The film Blood Diamond on its face may seem simply to be an adventurous drama-thriller complete with explosions, murder, trickery, over-sized egos, blood, and passion. However, by looking just a little bit deeper, one can see much more. The film delves into the intricacies of the diamond trade in Sierra Leone, a small country on the West African coast, and centers on the quest of Danny Archer, a diamond trader, to gain riches as well as the desire of an African, Solomon Vandy, to find his family divided by the rebel RUF. This film shows the corruption involved in how the west attains diamonds from poor African countries such as Sierra Leone. Ultimately, Blood Diamond effectively communicates the many problems with the diamond trade in Africa, how it affects innocent people, and that awareness of these problems in the west could help to put an end to them.
The film points to the west as a major reason as to why the diamond trade is such a problem. People like Archer trade weaponry to organizations like the RUF for diamonds. The diamonds are then smuggled to neighboring countries where they are then sold to jewelry companies from the west. The companies then save the diamonds so that the supply of diamonds in the world remains low, yet the prices and demand remain high. This process encourages a very egotistical and “me-first” environment in Sierra Leone in which everyone is encouraged to attain diamonds in whatever way possible. This results in the killing and kidnapping of innocent people. In the movie, Solomon is forced to work in the diamond fields for the RUF, finds a huge pink “blood” diamond, and luckily hides it. This sets into motion a long adventure in which Archer befriends Solomon in order for him to attain the diamond in exchange for finding Solomon's family. Solomon's story appears to be just one of many in which an innocent person's life is shattered as a result of the greed created by western company's desire to make money.
This aforementioned diamond smuggling process only encourages people to attain diamonds in whatever way possible. This includes the killing and kidnapping of innocent people and also the brainwashing of children to be used as maniacal soldiers. Before the RUF attacks Solomon's village, his son, Dia, is a smart boy who loves his family, but when he is taken and brainwashed by the RUF, he pretends to not recognize his own father and kills many innocent people. Also, the RUF consistently committed atrocities such as cutting of limbs of innocents, slaughtering thousands, and razing entire towns. The greed and desire of so many for riches through diamonds encouraged these acts and shattered the lives of many who simply loved their family and embraced a simple way of life.
The end of the film depicts Solomon, who successfully escapes Sierra Leone with the diamond and later his family, entering a court room to tell his story against the diamond company. This suggests that perhaps with educating the west about the illegal diamond trade in Africa, people will help to stop these actions by refusing to buy illegally smuggled diamonds. Personally, I feel this can happen, but more work is needed to educate the masses regarding these issues. I know that I will be much more cautious in buying any diamonds in the future after seeing this film. Ultimately, I enjoyed this film for both its action and its messages regarding the diamond trade in Africa. Also, I hope that others will view it and become more aware of the awful things happening there and someday perhaps put an end to it.
