Homework for 3-14: KONY 2012 Questions

1. Summarize the documentary KONY 2012 in one paragraph. What is it about? (one paragraph) 

        The main idea of the video is raising awareness of the actions of a man, Joseph Kony. The video describes the awful things Kony is doing in central Africa, kidnapping children, killing innocent people and abusing human life. It explains that they want to make Joseph Kony a household name, not for people to praise him, but so as many people as possible can know of the horrible things he is doing and also to make a community of followers. The video tells that if enough people know about Kony, then it is more likely for him to be captured and brought to justice.  

1. Why did the filmmaker choose to make this film? What does he hope to                     achieve? What is his specific goal and what is his strategy for making it happen? (1-2 paragraphs) 

        One thing the filmmaker mentions is his personal connection with the subject, through his relationship with the boy, Jacob, who lives in Uganda. I think there are definitely other reasons why the filmmaker made the video, but I think the main reason is because of his personal appeal. 

       During the course of the video the film maker mentions many times what he hopes to achieve through the video. He wants to raise awareness for what is going on with Kony and what he is doing in Africa. There are many different ways to raise awareness about something, but I think making a really compelling video is a great way to do it. I think the video is just really a tool to get people engaged about the subject. Just like the posters, bracelets and shirts are also tools. 

1. What is your personal opinion on the strategy he is using to raise awareness? Is it effective? At some point, people get tired of seeing "the same old posts" about an issue. Some of you have already asked the question "what's the point of this video?" What is the point? Even if you're personally tired of seeing links and posts about it, do you think there is value in saturating the media like the film proposes? What would you do different? (1-2 paragraphs)

       Personally, I think this video was an excellent way to get the massage out about Kony and was we have seen on facebook, it was been very successful in doing so. The effects in the film were very good and I found them extremely compelling, I think because the video was interesting to watch, it made more people drawn to see it. If the film was just someone sitting telling you about Kony for half an hour, I think it would definitely be less popular and would have raised a lot less awareness about the subject.

        I think at some point a portion of people might get tired of seeing all of the “Kony 2012” posts on facebook and other websites. I bet most of those people who will get annoyed with the Kony posts are those who have not seen the video yet. If they start to understand what the video is about and what the motives are, I think  they will realize all of posts and “shares” are for the purpose of raising awareness about an important topic. So although all of the talk about Kony might get old, it is for a good cause. I think most people can appreciate that.   

1. What do you think about about the idea of making a "bad person a celebrity?" Are there any negatives to this approach? (one paragraph)

        The whole “make Kony famous” idea was quite new to me and it was a very interesting way to make the subject popular. It has definitely worked though, for he has become fairly famous and most of the people I know have either heard of him or seen the video. I think there are certainly downsides to this approach. Some people might have a problem with everyone knowing who he is. A possible reason might be because the awful things Kony does are pretty disturbing and not exactly something appropriate for everyone. This could be a problem if it were common knowledge.

1. What is the difference between raising awareness and between a call to action?

        For me, I think “raising awareness” is more just telling someone something, rather than actually asking someone to do something. While “calling to action”, I think, is actually calling people to do something. This video can do both, depending on how the watcher reacts to it. The video does raise awareness, because it holds information about a subject and makes people aware of what is going on. On the other hand, it also does call to action. Many times it asks to please share the video on facebook and let people know about it; I see that as a type of “calling to action”. 

1. What is an issue you feel strongly about - strongly enough that you would want to not only raise awareness, but call people to action? Be specific - in other words, don't just choose a topic like 'eliminate world hunger.' It doesn't have to be a global issue, but it should be a specific, definable one where you are proposing a specific solution. What is a specific way to focus on that topic? Ask yourself the following questions: 

• What is the issue? Bullying 
• Where is it? It is really everywhere. In schools across America and other countries, but not only in schools in neighborhoods, even in households.    
• Who are the people affected? I think it is mainly children who are immediately effected by this, but when you look at the big picture it is more than just children. When a kid is being bullied his or her self confidence can drop, sometimes to the point where the kid will put himself down, verbally or possibly by cutting themselves. When it gets to that point, I would say its not just the child who is being effected, but that child’s family and friends as well.  
• Why should people care about this issue? I think bullying really is one of the biggest issues in schools. People should care about it because it is harming people everywhere and that’s really not cool. If every person had their fullest self confidence it would be a much happier world. By preventing bullying I think people would be stronger and generally happier. 
• What can people like you do to solve the problem; to help? For me personally, this really is not a huge deal, mainly because I go to a pretty small school and it just does not happen a lot. For most others though, I think the main ways to help solve the problem is to, first, not bully someone else and, second, when you see it happening just try and stand up to it. If everyone did these two things I believe this would no longer be an issue. 
• What specifically can people do? When you see someone being verbally or physically abused in the hallway of your school. If it is not a situation where you could stand up to it yourself, talk to someone else about it, maybe an adult. Try and get other people involved, because the fact is none can really do this on their own, it takes a community. 
• How could you use the media to call attention to the issue? In the case of “Kony 2012”, the main way they got the word out was through a video. The fact is, there are a ton of other videos out there: anti-abortion videos, anti-terrorism videos and a lot of anti-bullying videos too. With Kony that one video happened to catch on, maybe just because it hit the right group of people at the right time, who knows, but it did. I’m not saying you have to do something media related to catch attention, but that is a good way. There are lots of ways to use media to spread an idea like bullying, you could write articles, make a video, post on facebook, whatever you think your biggest area of influence is.
• How can you get people's attention? Most everyone knows about bullying in some way or another, but I think lots of people just take it for granted and do not do much, maybe because they just think it is a normal thing that will always happen. The fact is it really doesn’t have to happen and it can be stopped. I think a good way to get people’s attention is just by spreading the word, talking to your friends about it. It might not be a big thing like creating a huge video or making a speech, but even just small things like talking to people about it can make a difference. 

-Grant William Howard Snodgrass