THE INVISIBLE CHILDREN PROGRAM SPENDS ALL THEIR MONEY ON FILMS AND HARDLY ANY ON PROGRAMS THAT ACTUALLY HELP UGANDA.
Many critics astutely point out the Invisible Children Program makes minimal effort to directly better Uganda. This critique is obviously justifiable. The NGO only granted about $3 million (37%) of last year’s budget to their Central Africa programs (funding scholarships, projects, etc). Only $3 million to improving Uganda?....pssshhh pocket change. What did the Invisible Children program do with their remaining $5 million you ask? The blew over 8% of it on half baked, pedestrian, homemade flicks which sparked a mere whimper of awareness on youtube. Speaking of awareness, a cool $2 million was tossed down the drain when the ICP invested over 25% of their expenses on T-shirts, public speaking, and political advocacy. Seriously, spending money on political advocacy? Who does that?
What most disturbs me however, is the grotesque amount of profit pocketed by the ICP’s leaders. You remember Jason Russell, the narrator in the video, right? He is the main co-founder/ filmmaker of the Invisible Children Program. Go ahead and guess how much he makes a year….$100,000….$5000,000 you say? Yeah, not even close. The world renowned filmmaker makes no less than $60,000 a year. Golly-gee-cheese-whiz-on-crackers people!....that is like almost $10,000 above the median national salary. And if you think that greedy bastard is rolling in cash, just imagine how much dough the minions below him are making…keeping in mind that San Diego is like a totally super dirt cheap place to live in.
THE DOCUMENTARY IS VERY MISLEADING AND DOESN'T TELL THE WHOLE STORY
Journalists are some of the ICP’s harshest critics, belittling the program for its biased and out of date depiction of the LRA crisis. The media has every right to trash-talk considering they invested so much time covering the Central Africa crisis during the LRA’s 20-year reign in Uganda. In fact, according to a quick Lexis-Nexis search of “Joseph Kony” no less than 117 articles were written about the rebel leader by New York Times, Washington Post, USA today combined over the past 25 years. That is just under 5 articles per year between the leading print services in the U.S…but trust me….those were a good five articles. When the same test was run on the term “Snooki,” Kony garnered about 40% as many reports as the “The Jersey Shore’s” celebrity princess. Not bad for the International Criminal Court’s most wanted man.
Now that the ICP’s video is hip and mainstream, however, these same journalists are even quicker to pen a top notch, unbiased analyses of the LRA. This was undoubtedly their strategy: “wait until some young filmmakers toil for nine years creating a buzz about the story, and the reap the benefits of the LRA and Invisible Children Program's new-found publicity.” Genius. Why waste your money and time reporting on the crisis in first place when you can let someone else do it for you? A few of the world’s most trusted media outlets - Anne Curry’s “The Today Show” and “Piers Morgan Tonight”- actually reached out to the Invisible Children program for a brief interview in lieu of stabbing them with criticism. Some may call this good journalism, but I call it a waste of time. Personally I would have gone The Guardian route and crafted a piece on the Invisible Children Program, without actually interviewing the Invisible Children Program.
THEY TOOK A PICTURE WITH THE SUDAN ARMY.....THERE WERE GUNS!
Many further crucify Russell and his fellow filmmaker Laren Poole for their casual bazooka pose next to two Sudanese soldiers back in 2008. A honest critique, especially since none of us have ever stepped in front of a misguided camera frame for a innocent snapshot. We are all nuns, and would never do anything in front of a camera mommy and daddy would disapprove. On the topic of questionable photography, there is a bee-bee gun probably powerful enough to stun an infant squirrel lying five feet outside my door. If I am to take a picture with it, would you think les of me? Actually…I just did….it is below.
And I still believe in non-violence….the hypocrisy.
(Ladies, when this picture was taken I was running a fever of 100 degrees and hadn’t shaved in three days. For a picture of me on a good day, click here, or here, or especially here.)
OK tongue out of cheek.
My friend Etienne Mashuli, President of Ubuntu in Action and a visionary who has my utmost respect, brings up the best point I have heard so far. By supporting the United State's military partnership with the Ugandan army, the Invisible Children Program supports the corrupt, borderline authoritarian regime that is the Ugandan government. To this point I have no response and think it is spot on.
(Still serious) On a side note the African economy is growing rapidly. The continents Gross Domestic Product (GDP) rose 4.9% from 2000 to 2008. Furthermore Africa was the only region to experience a spike in GDP during the 2009 economic recession, other than Asia. Uganda and the rest of the countries in Central Africa were no exception . We’re reaching a point where Africa deserves partnerships... not pity.
(Not serious for like 5 seconds) Does anyone remember this youtube video…an absolute classic.
(OK back to being serious) If anything, the Invisible Children Program is doing something that near impossible; creating empathy in story that has received nothing but apathy for a quarter century. They are promoting a public interest in justice, humanity, and most importantly Africa. You may not be on board with the Invisible Children’s cause due whatever reason, but if their “KONY2012” campaign has ignited some small internal spark that could potentially lead to a burning passion for Africa, I think Jason Russell and crew at the ICP are OK with that.
No comments:
Post a Comment