CONFLICT Diamonds

Thursday April 26, 2007 (Blog #15)

I just finished watching the best, critically acclaimed, touching, emotional and saddest movie ever…BLOOD DIAMOND! Blood diamond featured an all star cast who all did tremendously outstanding jobs in their acting roles…I was literally blown away! Jennifer Connelly, who plays Maddy Bowen, a journalist from a magazine in New York, faces a difficult role in staying alive through all the shootings and violence while gathering solid facts for her story and also helping Leonardo Dicaprio who plays Danny Archer and Djimon Hounsou, who plays Solomon Vandy, to get his son and get the diamond that he hid in the dirt in Sierra Leone. I wanted to comment in this blog on the fact that this actually happens in real life; journalists traveling to other countries to get the scoop on interests of conflict and violence, like in Darfur or Afghanistan. Roaming reporters or journalists like these who flock to the scene of investigation, even when it endangers their lives, are truly dedicated and fearless to gather their information. I know for me personally, I would avoid covering stories such as these simply out of fear and not knowing the danger that could impact me. Respect and admiration goes out to all of these journalists who have done this kind of work and for the journalists who actually lost their lives on the job.