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With the release of Blood Diamond fast approaching the people in the diamond industry as well as Hollywood are waiting to see if the audiences will go out to see it. Why? Well the people over at yahoonews.com have an idea of that:
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – The message in new movie “Blood Diamond” is clear: know the history of a precious gem before buying it. But whether moviegoers pay attention to this “message movie” is a big question for the film’s makers. From the early days of Hollywood, writers, directors and producers have cranked out films that addressed social or political issues. But the box office record for major studio movies with social or political agendas is mixed, so generally speaking, major studios shy away from them.
Message films that do win big audiences and major studio backers often center on lesser known topics or are released well after controversies were addressed by governments or other institutions. Such is the case with “Blood Diamond.”
So if the lesser known topic films stop doing well major studios will probably stop funding those as well. This could mark a downward spiral in the quality of films we see.
I just recently saw another film that focused on the dumbing down of film and and television and how that might effect the human race in the long run. It’s called Idiocracy by Mike Judge. It takes place 100 years in the future where everyone is stupid because of a few different reasons, one being that idiots breed more than intellectuals and two because the consumerist culture we live in perpetuates and encourages stupidity because the dumber we are the more advertising works on us.
So perhaps that’s maybe that’s why DeBeer’s diamonds tried so hard to slander this film. If buyers are enlightened about how some diamonds are illegally mined they will make informed decisions about what kind’s they purchase. And that may cut into De Beers profit margins.
The people directly involved in the movie had a few words to say on the matter as well:
Leonardo DiCaprio and director Ed Zwick told reporters they don’t want to harm the industry so much as make people aware of checking whether a gem was mined legally. If not, don’t buy. “(People) have to use their best judgment and ask the right questions because ultimately diamonds are a source of economic stability in Africa,” DiCaprio said.
Makes sense to me. But to the corporations trying to make a buck any money lost is too much. I think they will continue to try and squelch movies that can cause people to stop buying. Movie makers are fighting a hard fight with subject matter such as this.
But it’s important to fight this battle. The best armor and weapons filmmakers have are a strong story, good actors and a movie studio that believes in their cause.
Even with all of the hype about Blood Diamonds at the end of the day how it does will center on two things; Distribution and if the movie is any good or not. If it’s a strong movie and it makes it into enough theaters my guess is that it will do well.
Because when it comes right down to it the reason why we open out wallets for diamonds, movies or anything out there is because we like the product.
