Invisible Children released its new video, "KONY 2012, Part II: Beyond Famous," on Tuesday, an attempt to regain the momentum of the cause's first film. KONY 2012 became a viral sensation in February, racking up an estimated 70 million hits before coming under massive criticism from the international community and Ugandans themselves for being exploitative and mendacious. And that was before film centerpiece Jason Russell did this.
Russell is barely glimpsed in the new video, replaced by Invisible Children CEO Ben Keesey, who fortunately does not lecture anybody's five year old. Instead, the film attempts to mitigate the damage the Stop Kony movement has suffered over the past few weeks. "Let those who are professors write their books, and create academic awareness," says Ugandan presidential candidate Norbert Mao in the opening moments, "but this one grabs you by your gut, and shakes you, until you are forced to pay attention."
Already, dos chingas: 1) It's not clear what Mao means when he refers to "this one," though the filmmakers clearly want you to assume he's speaking of KONY 2012. The first film was full of these contextual edits, giving the appearance that celebrities or officials were referring to the movement when they were in fact speaking of something else. 2) Note the smooth way Invisible Children uses this introductory statement to dismiss all criticism of their cause. "Let the international experts write those expert-y things," the clip intimates, "you know in your gut we're right." That's Palin-esque nonsense.
From there, the video is heavy on its own praise. "You keep pushing and pushing," says Patrick Leahy to an unglimpsed crowd presumably made up of Stop Kony supporters. "Let me tell you, it's working." "But now, let's take action," says Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, R-Florida. Who's pushing? What's working? What action? KONY 2012 doesn't say; it lets the plaintive chords beneath the severely-edited clips imply the success of the movement that is nowhere demonstrated in the content of the video.
Invisible Children at least seems sensitive to the nature of the criticisms against them. Whereas the first video implied that Kony was an urgent problem, the new film admits that Kony's forces have been significantly depleted since 2006; the most recent violence the film can actually name occurred in 2008. No matter: "While the LRA size is only around 250 fighters," Keesey intones over a suspicious graphic, "their capacity for destruction remains disprortionately large." IC spokespeople go on to remind us multiple times that the Ugandan conflict is "complex," apparently unaware that nobody but Invisible Children ever claimed otherwise.
The film also pauses to address the non-Kony issues facing Uganda. "Supporting reconstruction in the post-conflict areas in Northern Uganda is also crucial for lasting peace," Keesey says. But the video is scanty on the details of this reconstruction, or the massive challenges that such efforts would face, almost none of which have to do with Joseph Kony. "It is very important to invest in education," we're told. Insightful! (You know who might know about investing in education? "Those who are professors.")
But "Beyond Famous" is unable to convincingly transition from talking about the legitimate need for reconstruction in Uganda to the ultimate intent of the film, which is to funnel money into tracking down Joseph Kony. Kony seems so...insignificant after a quick trek through the real, systemic problems facing the country. Especially given the magnitude of the rebuilding efforts — "When you have had twenty years of war," the film concedes, "you don't just fix that in a few months or a few years," — one has to wonder why we should be committing thousands of troops and millions of dollars to chasing an exiled rebel leader.
In the meantime, here's where you can buy Invisible Children products. Alas, $30 action kit is sold out, though only 31% of the money raised actually goes to charity work. If you'd prefer the substantive route, here's a link to buy Graham Greene's The Quiet American, an examination of people like Jason Russell and Invisible Children, and the true extent of the damage they can cause.
Bruce Wilson:
I’ve just released a 7,000 word report on Invisible Children’s extensive social and institutional ties to the Washington D.C. based, global evangelical network called "The Family" (also known as The Fellowship) -- which has been credited (by the bill's co-author MP David Bahati) with inspiring and providing "technical support" for the potentially genocidal Anti Homosexuality Bill (also dubbed the "kill the gays bill") that has loomed before Uganda's parliament since late 2009.
Christian Say:
This piece is one giant red herring. Okay, there's ambiguous antecedents, but how does that affect the message of the movement? You are attacking the video's editing, can't we move past mud-slinging and get to the issue at hand? Look, regardless of who you are, Kony is a criminal and should be arrested. Yes, rebuilding a war-ravaged area is important, but that does not mean we should forget the person responsible for that in the first place. Sure, IC has made some mistakes, but too many of us are forgetting the message because of the faults of the messenger.
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