Blood and Diamonds

Last weekend I watched Blood Diamond, and although it was entertaining (in a way) and very well acted, I believe it was actually a disservice to the atrocities associated with blood diamonds, child soldiers, and civil wars in Africa. And the reason I believe this is the same reason that I believe Schindler’s List was a disservice to the holocaust. My perspective starts with the belief that most people do not have a deep understanding of what really happened, from a realistic, historical perspective. Therefore, these movies have the opportunity to provide a valuable and educational message. Both movies show a somewhat feel-good story within the context of horrible events happening all around. In Blood Diamond, the story is almost completely made up, but impossible (particularly the part about finding his son). Both movies show the very, very rare exceptions their respective situations. I believe that someone unfamiliar with the actual history of the events might think that these events (large-scare protection of Jews, or a father regaining his son after he was made a child soldier) were somewhat common (which they certainly were not). In both genocides the cases of people committing brutal crimes outweighs those who tried to help by an overwhelming and very depressing number. Furthermore, Blood Diamond goes out of its way to make itself entertaining (adding in a love story and a Hollywood plot), which might make people think the entire movie was just more Hollywood exaggerations. The situations involving blood diamonds, civil wars, and child soldiers should be understood as a few of the most pressing issues in the global community. The real stories are worse than either movie portrayed. Perhaps the real stories are so horrible as to make them unwatchable by the general public. Nevertheless, that doesn’t mean that didn’t happen (and aren’t still happening).

Comments

Anonymous said…
Gotta love it, all that for a piece of compressed coal that no one else can tell the difference between. Go fake diamonds!
1:47 AM
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