Watched Blood Diamond  the other day.

Leonardo DiCaprio may be a gullible dupe but he certainly is a talented actor.  I wish more actors would just embrace their gifts and appreciate themselves for what they are and not flail about looking for ways to "make a difference".   Hitler made a much bigger difference to the 1940's than Fred Astaire did, but it's seventy years later and who's movies would you rather watch?

Blood Diamond is about the slaughter and slavery surrounding the diamond mines of Sierra Leone.  The movie clearly wants to lay the blame for this behavior on diamond consumers, but I fail to see how it's the fault of some accountant in Boise who buys his fiance a ring that there are people in Africa willing to behave like animals over bits of pretty rocks.  If it weren't diamonds, they'd kill each other over something else.

Of course the diamonds are beside the point, it's money and power that people kill over.  Always has been, always will be.  Would I buy a diamond that wasn't "conflict free"?  No, but I wouldn't buy a diamond that was mined by the peaceful monks in the Himalayas.  I don't get the allure of jewelry.  Yes, they're fun to look at but when you get right down to it, a diamond, ruby, sapphire etc, is just a glittery stone.  They have no inherent worth, only that which we choose to bestow on them.  If you were hungry enough, you'd trade one for a ham sandwich.

If I had a couple of thousand dollars to spend on a useless, purely ornamental, esthetically pleasing thing, I'd much rather buy a painting by Rich Kochenash than a rock of any color.  Unfortunately I barely have enough money at the moment for box of crayons. 

I do, however, have a big hi def tv and the fifth season of The Shield. Gotta go.

 

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