PHONY 2012

Joseph Kony is a bad guy. This much we know and can all agree.

The Ugandan war criminal, who runs the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA), an organization known for kidnapping children, turning them into sex slaves and soldiers, is the subject of a viral film that has generated over 85 million views in less than three weeks. Jason Russell, the director of the film, KONY 2012, calls for immediate action and tells his audience "KONY MUST BE STOPPED." The 30-minute film was released on YouTube on March 5 and hundreds of people have voiced their support for the cause with tweets and shares.

The filmmaker's goal has been to raise awareness and have people worldwide know Joseph Kony by name... among other things.

Joseph Kony is currently number one on the International Criminal Court's most-wanted list, so again, there's no question about the fact that he is a criminal. The problem, however, comes on the part of Jason Russell himself and whether his film is meant to educate viewers and raise awareness or simply commercialize these conflicts.

KONY 2012 fails in addressing the fact that Kony and his band haven't been active in Uganda for years now. The LRA has moved onto other countries, but the film doesn't urge action outside of Uganda. The film instead portrays Ugandans as helpless victims at a time when Kony isn't their biggest concern.

The film also fails in educating its audience about the conflicts. Jason Russell, who interestingly enough was detained last week for masturbating in public in San Diego, uses his five-year-old son, Gavin, as means of simplifying these issues. In showing his son images of Kony, he points out that Kony is the "bad guy," whereas others, such as Jacob Acaye - a former child abductee from Uganda - is a "good guy." In effect, the filmmaker treats his audience as five-year-olds, oversimplifying these issues as if we, like his son, are uneducated about the world.

The film fails in educating its viewers about the conflict in Uganda and rather uses filmic techniques, such as rapid editing, to emotionally exhaust its viewers. The film repeatedly tells its audience that we must "stop at nothing" and takes us on an emotional roller coaster. In using an emotional narrative rather than an educational one, Jason Russell convinces his audience to donate to his efforts by having viewers purchase a $30 "action kit," which will go toward bringing Kony to justice. This itself becomes questionable; if a filmmaker wants to raise awareness through a documentary film, he wouldn't use an emotional narrative to persuade his viewers to donate money to him. The film, however, does just that; by the time the filmmaker asks you for $30, you're wiping away the tears in your eyes just to grab your wallet.

The backlash the film has received claims that a significant portion of the money donated to the project goes to travel expenses and filmmaking rather than efforts in helping find Kony. There have been several open letters to the filmmaker, asking where the donated money actually, but we'd assume the filmmaker has too busy masturbating in public to immediately have answers for us.

In addition, the timing of the film and its title, KONY 2012, is more concerned with commercial interests than anything else. In effect, the filmmaker commercializes the Ugandan conflict in which thousands of people have lost their lives. The title of the film itself speaks to the upcoming presidential elections, drawing attention to itself, as if he were selling us a product rather than making an educational film.

There's no question whether the subject of the film, Joseph Kony, deserves to be brought to justice. It's clear that he and his organization is responsible for thousands of deaths; what's questionable is how we use cinema and documentary films to bring attention to these conflicts and issues. In the case of one filmmaker, he feels the need to commercialize off these issues. In simplifying these conflicts and making Kony the clear "bad guy," he urges his audience to do the right thing and donate money to him, which he assures us will "stop Kony."