I first heard of Joseph Kony, and the Lord's Resistance Army(LRA), in October 2011, when I read in the Washington Post that President Obama had authorized the deployment of 100 SOF operators to Uganda to kill or capture Kony and crush his army. Just this past week, the video "Kony 2012", produced by a non-profit group called "Invisible Children Inc.", went viral and was the talk on the news and in social media. The purpose of the film is to inform people around the world about Joseph Kony and the atrocities he has committed (Such as the use of child soldiers). While the intentions of the film are certainly noble, it oversimplifies the serious problems taking place in the region and routinely glosses over relevant facts.
Most notably, Joseph Kony has not been in Uganda for 6 years. Both him and his army retreated from Uganda after a number of military offenses by the Ugandan Army in 2006 and are most likely located in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, south Sudan, and parts of the Central African Republic. This is only mentioned in passing in the film. Also, saying that he has over 30,000 child soldiers at his disposal is also disingenuous: the current LRA numbers most likely in the hundreds, not the thousands. Additionally, the Ugandan Army has also been accused of some of the same types of atrocities that Kony and his army are most notorious. The Ugandan government can also hardly be called "democratic"when its legislature is currently considering a bill that makes homosexuality punishable by life in prison (originally it was to be a capital offense punishable by death).
All of this brings us to the question of "Why did this video go viral?" I think it's because people want to feel that they are connected to a cause bigger than themselves. Devoting oneself to a cause to help those less fortunate around the world is extremely noble. But I think that in this day and age, people feel that making a difference is only one click away. That by reposting or retweeting this link, they have helped to capture a war criminal. This satisfaction is false. Changing the world--really making a difference--is extremely hard. If it wasn't, everyone would be able to do it and it would lose its importance.
It's too bad that it only takes slick production values and Facebook to make a video popular. If people turned on the news once in a while, they would know that atrocities are already taking place in Syria as we speak.
Sources:
-Foreign Policy Magazine Blog
-Huffington Post Article focusing on criticism of "Kony 2012"
-BBC article about Anti-Homosexual bill in Uganda
Sources:
-Foreign Policy Magazine Blog
-Huffington Post Article focusing on criticism of "Kony 2012"
-BBC article about Anti-Homosexual bill in Uganda
We disscussed this for a whole class period on monday in Comm 110. You have to wonder if this is more just a like trend that people want to be a part of by posting the video on their facebooks or are does the video really propel people to make a difference by spreading the issue? I will say that the first step to making change is awareness. But is this awareness or just some fading trend that people are going to forget about next week?
ReplyDeleteIt amazes me how well-planned the Kony video was by Invisible Children's Inc. I think they did a fantastic job of spreading the news out to America and educating them about this problem. But I agree that by re-posting this video, nothing is going to change except maybe increase awarness. I think the problem is that people do not really know HOW to help and by re-posting this video they feel like they have done something "good" whereas there is definately more that could be done to stop this problem.
ReplyDeleteI actually agree with the fact that posting that one video on your facebook wall doesn't really mean you are a part of that movement but it definitely is a way to move on and help increase awareness of it. Most of us are fortunate that we live in a country as nice as the USA, but the sad story is that we never go on to think that there are people suffering out there. I don't know about others but this video definitely helped me increase my knowledge on issues that are occuring in the world out there.
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