Blood Diamonds, Movie Review Example

Ethical Issues in Blood Diamond

The 2006 film Blood Diamond is an exceptionally thrilling drama with a moving cast, including Leonardo DiCaprio and Djimon Hounsou. This masterful film by director Edward Zwick was scripted by Charles Leavitt and tells the emotional story of Danny Archer, played by Leonardo Dicaprio, a mercenary who travels to South Africa in search of questionably mined diamonds for which he trades arms. Leavitt encounters Solomon Vandy, a slave working in a forced labor diamond field. The action of the film is prompted when Solomon finds a special pink diamond and, instead of ceding it to the slave drivers, decides to keep it. The love interest of the film, Maddy Bowen, is played by Jennifer Connelly who has gone to Sierra Leone to gather intelligence on the trading activities and corruption of the South African diamond trade, which are commonly referred to as ‘Blood Diamonds,’ do to the slave labor and torturous methods used to obtain him. The film is centered on the search for the rare pink diamond, but it also delves into the many societal issues of South Africa, including rocky race relations, the harmful effects of capitalism, and the use of child soldiers.

The film opens on a group of RUF soldiers demolishing a civilian village. They rape, torture, and kill the citizens; but the men who seem strong enough for manual labor are captured to work in the diamond fields. Solomon is forced to watch his village and family suffer and his son kidnapped by the rebels to be trained as a child soldier, before he is taken hostage treated as a slave as he works in a field under the supervision of Captain Poison, a ruthless, warlike slave driver. During the time he is serving as a slave in the diamond fields, he finds a rare pink diamond, which he decides to hide in the hopes that he can someday use it to reunite with his lost family. Fortunately, Solomon is able to escape, because just as Captain Poison is about to discover the diamond, he is arrested. Danny Archer, a mercenary who sells arms alongside a commander of the rebellion is taken to prison for bringing in illegal diamonds into Liberia, and all of his valuables are seized. During his time in prison, Archer hears Captain Poison talking to Solomon about the lucrative diamond and Archer sets his sights on the diamond and Solomon. He convinces Solomon agree to hand over the diamond once they find it with a promise to allow him met with his family and relatives

In their quest to relocate the diamond, Archer and Solomon return to the diamond field and happen to meet up with Solomon’s kidnapped son. The boy has been brainwashed and forced into violent service. He refuses to acknowledge his own father and Solomon is thrown into despair of the loss of his son’s innocence. Amidst the chaos at the mining site, Solomon becomes insane with anger and in his thirst for revenge, decides to execute Poison using a shovel. While this story of a young boy being corrupted by violence is saddening, it is not at all uncommon in South Africa.

In the film children are kidnapped, brainwashed, and indoctrinated, and forced to rebel against there parents and culture in order to survive (Campbell 90). Moreover, the rebels who get their funding from diamond trade mercilessly slaughter miners once they get the “conflict” diamond for trade. This raises two ethical issues in the film; the kidnapping and brainwashing of child soldiers, and the murdering of citizens in the name of war. The children, who are usually extremely young are forcefully recruited as soldiers, and must use brutal violence on others to preserve their own lives. Recently, up to 250 child soldiers including four girls, one as young as nine, were released from this abuse in South Sudan from an armed group, the Cobra Faction (Ryan,32). Surprisingly, there are about 400 children soldiers in the same country who need to be released. The release took place in the remote village of Lekuangole, in Jonglei State. It is the third liberation of children following a peace deal between the faction and the Government. There is no justification for the ruthless corruption and torture of children, who lose their innocence and families in the process.

The conflict diamonds are also used to fund the civil wars and the human rights abuses in Sierra Leone, bringing forth the concept of serving individual interests at the expense of innocent lives. This shows capitalism at its most brutal; the demand for diamonds outweighs the horrible conditions used to obtain the diamonds, and those such as Archer supply the civil war with weapons in order to get a hold of diamonds. Although this film deals with many difficult issues of morality, at end of the film, Archer dies, but Solomon is happily able to be reunited with his families.

When scrutinizing the ethical principles that are portrayed in the film, several moral viewpoints can be recognized to the actions of the characters. The concepts of utilitarianism, a distorted view of communitarianism and self-sacrifice is clearly seen in the film. While none of these standpoints exist in their conformist forms, some of the disadvantages or advantages of the outlooks become the driving force for the actions and decisions of characters or sects of the citizenry.

This movie outlines the extremely difficult relations in South Africa. The race relations and civil wars tear the country apart and prompt violence and destruction. However, the most unethical practice shown in this film is the use of child soldiers. These children and dragged from their homes and forced to be hardened against their family and to use violence. The brainwashing of these children is extremely unacceptable. This film draws attention to the extremely troubling going-ons in South Africa and the West’s role in the issues. The capitalist demands of the West encourage violence in the name of obtaining diamonds.

Discussion Board Post

I decided to write about the 2006 movie Blood Diamond. This film is set during the Sierra Leone civil war and covers a variety of ethical issues. The film shows the use of military violence on civilians and the destruction of entire towns in the name of war. In my paper I also covered the issues of the rocky race relations in South Africa. The film is centered on black Africans who have been enslaved in the name of the Western demand for diamonds. The slaves live in horrible conditions and spend their days doing strenuous work for no pay. This brings up the issue of capitalism and its affects on the poor. This film also explores the issue of child soldiers in South Africa. These children are kidnapped, brainwashed, and forced to use violence on strangers and sometimes even on their own families. They usually mistreated and abused. The problem of the powerful minority control the helpless majority is present in this film. This movie deals with race relations, the use of violence and power to control and torture, and the use and manipulation of child soldiers.

Works Cited

Campbell, Greg. Blood Diamonds: Tracing the Deadly Path of the World’s Most Precious Stones. Boulder: Westview Press, 2004. Print.

“Ethics on Film: Discussion of “Blood Diamond”” Carnegie Council, 2015. Web. <http://www.carnegiecouncil.org/education/002/film/reviews/0002.html>.

Hanna, Tammy. “Ethical Issue Analyis-Blood Diamond.” Scribd. N.p., 2012. Web. <http://www.scribd.com/doc/89089538/Ethical-Issue-Analyis-Blood-Diamond-Analysis#scribd>.

Ryan, Christine. The Children of War: Child Soldiers As Victims and Participants in the Sudan Civil War. London: I.B. Tauris, 2012. Print.