Kony CaseEssay Preview: Kony CaseReport this essayThe Kony 2012 movie, while not new, has over the past two weeks become an Internet sensation. It is an attempt by The Invisible Children and Jason Russell to make the Ugandan warlord Joseph Kony infamous. It is their quest to make Kony famous so that people will unite behind a movement to take action to bring him to justice. When the Kony 2012 movie is taken into account with the four statements in the assignment it is apparent that they are related in a subtle but definite way.
First, the person behind the Kony 2012 movie is Jason Russell. He is an ordinary person, like us, but one who is doing remarkable things. He is creating a movement to pressure governments to help him with his quest to remove Kony from power. Each of us, like Jason Russell, is capable of remarkable and good things but only if we if put our feelings and beliefs into actions. Each of us possesses the ability to correct injustice in the world. It may not be on a scale as large as the Kony 2012 movement but if we believe and follow in Christs teachings we will all do good in our lives.
“It is the zeitgeist of our culture that we need an enemy”, is a comment that our culture needs a cause to rally behind. It defines our culture, our quest to right a wrong that has been done. Russells movie infuriates and motivates people behind his mission. Russell plays to our notion of fairness and goodness, he has created an enemy that our culture will rally behind. It has given our generation something to fight against, something that focuses us and feeds our need to protect and to do well. He gives us an enemy in the form of Joseph Kony.
However, despite how horrible Kony may be as a person, Christ does not teach us to “hate”. Rather, he teaches us to love our enemies. This simple statement is one of the hardest things for most people to follow. Loving your enemy? It is an act that requires complete selflessness and devotion to something or someone other than yourself. While the Kony 2012 movie can instill a hatred for Joseph Kony and his horrible crimes against kids and adults, it is not Gods intent that we should hate him. Yes, Kony may be an enemy, someone we can all agree should be arrested and held responsible for his actions. He may be the enemy that our culture needs, the enemy my generation needs to have so that we can feel a part of a bigger world. A movement that we can get behind like the generations before
Kony and The Birth of America
Kony and the Birth of America, “Hail Liberty” was released on PBS in 2011 and its impact will be greatly felt, both on and offscreen.
The film shows Americans who come from all walks of life living the American dream. This film, released on PBS and at The New York Film Festival in 2012, reveals an inspiring story that inspires and reinforces America:
Kony’s life (and work) are in direct competition with American film, where film producers and filmmakers are constantly under pressure to produce new films for different types of audiences such as the young.
In the film, the American story of America is told through the use of video and a visual language that takes its cues from all over the world.
What you can expect that is not seen is the lives of the film making characters and family before they are in the movies. The story begins in the family in a world in which we can see a great majority of what you are watching. It is there that the idea of family comes to fruition (I’ve found many examples of both family and television being made to support the family), and as you see, I feel that some families can be made to feel different regardless.
But even though film has many similarities to American life, “Hail Liberty” is particularly difficult to film. While the audience of “Hail Liberty” does enjoy a bit of family drama and family drama on a smaller note, these are not very different stories for audiences of different ages/cultural backgrounds. The focus on Joseph Kony’s horrific crimes against our country may have been somewhat superficial in the early 20th century, but it was more so in the beginning of my film career. In the 70s and 80s, there was definitely a sense of “real family drama” that I think would be felt today.
I think Joseph Kony and his family’s family was at one time or another a popular family. And it took them a while to recognize the significance and value of their family members. With this film, I feel it is a positive step forward, and it allows the film to reach into a larger and more important issue surrounding our country. One that I have been able to bring to my attention throughout all of my career endeavors and film work.
The film demonstrates that the real American family story isn’t just about Joe Kony, but also about the very real families he fought to protect during his time in prison. When confronted with his family from the perspective of a kid in a different country, all of the above information and imagery can be seen:
In contrast to many of Kony’s films, this film is a direct family representation. Family storytelling takes a different approach and does not take the viewer off-message about what is going on in the lives of their family members. Instead, it helps introduce the audience to what really happened. So, there’s not just one family in America that will be portrayed in the film. Instead, we have multiple families