LETTITOR.

 

The complete picture

“Life is divided into the horrible and the miserable.” - Woody Allen

Sitting at my desk last week, procrastinating doing work as I do, I stumbled across a
video—and subsequent campaign—that I’m sure everyone has at least read about, heard
of, or seen over the last week: KONY 2012. A 30-minute “documentary” produced by the non-
profit Invisible Children, KONY 2012 seeks to bring a warlord, Joseph Kony, to justice by making
him “famous.” At 74 million views at the time of this writing, I’d say that, at least on the account of being
YouTube famous, the campaign has already proven a success.

I’m being painfully honest when I say that I wasn’t aware of the depth of the atrocities Kony is associated with: rape,
murder, looting, and abduction; all brutal, all more than likely true and worse. Over the course of the video I found myself
getting sentimental and taken away by the scenes described, depicted, and shown. From the emaciated children, to the
narrator’s son calling out the bad guy: a pathos powder keg. As a flesh-and-blood human with a heart in my chest, sitting in
my leather desk chair, sipping on a cheap drip coffee brewed from the comfort of my own home, I think I experienced the same
guttural response many of you out there felt (and were expected to feel): guilt, accompanied by the desire to take action. Given
time to decompress and wipe the would-be tear from my eye, I—along with millions of others—took to questioning the facts; to
questioning the presentation; to questioning the motive of both Kony and Invisible Children.

In the days that followed the video's release, Invisible Children was quickly under fire for misrepresenting the situation and
manipulating the facts. People who'd once shared the video on Facebook proclaiming “Omg, please share this. Help the Ugandans!”
began sheepishly back-peddling as though the politics surrounding Invisible Children utterly undermined the positive message
of the video (suspect or not). As time goes on and more information becomes available, as more skeletons are dug out of the closet
and brought into the light, it will be interesting to see the ultimate impact that the campaign and video will have. With so much
information available to us at the touch of a button (or two) it’s important to remain curious and open to discussion. Long since past
are the days of accepting something at face value as fact—ignorance is not an excuse (words I hope to keep in mind myself).

Form your own opinions, guard your objectivity, and piece together the complete picture before—for example—donating
to a cause or raising your voice in support.
Speaking of the “complete picture” this week sees, for the first time in a long while, a handful of unique illustrations
thanks to The Other Press’ new illustrator, Oliver McTavish-Wisden. Along with this exciting addition, this week saw
contributions that run the gamut. From campus happenings—coverage of last week’s career fair and “DO” celebration
events—to the return of Vancouver’s soccer club that could (The Whitecaps), there’s a little something for everyone.

That's it for me though! So, from my circular plot of page three real-estate: happy trails and have a
Pare

Later days,
Crorela hails

Editor in chief
The Other Press