Blood Diamond and The Constant Gardener are two Western movies each attempting to utilise the idea of Africa as a mysterious continent with an exotic, but Western dependant population, as a setting. The Constant Gardener does make an attempt at avoiding Hollywood-Africa stereotypes, however it fails to completely exclude them. Blood Diamond’s entire plot, on the other hand, revolves exclusively around stereotypes.
In The Constant Gardener, Ralph Fiennes as Justin Quayle, plays the lead role as a British diplomat. Justin Quayle is a well-mannered, gentle, career orientated character, who does what he is told. As a character Justin remains within his own conceived boundaries, and tends to avoid thinking about political as well ethical dilemmas which pervade the world. He is thus referred to as “The Constant Gardener”, because he would rather garden and remain oblivious, as seen in multiple mise-en-scènes. This is also where the title of the movie The Constant Gardener is derived from, indicating and emphasizing the …show more content…
The movie Blood Diamond revolves around the smuggling and trade of “blood” diamonds in Sierra Leone, which has, in turn led to many satellite conflicts in the country with the rebel group RUF being a forefront contender. The conflicts are funded as a result of the illegal smuggling of diamonds, by Western countries. To combat this, commissions have been set up by numerous countries to stop the selling of blood diamonds. In these scenes the “guilt of the white man” becomes evident through the “we must save Africa” attitude displayed by the commission members, a theme shared by both movies. In Blood Diamond another example of white guilt is role of reporter, Maddy Brown (Jennifer Connelly). Her career revolves around uncovering scandals; scandals by Western countries in Africa. It becomes clear that she feels guilty about the actions of the West in foreign
In The Constant Gardener, Ralph Fiennes as Justin Quayle, plays the lead role as a British diplomat. Justin Quayle is a well-mannered, gentle, career orientated character, who does what he is told. As a character Justin remains within his own conceived boundaries, and tends to avoid thinking about political as well ethical dilemmas which pervade the world. He is thus referred to as “The Constant Gardener”, because he would rather garden and remain oblivious, as seen in multiple mise-en-scènes. This is also where the title of the movie The Constant Gardener is derived from, indicating and emphasizing the …show more content…
The movie Blood Diamond revolves around the smuggling and trade of “blood” diamonds in Sierra Leone, which has, in turn led to many satellite conflicts in the country with the rebel group RUF being a forefront contender. The conflicts are funded as a result of the illegal smuggling of diamonds, by Western countries. To combat this, commissions have been set up by numerous countries to stop the selling of blood diamonds. In these scenes the “guilt of the white man” becomes evident through the “we must save Africa” attitude displayed by the commission members, a theme shared by both movies. In Blood Diamond another example of white guilt is role of reporter, Maddy Brown (Jennifer Connelly). Her career revolves around uncovering scandals; scandals by Western countries in Africa. It becomes clear that she feels guilty about the actions of the West in foreign