Filmmakers call attention to ongoing Kony atrocities

By Catholic Online (NEWS CONSORTIUM)
3/8/2012
Catholic Online (www.catholic.org)

Ugandan rebel group is blamed for tens of thousands of mutilations and killings

In a world full of seeming moral ambiguities, few things are truly black and white - with some major exceptions. "The core message is just to show that there are few times where problems are black and white. There's lots of complicated stuff in the world, but Joseph Kony and what he's doing is black and white," Ben Keesey, Invisible Children's 28-year-old chief executive officer says. Keesey and his group are trying to draw international attention to the atrocities perpetrated by the Ugandan rebel leader.

While drawing attention to the atrocities committed by rebel armies in Uganda, some say that the film 'Silent Children' neglects to mention some greater villains behind the national shame.

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LOS ANGELES, CA (Catholic Online) - Joseph Kony, the leader of the Lord's Resistance Army is wanted by the International Criminal Court for crimes against humanity.

The online world is quickly being educated to the diabolical work of Kony and his cronies. Uganda and Invisible Children were among the top 10 trending terms on Twitter among both the worldwide and U.S. audience on this week, ranking higher than new iPad or Peyton Manning. This is significant as Twitter's top trends more commonly include celebrities than fugitive militants.

Keesey says the viral success shows their message resonates and that viewers feel empowered to force change. It was released on the Web site, www.kony2012.com.

Keesey and his fellow filmmakers reported on wartime atrocities in Africa for a 50-minute work called "Invisible Children" and has since drawn more attention than they imagined when their project was released in 2005. A nonprofit organization to campaign against the brutality was founded shortly afterwards.

Kony's Ugandan rebel group is blamed for tens of thousands of mutilations and killings over the last 26 years. The militia abducts children, forces them to serve as soldiers or sex slaves -- and even to kill their parents or each other to survive.

The Invisible Children campaign has drawn criticism. For example, Musa Okwongo, a commentator for The Independent, says the film's overly simplistic approach fails to hold Uganda's President Yoweri Museveni accountable.

"'Invisible Children' asked viewers to seek the engagement of American policymakers and celebrities, but - and this is a major red flag - it didn't introduce them to the many Northern Ugandans already doing fantastic work both in their local communities and in the Diaspora. It didn't ask its viewers to seek diplomatic pressure on President Museveni's administration," Museveni writes.

Foreign Affairs also points out U.S.-based advocacy groups' exaggeration of Joseph Kony as a uniquely evil figure. "They rarely refer to the Ugandan atrocities or those of Sudan's People's Liberation Army, such as attacks against civilians or looting of civilian homes and businesses, or the complicated regional politics fueling the conflict," the magazine writes.

� 2012, Catholic Online. Distributed by NEWS CONSORTIUM.

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Keywords: Jospeh Kony, Invisible Children, Uganda, campaign

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1 - 2 of 2 Comments

Amanda Keller
1 year ago
When my high school daughter showed me this film, at first I thought awareness on this topic was needed but the more I watched the more it became clear that the filmmaker was more interested in getting attention for himself. I was very put off by the use of his own little son as a prop. The underlying message was that the West must come to the rescue of these people because they are unable to help themselves. The filmmaker ignorantly states "this could never happen in America". I bristled at his elite sensibilities. I live in a prosperous, modern city on the East Coast where not five miles from me drug dealers exploit young women, using them as prostitutes and taking young men and pushing them into drug running and worse. Atrocities are going on right here in America yet this filmmaker wants to make everyone around the world to "make Kony famous". Methinks the filmmaker wants to be famous and is only using this "cause" to make a name for himself. I am very upset by the fact this filmmaker sells Kony Kits and asks youths to go out at night on the 20th of April and plaster the signs everywhere. Does he realize how costly the cleanup this will be to the taxpayers? No, he could care less. He wants his money for the kits and his name in lights. Then again, he's gotten quite a few "likes" on Facebook. UGH.
Billy Kangas
1 year ago
Here are a few of my thoughts on this
http://www.theorant.com/2012/03/invisible-children-and-kony-2012-friend.html

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