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'KONY 2012' viral video raises questions about filmmakers 3.16.12

 This article mentions the controversial video that was released by Invisible Children just a couple of weeks ago. The video itself was a half an hour long, and it talked about a man named Joseph Kony who is recruiting children in Uganda to be a part of his army and help continue his reign. Invisible Children is trying to make the name more known so that the child abductions can stop with the help of Americans. There is controversy on whether or not the video is accurate, and most people that know anything about the situation knows that it’s very inaccurate, and it isn’t as dramatized as the video made it seem. The video was made a little too late, the things mentioned haven’t been happening since the 1990’s. The organization itself is accused of not using enough of its money for good enough purposes. So overall, the organization isn’t being put to good use, making a controversial video that caused a little too much panic.  The idea of KONY 2012 could be tied to anti-slavery. Kony has abducted many children and has used them for slavery, for both labor and sex. America used to be in the same boat. We started with slavery in 1619, and there were about 500,000 slaves brought to America overall (“Slavery”). When they came here, they had no rights, nor any source of education, or any freedom to express themselves. While here, they were made to work, and that’s all they were allowed to do. Some were treated nicely, and some were abused and killed. They weren’t allowed to vote, and they didn’t even really count as people on the census until the ⅗ compromise, and even then, they weren’t considered whole people. As time goes by, more and more northern people opposed slavery, and when it came to the Civil War, there were a lot of blacks forced in the South to fight. The North was distinctly anti-slavery, while the Southern white people were mostly pro-slavery. Slavery didn’t end until Abraham Lincoln came into office and finally did something about it. Even at that, it was a whole “separate but equal” policy, as we come to see that that stays for a rather long time. Media has a lot to do with reform. The power of one video could very well change the way people think. Take this video for example, pretty much no one even knew who Kony was, or what he was doing. Invisible Children makes one video, and everyone knows who he is and what he’s done. This could tie in with the relevance of the course. When it came to famous protests, media is always the fuel that keep them going (If you think back to the LA Riots, the thing keeping them going was the fact that the media was exposing everything that was happening, so people could take advantage of it.) When it came to the Depression, newspaper really got the word around when it came to the current status of the situation. When it came to WWII, propaganda was a huge deal, and it spread through the media. The government was asking people to buy war bonds, supporting the efforts that the soldiers were giving. They did this in the form of media, making the supermarkets littered with all types of cartoons so that people would see it and feel obligated to get a war bond. The creator of the piece knows the kind of attention that they want to get. For example, someone supporting Hitler would make some kind of statement or picture that bashes his opposer, and find a way to make it relatable to the people. Invisible Children knew exactly what kind of attention that they would get from this video.  This article ties in with the idea of reform because it’s discriminatory towards blacks. At one time, we were all for slavery, same as some of the people in Uganda. We have the perfect example for them to follow, being that we were once in the same situation. In America, we are completely against the doings of Kony, and it could cause us to change some of our laws, if they aren’t concrete enough. Uganda could do this as well, making their laws better when it comes to people’s protection rights. The video could very well be the start of some type of civil rights movement, being that they’re getting pressure from a lot of different countries now. This could cause a reform in Uganda, and maybe they could start becoming more humanitarian. 1. Who do you think that this movie was intended to be targeted towards? 2. Why would the filmmakers not use valid information? 3. Do you think that this could be the start for a better Uganda? 4. Do you think that America could be an inspiration for countries in Africa to get rid of their slavery?
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"Slavery in America." Slavery in America. Web. 19 Mar. 2012. .

Thompson, Nick, and Ashley Fantz. "'KONY 2012' Viral Video Raises Questions about Filmmakers - CNN.com." CNN. Cable News Network, 01 Jan. 1970. Web. 19 Mar. 2012. 