Kony 2012

[corianderstem]

Oh, gotcha. No, I'm working under the assumption that Jason Russell is also just in it for publicity and/or money. Or that it's not just about drawing attention to Kony.

 

[Diemen]

Since I just rewatched LOTR a few days ago... I found this humorous:

 

[Jive Turkey]

It just keeps getting better for these idiots

Truth Wins Out - TWO EXCLUSIVE: Invisible Children Promoted By Jason Russell As God’s “Trojan Horse”

 

[cobl04]

There's a second video out now as well.

Guessing it's not going to get anywhere near the number of views.

I hate myself for getting sucked in originally.

 

[mama cass]

It just keeps getting better for these idiots

Truth Wins Out - TWO EXCLUSIVE: Invisible Children Promoted By Jason Russell As God’s “Trojan Horse”

eww

typical naive-aren't-we're-clever evangelical speek

i cannot be bothered to watch the second video... it's such old news anyway... i mean, the information about Kony has been out there for donkeys' years... and this organization just looks like it's run by clowns - i don't want anything to do with them!

 

[Jive Turkey]

There's a second video out now as well.

If there was ever proof that these twats are more interested in making videos than making a difference, here it is. How many more people do they intend to make 'aware' with this new one? Seems like it's designed to divert attention away from their whackjob leader. Money well spend, boys. But I guess they just recently came into a ton of it that's burning a hole in their pockets anyway

 

[cobl04]

 

[cobl04]

This is a really, really good read... I'd strongly suggest reading it, whether you with or against Invisible Children.

Jason Russell: Kony2012 and the fight for truth | World news | The Observer

 

[Pearl]

If what Jason Russell said is true, he seemed very naive and very clueless on how to handle publicity. Of course, there was no way to predict just how quickly Kony2012 would go viral and at such a rapid pace, but Russell and Invisible Children probably should've been more prepared. Perhaps they should've prepared for the possibility of their video and organization getting some attention, which would've helped to some degree.

But I find it hard to believe that Russell's meltdown was due to massive stress and nothing else. His behavior was too off the wall and bizarre to be related to stress and not dealing with harsh criticism. Something else is wrong with him, unless he is truly naive and clueless.

 

[nathan1977]

If what Jason Russell said is true, he seemed very naive and very clueless on how to handle publicity. Of course, there was no way to predict just how quickly Kony2012 would go viral and at such a rapid pace, but Russell and Invisible Children probably should've been more prepared. Perhaps they should've prepared for the possibility of their video and organization getting some attention, which would've helped to some degree.

According to the article, they'd stress-tested the website for an Oprah interview, but the attention they got totally blew them out of the water. I don't think anyone can prepare for going in 48 hours from a complete nobody to having hundreds of millions of people knowing about you and your cause. They clearly did not have the infrastructure to handle that kind of overload. Prior to that, their growth had been incremental -- I saw the "Invisible Children" doc back in 2003 or 2004. This was like nothing they'd experienced.

But I find it hard to believe that Russell's meltdown was due to massive stress and nothing else. His behavior was too off the wall and bizarre to be related to stress and not dealing with harsh criticism. Something else is wrong with him, unless he is truly naive and clueless.

Celebrity is a very strange thing, and to suddenly have it foisted upon you -- complete with negative attacks coming in from every which direction, accusations of being a fraud -- at head-snapping speed, is not something I'm sure any of us are qualified to judge.

Or, to put it another way, how do you think you would have responded?

 

[Pearl]

Honestly, I'd be housebound and not leave for weeks.

Maybe I seemed harsh in my comments, but in the article that I was commenting on, the journalist mentioned a few times that Russell came across as someone who "lacked guile" among other traits that leaned toward naivete. That was where I drew my comments from.

ETA: I also did not say what I said because I was thinking, "that's not something I would do, so screw that guy". Its just his behavior was unlike anything I ever heard of. I'm not someone in the mental health field, so I would really like to know how someone could have a schizophrenic like episode over stress.

 

[mama cass]

maybe he always had underlying issues, and the stress of the event was just the trigger...

or maybe it was "reactive schizophrenia" (acute, short-term episode triggered by an event)

 

[Pearl]

maybe he always had underlying issues, and the stress of the event was just the trigger...

or maybe it was "reactive schizophrenia" (acute, short-term episode triggered by an event)

That's what I wonder - that he always had issues. He said in the article that he never did, so that was why I said "if what he is saying is true, then he's naive".

