blood diamond!

yes! I caught this epic movie of the year, BLOOD DIAMOND today with my fellow specs! It's really a great movie; reflects the many aspects of life and it's actually a good material for GP.

It's a movie that illustrates about how conflict diamonds are traded around the world. and how these diamonds are acquired; at the expense of others' lives. It's somewhat a documentary show and really depicts the conundrum some african countries are facing.

I vividly remembered one scene where the photographer was trying to take sensationalistic photos of refugees in the refugee camp; their frugal lives, their sorrow, their bleak future were totally captured by her. and while she was trying to capture a scene of happiness (family reunion), the father got to know that his son was abducted by the terrorists, and the happiness was immediately replaced by sorrow. and she could not hit the shutter for that scene. I guess that's the predicament that journalists usually face, they need to overcome their own emotions in a bid to draft a good report.

The show also tells us about the problem that such 3rd world countries, like war-torn africa are facing. We have heard countless reports on the entrenched poverty that africa faces and the numerous aids that first world countries have been trying to provide. despite such concerted efforts, africa still remains as a 3rd world country full of corruptions and internal strifes. I strongly believe that africa will only be able to step out of this adversity only if she and her people work as one; only if some1 were to step out to lead the rest for the greater good of their nation. basically, the 'opposition' (terrorists) groups have been instilling fear in their own kind over the years and together with a corrupted (weak) government, it has created a vicious cycle!

It also tells us how africans were exploited to work for their masters; or rather for us since we were the ultimate consumers of what they have to produce. There was this article about afrian labour; whether cheap labour=free labour in that country~ i guess that is something for us to ponder upon and take a step back to reflect on ourselves as first world countries.

I find great similarities in this show to hotel ruwanda. both address the problems about africa and both actually raise the awareness of the world about what is actually happening in africa. both creates a heavy feeling in their viewers and i believe this can make us realise how fortunate we actually are. I guess humans can be myopic at times, and may not really know what 3rd world countries are actually like, and thru these 2 movies, it is really an eyeopener. perhaps the UN can play a pivotal role in restalling law and order, however the episode on hotel ruwanda has proved otherwise. well, it guess it is all really up to the country herself to salvage the situation.

well finally, I would rate this movie 5 stars! and justin felt that it was really good too! Lets pray hard for these africans, hope that they will step out of this conundrum one day.