Response to Prof. Vee’s Post- Kony 2012
About two years ago, I can remember going on Facebook and seeing that a bunch of my friends had changed their profile pictures to Kony 2012. Curious as to what all the hype was about, I scrolled though their pages and in a matter of minutes came across the viral video. Even if you never watched the documentary, I feel confident in saying that you’ve probably heard about it. It was the most viral video in history, mainly because it spread through social media, such as Facebook and twitter.
Basically, Kony 2012 was a documentary made by a nonprofit charity called Invisible Children geared toward the average American in an attempt to pull on a few heart strings and raise money for the Ugandan militia. Uganda, along with many other African countries, are suffering under the wrath of the LRA (Lord’s Resistance Army) and their leader, Joesph Kony. The LRA is comprised of abducted children forced to kill, steal and commit various other heinous crimes. If the children refuse, they are murdered. They live in deplorable conditions and are constantly in fear of their lives. Invisible Children sounds like a more than worthy cause, right?
Wrong.
This is not to say that what is happening in Africa should be disregarded. The LRA is real. Joesph Kony is a bad person. It is a tragedy. However, Invisible Children manipulated information to play the emotions of the viewers of their video. The creator of Invisible Children and star of the documentary, Jason Russel, has a strong ethos at first glance. In his video, he comes across as a likable and more than decent guy. He does mission work in Africa. What’s to dislike?
There is a very strong pathos element to the video as well. Jason befriends a child of the LRA, Jacob, who watched his own brother’s murder and now is struggling for his own life. Jacob tells Jason how he aspires to be a lawyer, but his dream will never come true because an education is not in his future. Russel parallels Jacob’s life to the life of his own son, who lives in America and has a bright future ahead of him. It is all very sad and very persuasive.
This is where the issue comes into play. Kony 2012 lacked a strong logos. They emitted a lot of information in order to capture the pity of their viewers. The situation is much more complicated than the video portrays it to be. Kony is not the only powerful and evil man involved in the LRA and killing him will not solve all of Africa’s problems. Also, the LRA has not been active in Uganda since 2006 nor is Uganda the only country affected by the LRA.
Upon more research, you will find that Invisible Children only sends 31% of its profits to help the children in Uganda. Much of the profits are believed to be pocketed by it’s members. Out of four stars, Invisible Children only received two for reliability. So Jason Russel is a great guy, but maybe not as great as we originally thought.
Kony 2012 is a great example of a movement with a very questionable rhetorical appeal.
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