Blood Diamonds
Ryan A. Barker
Civic & Cultural Literacy I
Mr. Rand
12-14-12
Blood Diamond is a movie about the illegal diamond trade in West Africa, the Sierra Leone Civil War, and the personal story of a man named Solomon trying to find his son. Ty Burr wrote a review on this film and claims that he enjoyed it but there were some parts in which he said that it was just like any other movie. I agree with Burr on many of his points about the film, that it was a very entertaining movie but it did not stand out. Burr had three problems with the film, which were the character of Maddy Bowen, having two white people be the main characters, and how Danny becomes nobler as the film progresses. Maddy Bowen was the first issue that Burr explained in his review. Burr claims that Maddy is such an unnecessary part of the film. I agree with him on this issue, that the only reason she was put into this film was so that the viewer would stay interested. He states that even her name “reeks of a screenwriting seminar”. The screenwriters may have thought that Bowen keeps the plot advancing but in reality the only thing Bowen does is create her own storyline that takes away from Solomon and his journey. She may have been put in there so that the audience may have someone to connect to and be the “articulate conscience” like in the scene where she stops taking pictures of Solomon at the refugee camp because they just found out that his son has been taken but how can the viewer truly connect to an actress such as Jennifer Connelly. The Bowen character was part of another issue that Burr had with the film. Ty Burr had a major problem with this film being based in Black Africa and having its two main characters essentially be white people. The movie is predominantly about Solomon until the Maddy character gets introduced and most of the rest of the film is about the relationship between Maddy and Danny. Burr states that “Solomon nearly gets left behind in all the chaste eye-batting
Civic & Cultural Literacy I
Mr. Rand
12-14-12
Blood Diamond is a movie about the illegal diamond trade in West Africa, the Sierra Leone Civil War, and the personal story of a man named Solomon trying to find his son. Ty Burr wrote a review on this film and claims that he enjoyed it but there were some parts in which he said that it was just like any other movie. I agree with Burr on many of his points about the film, that it was a very entertaining movie but it did not stand out. Burr had three problems with the film, which were the character of Maddy Bowen, having two white people be the main characters, and how Danny becomes nobler as the film progresses. Maddy Bowen was the first issue that Burr explained in his review. Burr claims that Maddy is such an unnecessary part of the film. I agree with him on this issue, that the only reason she was put into this film was so that the viewer would stay interested. He states that even her name “reeks of a screenwriting seminar”. The screenwriters may have thought that Bowen keeps the plot advancing but in reality the only thing Bowen does is create her own storyline that takes away from Solomon and his journey. She may have been put in there so that the audience may have someone to connect to and be the “articulate conscience” like in the scene where she stops taking pictures of Solomon at the refugee camp because they just found out that his son has been taken but how can the viewer truly connect to an actress such as Jennifer Connelly. The Bowen character was part of another issue that Burr had with the film. Ty Burr had a major problem with this film being based in Black Africa and having its two main characters essentially be white people. The movie is predominantly about Solomon until the Maddy character gets introduced and most of the rest of the film is about the relationship between Maddy and Danny. Burr states that “Solomon nearly gets left behind in all the chaste eye-batting