Link to original post: [drupal=5096]Uganda: The Musical- What KONY2012 is Really About[/drupal]
By now, everyone has heard of or seen the KONY2012 video that has been circulating with a vengeance. I'm not sure how many people have seen this though:
http://boingboing.net/2012/03/15/revealed-kony-2012s-siniste.html
Actually, let's just skip to the good part. And by good, I mean borderline insane:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QWACLKaOC08&feature=player_embedded#!
Yeah, that's Jason Russell, the same guy from the KONY2012 video and the founder of Invisible Children, using the plight of children as a launching platform for his ill-advised foray into musicals. It seems totally disconnected from the cause it's supposed to support, and indeed from reality in general. But in fact, this is actually the perfect example of what KONY2012 is all about.
It's frustrating that I even need to say this, but let me just go ahead and get it out of the way. Yes, I am against children being turned into soldiers. No, I do not support the KONY2012 campaign. The two positions are not mututally exclusive, but enough people equate the positions that it's necessary to make the distinction (you haven't watched KONY2012? What, do you LIKE children being forced to murder their parents?!) Aside from the documented falsehoods of the video, the masturbatory tone or the thinly veiled fishing for money through such ridiculousness as "action kits" (ostensibly to fund more song-and-dance routines, apparently), there's one major problem I have with KONY2012. It's not designed to actually save children or as a call to action. Instead, it's an incredibly savvy fundraising tool that achieves its end not by raising awareness, but by stroking the ego of the viewers.
The premise is this, after all: by watching a 30-minute video about Joseph Kony, you're making a difference. YOU'RE RAISING AWARENESS. We all know how important that is! Sarcasm aside, KONY2012 offers viewers the perfect way to feel good about themselves. They get to become part of a cause which (as a poster on Jezebel put it so well) demands nothing of them. It doesn't ask them to change their lifestyle or go to a rally. All they have to do is share the video, which has the added bonus of, thanks to social media, demonstrating to everyone they know how much of a humanitarian they are. "Look! I care about child soldiers in Africa! See, I watched this video and then posted it on my Facebook to prove it! DON'T YOU CARE?"
Jason Russell's musical number was not about suffering children, it was about his desire to do a musical, and suffering children provided the platform for that. Similarly, KONY2012 isn't about Joseph Kony, it's about us, the viewer, and how we think about ourselves. There are any number of causes to care about or contribute to, but this is the one that's both easy and public. Imagine for a moment that all of the people who viewed the KONY2012 video volunteered somewhere in their community for a day, or gave blood, or donated a clothing item to the Salvation Army, or gave to the Red Cross, or even picked up a piece of litter as they walked down the street. Imagine 80 million people doing those things, just once! But all of those actually require effort, and more importantly, all of your friends and family won't know what a great person you are. You could post on your Facebook about doing those things, but you'll either get ignored or called out for being a braggart. Yet somehow posting KONY2012 with pithy commentary like "Be informed" gets a pass, because everone wants to prove how much they care about an issue that, while terrible, has absolutely no bearing on their own lives or the lives of anyone they know.
Lastly, what is the endgame of raising awareness? Aside from swelling the coffers of Invisible Children, what does awareness accomplish? Sure, if Jooseph Kony walks down your street you now know what he looks like and can initiate a totally awesome citizen's arrest, but that seems highly unlikely. No one who watched this video is going to pick up a rifle and go hunt down Kony personally. So what's the deal. Does Joseph Kony give a damn about what people thousands of miles know about him? This is a guy that uses children in his army. He does not care what you or your mom or your roommate think about him. The position about awareness I hear articulated most often is that, by raising awareness in the American (and more generally the Western) public, pressure will build on politicians to take action against him, usually military in nature. This is mindboggling to me, as if we don't have several clear examples of Western military acttions not going according to plan.
For me, KONY2012 has been a fascinating exposure of the way in which we love to look into the mirror and admire ourselves. That's basically what Youtube and Facebook are in the first place, electronic mirrors. Invisible Children took advantage of that, and for about two weeks flourished not because of the strength of their cause, but because of what people wanted to believe about themselves. They wanted to look into that mirror and see someone noble, caring and involved. Thinking that watching a video on Youtube will change someone's life is just as narcissistic as thinking a musical is even remotely the right way to present your message. But then, it's not really about the message, is it?
