To have mass appeal, a global message needs to be clear. But when does a simplified
message risk misinforming the public?
The runaway and controversial success of Invisible Children's Kony 2012
documentary demonstrates the challenge of global messaging. Other global campaigns
like Save Darfur, Product RED, or even popular movements like Occupy Wall Street
face similar challenges. In each case, activists have been accused of oversimplifying
complex issues to gain mass appeal.
The uproar has been particularly loud in the case of Invisible Children. Thanks
to its 30-minute documentary, Joseph Kony has become a household name. The head
of a Ugandan guerilla group, Kony is said to have ordered the abduction of thousands
of children to become sex slaves and soldiers. According to the International
Criminal Court, he may even be guilty of war crimes.
Yet in raising awareness of Kony's crimes, critics complain that Invisible
Children has introduced a misleading good guy-bad guy narrative that risks whitewashing
the evils of other players in this story, like the Ugandan government. They
also warn that the organization's appeal for donations transforms activism into
a mere financial transaction. Ultimately, winning the hearts and dollars of
Western sympathizers won't cure Uganda's ills.
For the documentary's supporters, it is the very simplicity of Invisible Children's
message that accounts for its appeal. Making the issue more complex would only
risk diluting the larger point: that Kony is evil and needs to be stopped. Moreover,
portraying the issue as overly complicated could make the problem seem unsolvable.
This, advocates warn, is a recipe for inaction.
As Invisible Children continues its campaign, do you think global success has
come at the cost of oversimplification? Is this a price worth paying if it leads
to Kony's arrest?
By Marlene
Spoerri
For more information see
Ethan Zuckerman, "Unpacking
Kony 2012," My heart's in Accra, March 8, 2012
Noam Cohen, "A
Video Campaign and the Power of Simplicity," The New York Times,
March 11, 2012
Photo Credits in order of Appearance:
Jane
Rahman [also for picture 11]
Robert
Raines
Bachrach44
Ally
Mauro
Paul Stein
sean
dreilinger
Pierre
Holtz, UNICEF CAR
:)gab(:
Tech.
Sgt. Jeremy T. Lock/U.S. Air Force
VOA
- I. Broadhead
Adele
Booysen
Uncommon
Fritillary
