Kony 2012: It's oversimplified for a reason
- 12 years ago
ROUGH CUT (NO REPORTER NARRATION)
STORY: The newest Internet superstar isn't a water skiing squirrel or a talking cat, he is an African war criminal who is on the top of the International Criminal Court's most wanted list.
Thanks to the San Diego, California based organization, Invisible Children, Joseph Kony is slowly on his way to becoming a household name.
The group claims Kony, the fugitive leader of the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) militia group in Uganda, has kidnapped over 60,000 children over the past 25 years, forcing them to kill their parents, fight in wars, and turning young girls into sex slaves.
On Monday (March 5) the foundation released a 30-minute video online, detailing their mission to have Kony arrested by December 2012, with the goal of getting 500,000 views by December 2012. Four days later, the video has been viewed over 55 million times and growing.
The film's narrator, Jason Russell, said he is still in a bit of shock over the response.
"The unique thing about this movement which is really, really exciting is that it's led by the youth. It's the children, the children literally every single news interview that I've done, they say, you know what, my 14-year-old daughter, you know my 9-year-old son - that's what they're telling us - these are the people who have very clear understanding. When you get older you get muddled and polluted by the way the world is suppose to work and children don't see it that way, they are like, 'this just isn't right,'" added Russell.
Critics of the Invisible Children campaign said the video over-simplifies the situation, creating an illusion that posting messages on social media could have a meaningful impact on a long-standing human rights crisis. When asked about the criticism, Russell partly agreed.
"It definitely over-simplifies the issue. This video is not the answer, you know, this is just the gateway into the conversation. And we made it quick and we made it over-simplified on purpose you know. Steve Jobs, you know, said 'simplicity is the highest form of sophistication.' And it's really hard to make something simple, and we worked really hard to make something simple. So we're proud that it's simple," said Russell.
The charity's unconventional financial style has forced the foundation to defend the way they use their profits.
Twenty so-called 'culturemakers' and 12 policy makers have been tapped to help spread their mission. TV personality Oprah Winfrey was the first to react.
While the movement has made Russell an overnight public figure, he explains that it's not about exposure.
"This isn't about the fame and the celebrity, it's just about the human beings coming together to make Kony famous and in doing that you are making the invisible children famous, you're making the invisible visible, and that was the intention."
The campaign's next push is "cover the night" on April 20 when they will ask people around the world to blanket their cities with posters and information on Joseph Kony.
In November the foundation hopes to celebrate the capture of Kony with a global concert featuring some of the world's biggest music acts.
STORY: The newest Internet superstar isn't a water skiing squirrel or a talking cat, he is an African war criminal who is on the top of the International Criminal Court's most wanted list.
Thanks to the San Diego, California based organization, Invisible Children, Joseph Kony is slowly on his way to becoming a household name.
The group claims Kony, the fugitive leader of the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) militia group in Uganda, has kidnapped over 60,000 children over the past 25 years, forcing them to kill their parents, fight in wars, and turning young girls into sex slaves.
On Monday (March 5) the foundation released a 30-minute video online, detailing their mission to have Kony arrested by December 2012, with the goal of getting 500,000 views by December 2012. Four days later, the video has been viewed over 55 million times and growing.
The film's narrator, Jason Russell, said he is still in a bit of shock over the response.
"The unique thing about this movement which is really, really exciting is that it's led by the youth. It's the children, the children literally every single news interview that I've done, they say, you know what, my 14-year-old daughter, you know my 9-year-old son - that's what they're telling us - these are the people who have very clear understanding. When you get older you get muddled and polluted by the way the world is suppose to work and children don't see it that way, they are like, 'this just isn't right,'" added Russell.
Critics of the Invisible Children campaign said the video over-simplifies the situation, creating an illusion that posting messages on social media could have a meaningful impact on a long-standing human rights crisis. When asked about the criticism, Russell partly agreed.
"It definitely over-simplifies the issue. This video is not the answer, you know, this is just the gateway into the conversation. And we made it quick and we made it over-simplified on purpose you know. Steve Jobs, you know, said 'simplicity is the highest form of sophistication.' And it's really hard to make something simple, and we worked really hard to make something simple. So we're proud that it's simple," said Russell.
The charity's unconventional financial style has forced the foundation to defend the way they use their profits.
Twenty so-called 'culturemakers' and 12 policy makers have been tapped to help spread their mission. TV personality Oprah Winfrey was the first to react.
While the movement has made Russell an overnight public figure, he explains that it's not about exposure.
"This isn't about the fame and the celebrity, it's just about the human beings coming together to make Kony famous and in doing that you are making the invisible children famous, you're making the invisible visible, and that was the intention."
The campaign's next push is "cover the night" on April 20 when they will ask people around the world to blanket their cities with posters and information on Joseph Kony.
In November the foundation hopes to celebrate the capture of Kony with a global concert featuring some of the world's biggest music acts.