Rock On... Kony 2012

The main issue I have in watching Kony2012 is that Joseph Kony's actions have gone on for far too long to adequately condense in a 30 minute film without A) generalizing very complex issues and B) making the film more about the director's campaign than about what Kony has done.

For instance, in regards to point A, Russell refers to Kony's army as the LRA. What Russell doesn't say is that the LRA stands for the Lord's Resistance Army, a Christian fundamentalist group led by Kony to establish a theocracy and rule under the Ten Commandments. Russell completely leaves the religious aspect out of Kony's regime, and that concerns me because, while I don't condone Kony's actions with or without God's help, Kony believes he is doing the Lord's work. Whether one is religious or not, it's easy to excuse someone's behavior if they say it's all a part of God's will or whoever they believe in because it's something we can't fully judge without walking a mile in their shoes. Perhaps that is why Kony has gone under the radar for so long.

As for point B, thirty minutes is simply not enough time to fully understand who Joseph Kony is from an objective standpoint. This works to Russell's favor because not only can he cherry-pick what he wants his audience to see, but in how he wants to present these images. Kony2012 is not fully about Joseph Kony, as seen in the home movies of Russell, his son, and in other shots urging people to make Kony famous. In fact, as the film progresses, the fight to take down Kony becomes more of a social outpouring about awareness of who is Kony rather than what he's done. "Make him famous" is the mantra I recall. And if there's one thing to be said about making an impact, you can only talk for so long before action is demanded. Russell has done a lot of talking, and he's banking on millions of people making Kony famous. But unless they've research Kony's atrocities fairly well, all this film will be is an over-exploited attempt that's had it's thirty minutes of fame in March 2012 before dying out with all the other emotionally-charged causes urging to take a stand or else.


Picture of Kony 2012 poster courtesy of TheSmokingGun.com

The Dubious Nature of Timothy Treadwell

If you ever get a chance to watch Grizzly Man, see it if for any other reason because you will encounter one of the most polarizing central figures ever caught on film in Timothy Treadwell. After watching the film for a class earlier in the month, there is part of me that lauds Treadwell's efforts in making peace with the bears in the Alaskan wilderness. However, as the film progresses, I am equally disturbed by his anti-social behavior. His profanity laden tirades near the end practically negate all the good he thinks he's doing. It's one thing to care for certain animals and give them an opportunity to be seen from a more intimate angle, but to go out and blame other people (and God) for not caring enough defeats the purpose of his expeditions. Whether he likes it or not, he's still a human being who needs human interaction. And like the sun rising in the East and setting in the West, it surprises me none that he was mauled to death by a bear. I knew it the moment I saw his years of birth and death at the beginning of the movie. What does surprise me is that through it all, the service and the gradual loss of sanity, he lasted for thirteen summers of living amongst these bears. Just one summer is enough adventure for a lifetime. To go back twelve additional years speaks to the dedication of the human will when fully committed to a task.


Picture of Timothy Treadwell courtesy of MSNBC

Rock On... Carl Rogers' "Journey Into Self"

Seeing Carl Rogers put his person-centered theory in motion on the documentary Journey Into Self has changed my perspective on his practice, to a degree. My main criticism with his theory is that an imperfect counselor trying to prod his or her imperfect client(s) into self-actualization is similar to the blind leading the blind. However, I saw a different method play out. Instead of guiding each client through this group therapy session, Rogers just sits there and allows the client to be their own therapist, while he interjects on a few occasions to make a quick point or suggest a thought to continue the discussion for as long as it does. By letting the clients make their own assessments, repressed feelings are unearthed for everyone to see in each other's quest to root themselves in their own form of closure while Rogers looks on as a spectator.

Based on everyone's confessions regarding their own faults and discouragements, I personally felt they were all, in some way, looking for acceptance by disclosing their apprehension. For instance, a woman named Beth said that she shows more love for her cats than her husband because she doesn't feel the love that she used to from him. Her subconscious technique perpetuates the isolation she feels in marriage, and only after acknowledging this does she begin to feel sorry for the pain she caused. The Eurasian lady also remarked that she felt less than human because her husband (who was actually Rogers' second wife) kept calling her a "lotus blossom." She broke down, not because the flower remark was derogatory, but because she wanted to be appreciated as a fallible individual. I found this human element very touching.

The main point I took from this film came at its conclusion when Rogers said, "Learning is irreversible." I think this is a crucial maxim based on his train of thought because it implies that any backward or forward progress one makes in their psychological development is built upon learned stimuli. Using this logic, no psychological disorder can appear or vanish overnight. Thus, the decision to control or be controlled is a conscious effort to give meaning in one's life.

Rock On... "The Lost Children of Rockdale County"

Fifteen years ago, a syphilis outbreak among middle and high schoolers in Conyers, Georgia uncovered a secret web of sex, drugs, and teenaged angst few adults knew about. The naivety of this situation by the parents, that it could never happen in a small town like Conyers, turned a blind eye to their own teenagers who inexplicably put each other's lives at stake. In so doing, the chasm between proper parenting and impressionable youth was divided even further, thus faulting both sides to this commonplace story.