Joseph Kony is NOT a hamburger.

For those of you who might have been ignorant to the campaign, like myself, and thinking that Joseph Kony was in fact a new type of hamburger at McDonald's - please watch this video for proof.

Joseph Kony is, in fact, a Ugandan warlord and leader of the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) responsible for abducting and indicting approximately 60000 young children to use as soldiers and sex-slaves.

KONY with his army, the LRA

According to Invisible Children's official YouTube channel, "KONY 2012 is a film and campaign by Invisible Children that aims to make Joseph Kony famous, not to celebrate him, but to raise support for his arrest and set a precedent for international justice."

And boy, have they succeeded in making Kony's name famous.

That name has not left my eyes or evaded my ears for the past few week.

I came home from TAFE just the other day to check my Facebook as per usual and saw KONY 2012 plastered everywhere. Most people had the words 'support Kony 2012' written as their statues while others had more in-depth analytical accusations such as 'issues like this have been going on since forever - you must be ignorant if you're supporting Kony 2012 just because it's viral.'

Or something like that (you'll have to excuse my bad paraphrasing).

Now, upon seeing these initial statements I did not give the words 'Kony 2012' a second thought. But little did I know that I would be seeing it for the entirety of the rest of the night; on every YouTube video I tried to watch (that were mind you, completely unrelated to politics or campaigns of any sort); on every news channel  I switched on - on every blog I was following.

So naturally, I became interested. I hated the feeling of the world knowing something that I was completely unaware of. And this was worse: it was much like being left behind in a supermassive black hole while the entirety of the mass media world was participating in some type of digital revolution.

So the question I began to ask was - What the f*** is Kony 2012?

Well, I finally found my way to the official film and watched it for myself. And you should, too.

The film as a whole really is something extraordinary. From a filmmakers perspective, the documentary has a slick Hollywood production feel to it and I could tell instantly that it is targeted towards young souls. I was reminded of a Woodstock type event as the film celebrated young people of the world standing together - proud - for the one cause. Modern indie music makes this film very 'in,' featuring songs from Kiwi hipster band The Naked and Famous and dubstep producer Flux Pavillion. And I can almost guarantee that, because of these reasons, the film was as successful as it is. 

The fact is, our young generation aren't going to find Michael Moore interesting anymore (I still dig your style, Michael!) They don't want old issues presented in an old way. They want old issues presented in a new way. They want new, and they want modern. Many of them want only that which encapsulates their own, young, free and rebellious souls - which is perfectly portrayed in Invisible Children's documentary. And I'll give Invisible Children 100% props for that.

Now, artistic analysis aside I was blown away by the documentary. To think that something like this has been going on in another country for 25 years (under Kony - and for way longer before him) and only was it now surfacing in a movement directly attributed to the people of the world. Ironically, it really made me think about how ignorant those of us living in western countries are. Before the explosion of this campaign just last week, I bet you less than 1% of the young population could tell me who Kony is. And that's not accusatory either - I would be a definite part of that 1%.

World issues are everywhere. They have always been happening, and they always will be happening. However, if this documentary exemplifies anything it is the fact that there is power left in people. Whether or not the government listens and responds is another story - but if the people care, and they show that they care there is an almost 99% chance that the government will NOTICE. And that means something.

The thing is, for almost every situation there is going to be people gunning down the integrity of its purpose - no matter what the intentions.

There is an online blog that exists called 'Visible Children'.

http://visiblechildren.tumblr.com/

This blog was started as a response by Grant Oyston after initially publishing an article entitled 'Kony 2012: Why I'm opposed to the campaign.'  

Here is a link to the article:

http://www.sabotagetimes.com/life/kony-2012-why-im-opposed-to-the-campaign/

Basically, he criticizes the Invisible Children campaign 'Kony 2012' - and not the actual issue. He suggests that the answer to the Kony problem lies not with the campaign, but with more direct means of taking action. He claims that 'Last year, the (controversial) organization spent $8,676,614. Only 32% went to direct services...with much of the rest going to staff salaries, travel and transport, and film production.'

Oyston assails to the fact that Invisible Children are working with the Ugandan military who themselves have committed crimes which may equate to that of Joseph Kony.

The founders of Invisible Children posing with weapons and personnel of the Sudan People’s Liberation Army

Oyston mentions an array of problems with a campaign like this. One of them is that there has been repeated efforts of the U.S. African Command (AFRICOM) to capture Kony over the years - each of them failing and encouraging retaliation on Kony's side. His issue is that many of Kony's bodyguards are children themselves, and to get to Kony could result in mass slaughter of children.

Oyston writes that while awareness is good, people should be aware of exactly what they're supporting. He writes that 'these problems are highly complex, not one-dimensional and, frankly, aren’t of the nature that can be solved by postering, film-making and changing your Facebook profile picture, as hard as that is to swallow.'

And yet, the movement of Invisible Children remains so big, so global and viral. This campaign must be one of the most celebrated and widespread ever in human history - up at the top with 9/11 and Osama Bin Laden.

Invisible Children's campaign will culminate on one day which they have labelled as 'Cover the Night' - when those who are aware will stay up until the sunrise, working discreetly to plaster Kony's face in every street corner they manage to reach.

On April 20th, the sleeping world will wake up to hundreds of thousands of posters demanding justice in every part of the world.

So keep an eye out for this date. If you're slightly sceptical, then just think of it as a human experiment.

If this campaign succeeds: if it means that the entire world will witness the result of Kony 2012 on April 20th, this will finally prove that there is power in the people. We will be able to say that we have control, and that we can make an issue known and, more importantly, make it matter. This can be applied to countless issues in the future. Thanks to the incredible power of social media and the Internet, we have finally been able to come together for one purpose and stand together - transcending physical borders  and the necessity to travel.

I encourage everyone reading this to do your own research on the issue and come to your own conclusion. After all,a knowledgeable world with the right intentions can only ever do good and it helps to know exactly what you're supporting and why. So to activists and sceptics alike - let's keep this about world peace and a better future. And in Oyston's words, let's keep this about Kony, not necessarily KONY 2012. Perhaps then we can all find common ground. 

You can visit the Invisible Children Kony 2012 website at
www.Kony2012.com

-Dahlia