The Trouble with KONY

Doesn’t KONY2012 suddenly feel like KONY2011?

I finally broke down this week and watched the video that apparently 3 billion people had watched last week.  In case you have managed to avoid the tsunami of media manipulation, I have decided to break down the video into much smaller pieces: 

THIS IS AN IDEA WHOSE TIME HAS COME

Really cool music that makes you think something important is about to happen. 

Introduction of Gavin, the filmmaker’s son.  It’s not clear why this kid is in this video except for middle aged mothers to say, “damn, I wish my son was that cute”. 

Cut to brutal interview of scared African teenager wishing he were dead.  This is serious folks.  YOU MUST PAY ATTENTION so get off your damn playstation for two seconds (actually 30 minutes) and listen up!  But the cute blonde SoCal kid will be coming back in a minute so don’t fret. 

Cute kid is back!  Dad says that Kony is a very bad man.  Kinda like Darth Vader from Star Wars.  When dad asks him what cute kid should do about the situation, cute kid replies, “we should stop him”.  This is the implication; if a seven year old can figure it out (even though he was probably coached by daddy to say everything), then all you morons watching this video can figure it out too.  KONY MUST BE STOPPED!  

The details of how, when, why and all that crap will be explained later—all in vague but exciting terms.  The point is to keep the message simple for easier ADD teenage digestion. 

Lots of cheering.  Young people.  Ra Ra Ra.  Kinda like a cheerleading squad on Capitol Hill.  If we are going to do something, we must make a lot of noise and do it together.  A bunch of littles can make a big difference!  And it worked (kinda).  Special forces were sent to help the Ugandan Army (with their own questionable history) in an attempt to find world criminal #1. 

At this point, the filmmakers should have inserted some porn.  Because I’m pretty sure that some of the 14 year olds stopped watching, clicked the share button and went back to their playstations. 

But for those still watching…this isn’t enough.  We are going to “target” (a word which seems strangely inappropriate considering the subject) celebrities and policy makers.  Really  important celebrities like Rhianna who sings about rough sex and Angelina Jolie whose name is always mentioned when the international community needs help.  This will bring AWARENESS and make KONY a CELEBRITY –even though the actual victims of Kony desire no such thing. 

More young people running around and cheering.  An introduction to the awesomely cool ACTION KIT that was funded from all those heartfelt donations.  It includes STICKERS and POSTERS and a cheap bracelet that probably cost 5 cents for you AND a friend so you can pass it on.  Because this is all about passing it on.  And then on April 20^th, all these do-gooding 14 year olds are going to blanket their cities in KONY 2012 posters (God help us all) so that everyone can be even more aware that KONY exists. 

Cut back to cute kid.

“ I’m gonna be like you dad.”

“In what way son?”

“I’m gonna make millions by asking teenage kids for their lunch money while travelling the world AND making use of my USC film degree.” 

“Dare to dream, son.” 

I think we can all agree that Kony is a very bad person and has done some very evil deeds and deserves to be punished.  The problem I have is that the filmmakers are building awareness and raising some SERIOUS cash so that they can raise more awareness and raise more cash and raise more awareness … and well, at least they are consistent with their mission statement.  But as a CEO of a third world foundation, it makes me a little sick to see that so much money is squandered on making films and paying salaries and transportation costs and building “ACTION KITS” and making people aware without any real consequence.  It all just seems like a slick Hollywood machine and the people who really need help—the victims of Kony’s atrocities—are given a disproportionate percentage of money and support.  And after watching the video, I couldn’t help but get the feeling that the film was as much about smugfaced Jason Russell and his cloying kid as it was about the plight in Africa.    

 I have watched several of the interviews with the filmmakers over the past week and they are in a very intense spotlight.  To answer their critics, they have even made another film but quite frankly, I think they are digging themselves into a deeper and deeper hole.  I’m sure they didn’t expect THIS much attention and I’m curious to find out whether the momentum will carry through and make their “Cover the night” party a success.  Will Kony be caught because of this?  I’m not sure it really matters.  There will always be evil people in the world.  The focus should be on helping the good. 

Movies that SHOCK!

What does it take for a filmmaker to shock an audience these days?  Well, it depends on the audience of course.  I was shocked by that crazy documentary Jesus Camp which is about youngsters learning about  scriptures but I suppose there are people who could watch it and wonder what all the fuss was about.  Toddlers and Tiaras, the show on the TLC cable station, shocks me when I take the time to watch it but if you’re a mother of one of those toddlers, it obviously seems quite normal to dress a five year old up like a dimestore hooker.

