The "Kony 2012" video is now up to 80 million hits, but criticism of it is also growing. The story took a new, tragic twist Thursday when San Diego police detained the film's creator, Jason Russell, after claiming that he was obstructing traffic in his underwear. Russell's wife attributes the irrational act to the stress and criticism that the co-founder of Invisible Children has been recently under.
As I noted last week, many Africans and other critics argue that the viral video, though very effective at conveying its message (warlord Joseph Kony must be brought to justice), oversimplifies a complex problem. They are also troubled that the video may contribute to the "White Savior Industrial Complex," as writer Teju Cole puts it. A showing of the film in Northern Uganda had to be halted when audience members threw rocks at the screen, as they felt that the movie was about white people rather than their suffering. The purpose of the video is indeed to mobilize American opinion to care and do something about the suffering of Africans. But it is troubling that Invisible Children's board is all white and that they apparently did not anticipate the criticisms that the video would provoke.
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