By now, everyone has heard of or seen the KONY2012 video that has been circulating with a vengeance. I'm not sure how many people have seen this though:
http://boingboing.net/2012/03/15/revealed-kony-2012s-siniste.html
Actually, let's just skip to the good part. And by good, I mean borderline insane:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QWACLKaOC08&feature=player_embedded#!
Yeah, that's Jason Russell, the same guy from the KONY2012 video and the founder of Invisible Children, using the plight of children as a launching platform for his ill-advised foray into musicals. It seems totally disconnected from the cause it's supposed to support, and indeed from reality in general. But in fact, this is actually the perfect example of what KONY2012 is all about.
It's frustrating that I even need to say this, but let me just go ahead and get it out of the way. Yes, I am against children being turned into soldiers. No, I do not support the KONY2012 campaign. The two positions are not mututally exclusive, but enough people equate the positions that it's necessary to make the distinction (you haven't watched KONY2012? What, do you LIKE children being forced to murder their parents?!) Aside from the documented falsehoods of the video, the masturbatory tone or the thinly veiled fishing for money through such ridiculousness as "action kits" (ostensibly to fund more song-and-dance routines, apparently), there's one major problem I have with KONY2012. It's not designed to actually save children or as a call to action. Instead, it's an incredibly savvy fundraising tool that achieves its end not by raising awareness, but by stroking the ego of the viewers.
The premise is this, after all: by watching a 30-minute video about Joseph Kony, you're making a difference. YOU'RE RAISING AWARENESS. We all know how important that is! Sarcasm aside, KONY2012 offers viewers the perfect way to feel good about themselves. They get to become part of a cause which (as a poster on Jezebel put it so well) demands nothing of them. It doesn't ask them to change their lifestyle or go to a rally. All they have to do is share the video, which has the added bonus of, thanks to social media, demonstrating to everyone they know how much of a humanitarian they are. "Look! I care about child soldiers in Africa! See, I watched this video and then posted it on my Facebook to prove it! DON'T YOU CARE?"
Jason Russell's musical number was not about suffering children, it was about his desire to do a musical, and suffering children provided the platform for that. Similarly, KONY2012 isn't about Joseph Kony, it's about us, the viewer, and how we think about ourselves. There are any number of causes to care about or contribute to, but this is the one that's both easy and public. Imagine for a moment that all of the people who viewed the KONY2012 video volunteered somewhere in their community for a day, or gave blood, or donated a clothing item to the Salvation Army, or gave to the Red Cross, or even picked up a piece of litter as they walked down the street. Imagine 80 million people doing those things, just once! But all of those actually require effort, and more importantly, all of your friends and family won't know what a great person you are. You could post on your Facebook about doing those things, but you'll either get ignored or called out for being a braggart. Yet somehow posting KONY2012 with pithy commentary like "Be informed" gets a pass, because everone wants to prove how much they care about an issue that, while terrible, has absolutely no bearing on their own lives or the lives of anyone they know.
Lastly, what is the endgame of raising awareness? Aside from swelling the coffers of Invisible Children, what does awareness accomplish? Sure, if Jooseph Kony walks down your street you now know what he looks like and can initiate a totally awesome citizen's arrest, but that seems highly unlikely. No one who watched this video is going to pick up a rifle and go hunt down Kony personally. So what's the deal. Does Joseph Kony give a damn about what people thousands of miles know about him? This is a guy that uses children in his army. He does not care what you or your mom or your roommate think about him. The position about awareness I hear articulated most often is that, by raising awareness in the American (and more generally the Western) public, pressure will build on politicians to take action against him, usually military in nature. This is mindboggling to me, as if we don't have several clear examples of Western military acttions not going according to plan.
For me, KONY2012 has been a fascinating exposure of the way in which we love to look into the mirror and admire ourselves. That's basically what Youtube and Facebook are in the first place, electronic mirrors. Invisible Children took advantage of that, and for about two weeks flourished not because of the strength of their cause, but because of what people wanted to believe about themselves. They wanted to look into that mirror and see someone noble, caring and involved. Thinking that watching a video on Youtube will change someone's life is just as narcissistic as thinking a musical is even remotely the right way to present your message. But then, it's not really about the message, is it?