, which i must say did not exaggerate. Great script and strong acting skills. surprisingly, leonardo's performance was above my expectation.
So, back to the few things i discovered from Blood Diamond:
1) People kill each other for commodities: oil, metals, diamonds ...
- The selfishness of human being was examplified here. instead of taking nature's blessings and enriching the people, those in control/power choose to benefit themselves. it didn't matter that their own people were suffering from their actions; the end was more important than the means.
It's like how the Middle East was at war for so many years because of the struggle for oil.
2) Irony
- Set in Sierra Lone, the movie was about manipulation, of how people were taking advantage of diamonds found in the land. There were the freedom fighters, who take their own people into slavery to mine for diamonds in order to have money to buy weapons to rebel against the government - ironic isn't it, since their motto was to free their own people, yet they were also the same group who separated families; killed, beaten and worked the men to death, while raping the women and taking the children as soldiers. it is such a senseless act; contradicting in itself.
Then there was the military - the soldiers who were entrusted with powers to protect the citizens of the country. Instead of fulfilling their role, the senior ranking officer decided to manipulate the situation for his own wealth. he sold weapons to the freedom fighters by taking the diamonds as payment and re-sell them for a huge profit, and when the government gave orders to contain the rebel's movement, he followed so that he could take control of the diamond mines. irony.
3) Most of the time, consumers are not aware of the consequences of their demand for diamond-related jewelleries
- The rising demand for diamonds as jewellery has made a lot of jewellers rich. they keep the price high by controlling supply. they can reap big margins because they sourced from Africa where cost of labour is relatively low. some have no reservation about buying smuggled diamonds, which do not boost any economy because the people that benefitted the most from the transaction are the middle men ie smugglers and the jewellers.
The consumer that buys a 5-carat diamond ring might not realise that the stone was found through much blood and sweat. workers have to mine for hours, days, weeks, months before finding the expensive stone. and even after finding it, the worker might not get much reward from it because the mining owner probably paid him peanuts.
3) People are not bad. it is what they do that make them bad; in the same way, it is what they do that make them good.
Despite the cynicism of Danny Archer of the world that he was born into, he found goodness in the oddest of people. the American journalist who wanted a true story and the fisherman who loved his family very much.
The saying of two sides of the coin is true. at the end of the day, it is a matter of which side of the coin do you focus in? if we choose to see the world in the bleakest, then the world will become that but if we choose to look at the brighter side of things, then perhaps the world is liveable afterall ...
4) Child soldier
I think of the cruelest thing is to make a child kill. it is inhuman to teach a child violence and to take life from another man. it's like robbing the child's innocence, which is so precious because it is found in a short time. once that innocence is gone, it is gone forever and the child's life would never be the same again. why do people take it so lightly of their responsibility to set a role model for the younger generation?
The conclusion of the movie was a happy ending. the family was reunited and the jewellers who bought illegal diamonds faced their charge. although not an entirely political correct ending, i enjoyed it. life in reality isn't politically correct afterall ...
