Un-Bloody-Believable

Last weekend I went to see Blood Diamond.

I’m going to spoil the ending of this blog before you even read it: I’m never putting a diamond on my body, and you can quote me on that. If some sad sack buys me diamond earrings or even worse, a diamond ring, I’m going to take a trip down to the local pawn shop and hock the damn thing.

I’ve always talked to my friends about how I’m just not a diamond girl. I’d much rather have a pink or yellow sapphire ring, and I’ve never understood the big obsession with the supposed Women’s Best Friend. “Diamonds are forever,” my ass. Don’t you know that the supply is controlled, so people think they are “rare,” therefore the demand rises? This movie solidifies all contempt I’ve had for diamonds and girls’ obsession with them. Especially those women who have a wonderful guy who wants to marry them, but they won’t take the plunge until they have a 2.4-carat, princess cut platinum diamond ring on their finger from Tiffany’s. Give me a fucking break. There’s more to life than having a 20K ring on your finger. How about taking that money to travel the world, or putting a down payment on a sweet condo in Seattle or a house in the suburbs (whichever you prefer)? All the girls who boast the ridiculous “huge ring” requirement need to go see Blood Diamond.

Set in early 1990s Sierra Leone during the country's civil war, the film captures the massacres, chaos and generally inhuman acts of those living in Africa, who are obsessed with the sale and profit from diamonds. The depiction of child soldiers who are kidnapped at young ages such as 7, manipulated with drugs, and made to kill using machine guns, is heart wrenching. It’s amazes me that there are situations like this happening all over the world, (Gulu and the Lord’s Resistance Army or Darfur, Sudan), and most people in America have no idea. Instead, our daily news covers the snow on the streets and a recent cold virus. It’s pathetic.

An estimated 65 percent of the world’s diamonds come from African countries—Angola, Liberia, Ivory Coast, Republic of Congo, etc. And while the Kimberly Process was created in 2002, which supposedly halts trade in conflict diamonds and allows a process where buyers of diamonds can be assured that their diamonds have not contributed to violence. Still, this happened less than a decade ago, and it is not 100 percent guaranteed that the diamonds sold in the U.S. are not from war-zoned areas, that a women wasn’t raped and beaten in the process, her children kidnapped and made to murder others, or the father’s hands were not chopped off. Not providing me with a 100-percent guarantee, ensures that I will 100 percent never purchase a diamond. I couldn’t live with myself if I knew I was walking around with a superficial status symbol on my finger, which could have contributed to the death of an innocent person. How is anything worth that?

Now, in my search of facts and figures for this blog, I came across Diamondfacts.org, which straight-up argues that diamonds actually benefit Africans and are a large reason that they can feed their children and go to school. I don’t buy it. Since the Web site is ran by the World Diamond Council, an organization created by the big wigs of the diamond trading industry, it smells like fish-coated propaganda.

Anyway, read up on the subject, see the movie and form your own opinions. But, if you’re a man who happens to fall in love with me, please buy me a fake ring out of a 25-cent machine. I’ll love you for it.