Blood Diamond

Watched 'Blood Diamond' yesterday. As with all other films that put the sufferings of the blacks in the spotlight, I rather enjoyed it. The film manages to raise our awareness on the tragic story behind diamonds as we witnessed families being ripped apart and children coerced into committing genocide over the sale of diamonds. Indeed, as Zwick, one of the filmmakers notes: "It seems that almost every time a valuable natural resource is discovered in the world—whether it be diamonds, rubber, gold, oil, whatever—often what results is a tragedy for the country in which they are found. Making matters worse, the resulting riches from these resources rarely benefit the people of the country from which they come."

On my part though, it is interesting to note how these two men embark on a journey together, both in search of their diamonds. For the white man (Danny Archer), that diamond is the piece of stone we all know as diamond--prized, treasured and something to hanker after. But for the black(Solomon Vandy), his diamond is his son whom he lost during the war. In the end, both found what they were looking for. Towards the end of the movie, however, Danny was badly injured and knew he would not be able to pull through. Taking one last, crazy look at the piece of diamond, he returned it to Solomon. The movie really got me thinking about what our diamond is. The diamond Danny spent such a great deal of time searching for, is ultimately, just a piece of stone mankind has placed a high value on. But is it really the most precious gem on earth? Is it something worthwhile pursuing?