Search - Ancient Mysteries - Curse of the Hope Diamond on DVD

Curse = classism?

Jeffery Mingo | Homewood, IL USA | 07/20/2006

(3 out of 5 stars)

"This A&E special speaks of the myths and truths surrounding the blue diamond.

Trekkies may love this because Leonard Nimoy directs it.

On the one hand, it is great to know the facts; knowledge is power. However, the diamond has now lost much of its allure to me. Really, the diamond's story is a bit anti-climactic. However, history doesn't always follow the exciting pace of literature.

As I always note of documentary, I hate cheesy reenactments. Unfortunately, this documentary was full of them. I guess some actors love playing period roles for a scene or two. Still, in all honesty, one can only look at the blue diamond so many times. It was good to see people and objects moving. This would have been dull if it just showed the gem from thousands of angles.

In a documentary I once saw about whether dreams portray the future, one skeptic said, "Millions of people are having millions of dreams and unsurprisingly, some may be like the future." This applies here: some people face bad events, whether they are cursed or not. I hardly doubt the French Revolution or the death of the Kennedy brothers were caused by this diamond, and one interviewee says as much.

I am worried that this documentary lacked a class analysis. When it is expressed that the gem causes bad luck, is this just a way to get poorer people not to want pricey things? Some say the song "Don't Worry, Be Happy" was a plea for Americans to ignore critiquing elitist Bush-Reagan policies. I wonder does the diamond's supposed curse have that same oppressive purpose.

This is not the stone spoken of in the film "Titanic" or in Britney Spears' "Ooops! I Did It Again," I think. First, they never call it "the heart of the ocean." Second, there is no indication that it was lost in the 1910s."