Just Another Currently Non-Newsworthy and Super Late Movie Review...

Okay, I'm not a racist, but I think Blood Diamond was a way too "white-dependent." Don't get me wrong, its portrayal of the African peoples' strength mixed with their peaceful spirits was well-represented, and both the evil and the good sides of Africa were shown. I was just upset to see a lack of white bad guys in a land where the white guys are the problem! I suppose they're not out there putting themselves in danger; they're staying in safe places letting the slaves do all the work, causing division amongst the African tribes for things that aren't 
worth nearly as much as they're made out to be worth. It's no question that race plays a large role in the diamond industry. I suppose the glimpses of high up executives trading diamonds was enough to make viewers see their selfishness.

 I'd like to see how many Africans and/or African Americans helped to create this movie. My guess is there weren’t too many. Way too often (and this is the case in many movies) it seemed like the white guys always had to save the day. The fact that the African white guy was in the movie might have been an attempt to soften the racial lines, but in my opinion it didn't help. DiCaprio did an amazing job either way, but just think about it: Solomon would have been shot if Marsha (Jennifer Connelly) hadn't offered to take pictures of the African tribe. Solomon would have been shot if Arthur (Leonardo DiCaprio) hadn't dragged him away from authorities on numerous occassions. See what I mean? I’m not saying it wasn’t believable, I just didn't like it.

At least the ending was pretty good. Maybe a cover up or an attempt to balance the seemingly blatant racism? Either way, I'm glad someone made this movie so we could see what was really going on in Sierra Leone. At least the main black character wasn’t killed.

Remind me to request conflict-free diamonds next time I decide to go shopping for them.