Blood Diamond.....

I just finished watching Blood Diamond, a movie I've been wanting to see since its release. It was a good movie that exposes us to real evil of child soldiers, civil wars, conflict diamonds. It is real evil and we have to help fight whereever we are (when thinking of buying diamonds, for example). It was such a stirring movie with a lot of heroic scenes throughout. Even a lifelong pragmatic "businessman" such as Mr. Archer thought and made a good decision in the end to contribute fighting the evil in Africa.

The director also spoke of an interesting juxtapose in the story between a man looking for a diamond and a man looking for his son..... Which one is more valuable? Solomon definitely has a quality of a kesatria, and Archer's decision towards the end (not sure if he premeditated it) shows that he, too, has it to redeem himself.

Despite the controversy surrounding Hollywood, I like its faith in optimism and good ending. Hollywood movies punishes the bad guys and rewards the good guys. Hollywood also both rewards and punishes bad guys who turn good, providing them with means to redeem themselves as in the case of Mr. Archer. I suspect this somewhat reflects the demand of American audience (and apparently aslo the world audience seieng how successful Hollywood movies are). Perhaps, humanity in this world full of suffering need to believe that things will get better; that things will be fine in the end. Villains will lose, heroes will win, and heroic deeds are celebrated.


PS: After further reflection, I opted to start writing in English. At first I thought writing in Indonesian will enable my writings to be enjoyed by more Indonesians (especially those who cannot read English). However, in balance it is better to write in English to include more people outside just Indonesian circle as well as helping my fellow Indonesian to learn English (despite my not-so-good English :). Well, we learn together.
Please let me know if you like me to write in Indonesians instead.