Kony 2012 is a film created by Invisible Children, Inc. The film's purpose is to promote the charity's 'Stop Kony' movement to make indicted Ugandan war criminal Joseph Kony internationally known in order to arrest him in 2012.
The film has spread virally. As of 17 March 2012, the film had over 80 million views on video-sharing website YouTube, and over 16.6 million views on Vimeo, with other viewing emanating from a central "Kony2012" website operated by Invisible Children. The intense exposure of the video caused the "Kony 2012" website to crash shortly after it began gaining widespread popularity. A number of celebrities have endorsed the campaign, including Rihanna, Taylor Swift, Christina Milian, Nicki Minaj, Bill Gates and Kim Kardashian. On April 20, 2012, as part of the campaign, supporters will put up posters promoting Kony 2012 in their hometowns. Invisible Children offers posters from an online shop in an attempt to gain wider recognition. They have also created action kits to help spread awareness that include campaign buttons, posters, bracelets, and stickers.
What a powerful and amazingly moving film. The first time I watched it, I knew absolutely nothing about Joseph Kony and his crimes or Invisible Children, nor had I read any of the opinions surrounding this film, and I thought it was incredibly well-made and successful in getting its message across, as well as genius in how it encouraged people to take action. I did read the criticisms afterward, though, and it seems like this video may have been released a few years too late, but for all of his … more