"Blood Diamond"

I watched "Blood Diamond" and sympathised with the rebels(the "children armies") because they are blacks who are indiginous and who are mining the diamonds and getting all the profits for themselves.  Isn't this what the bleeding hearts want, instead of the indigenous blacks working for the white diamond companies?  Am I missing something? 

Originally posted by LAGoff I watched "Blood Diamond" and sympathised with the rebels(the "children armies") because they are blacks who are indiginous and who are mining the diamonds and getting all the profits for themselves.  Isn't this what the bleeding hearts want, instead of the indigenous blacks working for the white diamond companies?  Am I missing something?

Well as the movie was depicted those children were abducted and forced into the rebel army after their village was slaughtered. Also the mining people were slaves who were strong working men captured from these same slaughtered villages. I doubt the slaves that dug around and found the diamonds saw much of the profits. Also the profits were used to buy guns and drugs to cause more misery on others. Does this make the white diamond companies better. No not really, but I don't see how you could sympathize with a bunch of cutthroat murderers the rebels were portrayed as in the movie.

Originally posted by LAGoff I just was confused as to what was happening.  I thought it was a rebel movement going up against tremendous odds against a monolithic white power structure so the only soldiers they could get were children.  That shows you how screwed up and ignorant I am.

No need to call yourself ignorant it was just a movie. You should feel sympathetic for the children as they were definitely victims in every way. I would have to watch the movie again I'm not sure what the rebels were fighting for or against if anything. I'd assume that the government in power was just as corrupt and it was a simple power struggle. The white powers were outside of the actual country. Mercs of South African origin if I remember and were their for diamonds pretty much.