Questions
Every now and then, something will just leap out at me and irritate me, even if it is something not particularly related to any of my major concerns. The whole issue of blood diamonds is an important one, but not one I feel I need to speak out on. And I don't care that much about celebrities. But Naomi Campbell dragged her feet so long in attempting to avoid testifying that I was curious what she was going to say when they finally got her on the stand.
As I understand it, her reason for refusing to testify until she was compelled to was the fact that Charles Taylor is a scary, violent man, and she didn't want to risk his harming her or her family. That sounds reasonable - at first. But wait! She didn't know who he was, isn't sure he was the one who gave her the diamonds, and wasn't even sure they were diamonds until someone else pointed it out to her. In other words, if you believe her, she knows nothing.
So why was she afraid of testifying? Even a violent and dangerous man is hardly going to go to the trouble of harming someone, or their family, just for saying they don't know anything about him. I know absolutely nothing of these events beyond what I've read in the press. What I'm about to say is purely my own opinion, but it seems to me that the delay was in order to find out just how vague she could make her testimony, just how unrevealing, without quite crossing the line into anything which could be proved as perjury.
Now, that's just my analysis of what she said, based on the point that, if she really knew so little, I can't understand what she would have had to fear in the first place. But what irritates me is that no one in the press, no one in the courtroom, no one at all, seems to have even thought of this possibility. Shouldn't the question at least be asked? Shouldn't the possibility at least be discussed?
As I said, the violence and lust for power that lurks behind blood diamonds is an important issue, and one that should be explored thoroughly. I don't know what really happened, or who is to blame, but if so much money and effort is going to be expended to look into this, shouldn't someone at least consider the obvious?
As I understand it, her reason for refusing to testify until she was compelled to was the fact that Charles Taylor is a scary, violent man, and she didn't want to risk his harming her or her family. That sounds reasonable - at first. But wait! She didn't know who he was, isn't sure he was the one who gave her the diamonds, and wasn't even sure they were diamonds until someone else pointed it out to her. In other words, if you believe her, she knows nothing.
So why was she afraid of testifying? Even a violent and dangerous man is hardly going to go to the trouble of harming someone, or their family, just for saying they don't know anything about him. I know absolutely nothing of these events beyond what I've read in the press. What I'm about to say is purely my own opinion, but it seems to me that the delay was in order to find out just how vague she could make her testimony, just how unrevealing, without quite crossing the line into anything which could be proved as perjury.
Now, that's just my analysis of what she said, based on the point that, if she really knew so little, I can't understand what she would have had to fear in the first place. But what irritates me is that no one in the press, no one in the courtroom, no one at all, seems to have even thought of this possibility. Shouldn't the question at least be asked? Shouldn't the possibility at least be discussed?
As I said, the violence and lust for power that lurks behind blood diamonds is an important issue, and one that should be explored thoroughly. I don't know what really happened, or who is to blame, but if so much money and effort is going to be expended to look into this, shouldn't someone at least consider the obvious?
posted by The Wandering Author | Permalink: 4:36 PM
6 Comments:
Bloody models, that's what I say. I met Naomi once. She smelt of spring.
What bothered me most was that she said two strange men turned up in her room in the middle of the night and handed her a pouch which she though contained dirty pebbles. Apparently she didn't examine them further until the next morning when she then realised they were diamonds. Now, I don't know if it's just me, but if two men turned up unannounced in my room in the middle of the night and hand me a pouch, I'm pretty certain I won't just go back to sleep!!!
"She smelt of spring"...love that line, may have to use it sometime!
Just had to come back again to say...how very, very weird. Left your blog to check out my twitter and I saw a tweet by Margaret Atwood recommending a blog by a London actor. It's only when I checked out the blog did I realise it was the blog of the very commentator above my last comment! How strange is that?!
Hello, Lehane! Yes, that is strange. Then again, I believe the world is a stranger place than we can possibly imagine.
It certainly did strike me as odd the way she says she behaved, but I did - barely - presume that could be down to some essential failure of imagination. Although strange men showing up in your room in the middle of the night to hand you a pouch with no explanation would wake just about anyone, I agree. If you put that scene into a movie, the audience would be watching the men holding out the pouch, thinking: "Don't take it!" It would take a very dull person to just take the pouch, set it aside, and get right back to sleep.
But, if she truly knew nothing, there would have been no reason to worry he might object to what she said. There's a basic inconsistency in her own remarks that nags at me.
Good to see you back, WA. My blog recently woke up as well. Do drop by when you can. :)
I have only partly followed the news in question, and yes, this model's conduct appears anything but credible.
Holy moly! Is that you, WA?
So happy to hear from you again! I saw your comment on my sister's blog (Why Architects Drink) and clicked on your profile just to see if it really was you.
And on your post: I'm not really buying Naomi's story either. She's waaay too sophisticated and cosmopolitan not to be able to recognize uncut diamonds when she sees them.
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