Unless you’ve been living under a rock you can’t have failed to hear about the Kony2012 video, which has gone viral around the world and provoked a storm of controversy over a social media campaign to aid in the arrest of Joseph Kony, a despicable human being who wreaked havoc in Uganda through the use of abducted children as soldiers.
The video has been lambasted as emotionally manipulative, misleading and light on facts, the organization Invisible Children who developed and spread the video branded fraudulent and dodgy and those who have shared the video or supported the cause labelled “slacktivists” and gullible.
Let me stop at this point and state that I watched this video and shared it on my Facebook page asking friends to take 30 minutes to watch the video. I then spent the next few hours reading commentary and blogs and commentary on blogs on the many reasons why I was a complete loser/sucker for having done so.
Let’s put aside the fact for a moment that the video may have used one too many Hollywood 101 techniques to encourage a positive response in its viewers (it did) and that it may have been lightweight in its factual approach to a serious issue (it was).
What caught me by surprise was the sneering and derision that sharing the video triggered in some individuals. After considering whether I had in fact been duped into becoming an armchair activist by clicking “Share” I came to the conclusion or at least I formed a response in my head to the naysayers (don’t you have these conversations in your head? – you know when someone drops a barbed comment and you perfect a stinging reply…3 hours later L).
If we assume those who found the whole thing a bit of a con are correct, can someone please point out or even make their own video, which is acceptable to all people and explains with all the rights words, statistics and facts the issues at play. Or tell me what is the right way for me to show my support for this or similar causes. Really, I would like to hear proper options and solutions rather than just general putdowns and criticism. It’s like when you coach or manage one of your children’s sports teams. Some parents can’t help themselves but complain and whine about how and what you do…put your hand up and do a better job then, I say.
I choose to see it as a big affirmation that large majorities of people DO care about children being abducted and forced into being soldiers and want to do something, anything to end violence (especially against children) and war. Whether those children are in Africa, Afghanistan or anywhere in between we don’t want these things to happen. It’s just so damn hard to work out what to do or how to help. We can’t all join volunteering agencies and trot off from our jobs and families and responsibilities. We can’t donate every cent we have or become lobbyists or local members to make a difference. Sometimes just sparing a thought IS as much as we can realistically do. And that’s ok.
Someone who was in my life a few years ago intimated to a friend that my desire to start wisewomen was driven by ongoing bitterness about my divorce. Suffice to say that comments like that say more about the person uttering them than it does about my motivations (and that this person is no longer a part of my life!) however, it puts you on the back foot and can sound like defensive justification when you try and explain anything different once you have had accusations like these thrown at you. Far from comparing wisewomen’s aims to the problems of Africa, I use this as an example of how a message with good intentions can be high jacked or abused by those who have their own personal agendas. Or who just like to criticize but offer no other real solution.
So, what do you think? I’d love to hear if you think the Kony2012 initiative is brilliant…or bogus.
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