So, you have all proabally heared about or seen the video Kony 2012.
For those of you who haven't, this video was made viral at the beggining of March, and rapidly became one of the most viewed videos of youtube, with more than 73 million viewers worldwide.
Joseph Kony is one of the world's largest criminals. Head of the LRA (a millitant group in Uganda that bases it's actions on the ten commandments) for 26 years, he has been arresting children in Uganda and forcing them to become sex slaves, kill their own parents and many other horrific things. What seemed to be the unknown Kony, has now become one of the most notorious men on earth, thanks to this video.
Many people have either awknowledged the video, or rejected it. Despite a generally positive approach to the it and the cause (arresting Kony), many people agree that this has just made him more famous. Others believe that this whole organization is just trying to make money. Others complain about the fact that Invisible Children (the founder of the mission) only dedicates 30% of their income to ugandanian children.
What do you think about this video and what impact has it made on you? Can Joseph Kony really be caught in 2012? Does the video contain different messages? Is this just a set up to promote Invisible Children? Do you really think a difference can be made?
It has already been two months since its release and frankly I haven’t seen or noticed any changes.
ReplyDeleteThe first time I saw the video I was amazed as I had no idea and like many people did I shared the link on facebook and told all my family. I “liked” their page on facebook and found out a bit more about it. Personally I think the video was very well done and the message was certainly very clear. However, how they told us we could help them didn’t really convince me. Supposedly you could order a “Kony Kit” which included stickers, batches etc. But this wasn’t working very well because I heard from many people that their weren’t any left or the was a waiting list. The second thing they asked us was to take action the 10th of April and cover all the streets with the word “Kony”. I have to save up until today I have seen no sing of a poster or painting.
Also, the media here in Spain didn’t get really involved as we only got information the first day the video was released and no one ever talked about it anymore. With these types of campaigns it always happens the same. Everybody is euphoric and wanting to help the first few days, after that, we all forget.
So partly I do believe there was an economic intention behind it, moreover, lately I saw in the US news the director of the film and protagonist had suffered a crisis after being arrested for walking in the streets naked, he couldn’t take all the pressure.
Despite this, I hope a change has been made because they will have probably received many donations since the video was realest, even though I haven’t heard from any of the famous people they said they would target to help them. What really makes me doubt is the fact that before this video, almost no one new this organisation existed. Should we consider that before we contribute? I will certainly look at their history and progress before I do!