So, I still get shocked and some of my favorite movies are the ones that have shocked me the most.  I have put together a list of these movies and why, at least from my perspective, they seem so memorable.  The list is in no particular order.  If you haven’t seen some of the titles, I caution that you need an open mind even to get through some of them.  They are definitely NOT for all tastes.  You have been warned. 

Blue Velvet (1986) 

This used to be my favorite movie of all time.  It still is on my top ten list and bounces around on that list depending on my random cinematic moods.  It’s a story revolving around a severed ear, some very bad gangsters, two innocent teenagers (who don’t really look like teenagers) and a beautiful nightclub singer who gets abused (and sometimes likes it).  The best part about this movie is how the director David Lynch directs the clash between the innocence and evil.  And it’s pure evil.  The kind of evil that makes you think that something very very bad is going to happen to the main characters.  Favorite scene:  Isabella Rossellini makes Kyle MacLachlan strip naked while she threatens him with a knife.  Not exactly shocking by itself but what comes after certainly is. 

Pink Flamingos (1972)

If there is one movie that should get the most shocks per minute of screentime, I would like to vote for this one.  John Waters created this low budget masterpiece by using a cast of friends who apparently weren’t afraid of doing anything.  Pervert with a turkey neck tied to penis?  Got it.   Singing asshole?  Got it.  Drag queen eating dog shit?  Okay, hasn’t everyone scene that scene?  Even Mr. Waters is apparently tired of explaining that yes, that scene did actually happen and Divine did call up a doctor’s office just to make sure that he wouldn’t die of some sort of canine parasite.  I am amazed that I can’t think of another recent film that has this many jaw dropping moments.  There is even bestiality.  Strangely enough, none of it seems gratuitous.  In some ways, it just looks like a group of friends got together and shot a lot of crazy shit with a camera.       

Hustler White (1996) 

This film seems like a documentary but isn’t; the film borrows its beginning from Sunset Boulevard where the narrator is face down dead in the water.  This film follows the journey of a Hollywood hustler who is part of a very seedy, twisted and most of the time, outrageous underbelly of LA’s sex scene.  Extremely graphic, this is the type of film that you would only dare your most open and closest friends to watch because anyone else would probably never talk to you again for suggesting it.  The star is Tony Ward, who seems strangely comfortable in this strange world. 

Henry:  Portrait of a Serial Killer (1986)

We see so much violence on tv and in the movies these days that it takes A LOT of brutality to get through our jaded exteriors.  But this movie seems to do it.  Based on the true story of serial killer, Henry Lee Lucas, we follow Henry as he casually kills people without any real motive.  He simply seems compelled to do it.  And he does it without any sense of regret.  The opening scenes of the dead bodies in macabre tableaux are bad enough (especially the one of the half naked girl at the sink with a glass bottle embedded in her head) but it only gets more shocking with the torture of a naked woman while her husband and son are unceremoniously killed.  And the whole scene is filmed by Henry’s accomplice, Otis.  Such raw evil is chilling; these victims could have been your mother or your father or your child.  Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer shows us how cheap human life can be.  To add to the horror, Henry gets away with it in the end.  His real life inspiration wasn’t so lucky. 

A Clockwork Orange (1971) 

I saw this movie for the first time with a church group.  Admittedly, it wasn’t an older church group, we were all “youths” and someone brought along this gem for a “movie night”.  Obviously, we didn’t have any older supervision that night and I suppose all of us were too shocked or intrigued or at that age, turned on, to turn the blasphemy off.   If you’re not familiar with the story, it tells the tale of a very bad adolescent who is part of a violent gang and in one of the more gruesome scenes, they rape a woman and permanently maim her husband all to the joyous melodies of “Singing in the Rain”.  Weird indeed.   The leader subsequently enters therapy—pretty much desensitization to violent images while his eyes are held open—and you might think that he would be cured.  But you would be wrong.  Sexually and violently graphic, the acting and directing elevate it beyond a simple exploitation film.  Why is called A Clockwork Orange?  I have no idea.  One of the great movies of the Golden Age of cinema.    

Anatomy of Hell (2004)  

And now we have a little French film.  A little French film that is filled with such disgusting and nauseating images that it’s best if you haven’t eaten a meal for several hours.  I’m not really sure of the plot.  I suppose it revolves around a woman who tries to kill herself but then is rescued by a gay man who is intrigued and repulsed by her sexuality.  Makes sense so far, doesn’t it?  Oh well, it’s French and that explains a lot.  To its credit, it pushes a lot of boundaries that most filmmakers wouldn’t even want to approach and in my opinion, doesn’t deserve the 4/10 rating on the IMDB website.  If anything, this film will make you realize that there is always something out there that will shock an audience, no matter how open minded they are.  And believe it or not, this filmmaker is a woman, the one and only, Catherine Breillat.