About Me

My photo
A doer, not a dreamer.

Sunday, March 11, 2012

Kony2012 (#stopkony) is a typical Hollywood script of good versus evil, starrying Team America as "World Police".

Like everyone else, am tempted to weigh in on the Kony2012 video. No doubt the film is a digital marvel - slick, punch and totally absorbing - but I found the framing of the narrative a little too simplistic for such a serious issue. Do I want Joseph Kony captured? Most definitely. Do I think he is the only bad guy in this war? Certainly not. The Lords Resistance Army rebellion remains one of the most complex conflicts in Uganda's history. It goes beyond the religious and social discriminatory robes in which it was initially clothed (and conveniently so) by those living beyond our borders who cared enough to know of its existence. It would have been great for Kony2012 to have been framed in a way that offers a balanced narrative to those with little knowledge about the conflict, rather than merely cast in the typical Hollywood script of good versus evil - with Kony as the villain, and the USA (and West) as the quintessential good cop. It wouldn't have hurt to veer off the script for once - and mix things up a little with some hard-nosed realities. Movie aficionados will tell you that "Blood Diamond" and "Black Hawk Down" weren't all that bad, despite dealing with the same messy affairs of war (and need I say, economic resource marginalization!). Visit the UK Guardian's website at - http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/reality-check-with-polly-curtis/2012/mar/08/kony-2012-what-s-the-story?fb=native -for a compilation of different viewpoints on this film from across the world.