Ezra, the Human Being

Ezra, directed by Newton I. Aduaka, is essentially a film exploring the life and personal battles of a child kidnapped and forced to work for a corrupt man in the conflict diamond business. These conflict diamonds have been a source of a considerable amount of civil war in countries in Africa such as Zimbabwe, Sierra Leone, The Republic of Congo, and Angola. While these diamond wars clearly cannot be ignored, they are often shone in a very irresponsible light, which leads me to my argument -- that this movie,  Ezra, allows the viewers to see the personal affects attributed to a child fighting a corrupt war.  Unlike views of Africa we've seen in the first half of the semester, this view gives the main character dynamics and emotions. This captivating story of one child soldier creates an empathetic attitude towards those who are committing such brutal and ruthless crimes as he is. There are two contrasting views that are portrayed in the media--the children mutilated by these wars, and the children holding guns and machetes responsible for it. In Ezra, we are given the point of view of one of the children responsible for these acts of horror, including killing and mutilating civilians. Through this movie, we are allowed to see what we have been deprived of as a culture--the actual brainwashing and struggles of this child forced to fight "for the cause." Rather than being seen through the eyes of a Westerner, as seen in Blood Diamond starring Leonardo DiCaprio, Ezra provides a refreshingly accurate depiction of what portrayals like Blood Diamond is ultimately missing--the actual suffering of the people involved in these diamond wars on the side of the infantry and the civilians. By making Ezra, former soldier of war, and Ezra's sister, a civilian, the main characters and plot movers, we as the audience get what has deprived of Africans for years-- a very personal story and the life-long after effects of these diamond wars.