Maybe naive is not the right word, but then again, maybe he was naive in a sense that people can be mean and ruthless. Even the article mentioned that he seemed like a sheltered boy who upon going to Uganda, had his eyes opened wide to how cruel the world can be. I got the sense that Russell probably wasn't so aware of how nasty and cynical people can be even over an NGO.

Then again, I shot my mouth off and overanalyzed the whole interview, so I'm no different from his critics. I'll shut up now.

 

[mama cass]

That's what I wonder - that he always had issues. He said in the article that he never did, so that was why I said "if what he is saying is true, then he's naive".

Maybe naive is not the right word, but then again, maybe he was naive in a sense that people can be mean and ruthless. Even the article mentioned that he seemed like a sheltered boy who upon going to Uganda, had his eyes opened wide to how cruel the world can be. I got the sense that Russell probably wasn't so aware of how nasty and cynical people can be even over an NGO.

Then again, I shot my mouth off and overanalyzed the whole interview, so I'm no different from his critics. I'll shut up now.

i don't think you shot your mouth off and overanalysed it at all... i also think he comes across as very naive - i remember at the time, when my teenage daughter told me about the video, i felt very uncomfortable seeing how he put so much incredibly personal content out there, and the exposure his child got... it didn't sit right with me, and i think that when people put so much of themselves out there they can make themselves really really vulnerable - which he clearly did as it turned out... the content was not intelligent or objective - it was naive and incredibly simplistic... he focused the content on himself, hence the ensuing shit-storm focused on HIM lol (sorry... poor guy really...)

i think saying he was "naive" is a very kind criticism of the whole thing tbh

 

[nathan1977]

i don't think you shot your mouth off and overanalysed it at all... i also think he comes across as very naive - i remember at the time, when my teenage daughter told me about the video, i felt very uncomfortable seeing how he put so much incredibly personal content out there, and the exposure his child got... it didn't sit right with me, and i think that when people put so much of themselves out there they can make themselves really really vulnerable - which he clearly did as it turned out... the content was not intelligent or objective - it was naive and incredibly simplistic... he focused the content on himself, hence the ensuing shit-storm focused on HIM lol (sorry... poor guy really...)

i think saying he was "naive" is a very kind criticism of the whole thing tbh

I think anyone who assumes that they can make a difference in the world has to be at least somewhat naive. But it tends to be the naive ones who go out and make something happen. If it's a choice between being naive and bringing national and international attention to a mass murderer and an ongoing crisis, versus being "aware" and sitting back and doing nothing...

Well.

 

[Pearl]

I think anyone who assumes that they can make a difference in the world has to be at least somewhat naive. But it tends to be the naive ones who go out and make something happen. If it's a choice between being naive and bringing national and international attention to a mass murderer and an ongoing crisis, versus being "aware" and sitting back and doing nothing...

Well.

I don't sit around and do nothing over issues I care about. I give money to Doctors Without Borders whenever I can. That's more than what many others do.

I think it's cool that Russell cares enough to start an NGO to stop Kony. I just doubt that he never had any mental issues prior to last year.

 

[nathan1977]

I don't sit around and do nothing over issues I care about. I give money to Doctors Without Borders whenever I can. That's more than what many others do.

I wasn't talking about you; the guy got a lot of grief from a lot of people last year, mostly from people who didn't give two shits and sure as hell weren't putting any action into anything. The world isn't changed by the people who throw stones at those who do.

 

[mama cass]

I think anyone who assumes that they can make a difference in the world has to be at least somewhat naive. But it tends to be the naive ones who go out and make something happen. If it's a choice between being naive and bringing national and international attention to a mass murderer and an ongoing crisis, versus being "aware" and sitting back and doing nothing...

Well.

oh i disagree - i think they have to be courageous, brave, determined, stubborn as hell and very very realistic - naivety wouldn't be good in many of the situations they have to deal with...

being naive can be very damaging... perhaps he simply wasn't the right man for the job...

quite a few friends of mine work in high positions in various NGOs, and naive is definitely not a word i would use to describe them... it's not exactly an either/or situation - "naive" or "nothing" though is it

ps- i thought he was naive for putting all the focus on his personal story, involving his kid, and not expecting any backlash - that was incredibly naive - not the issue itself (although the Kony problem has been going on for many many years and i was actually surprised people were not informed already - it was something i'd known about for ages...)

and, yeah, i don't exactly sit around doing nothing either actually

 

[LJT]

He may or may not have had underlying issues that caused his psychotic episode. There is no prerequisite of a mental health problem for a single psychotic episode all you need is enough stress with a situation you can't control and boom there goes your reality. We all have different ways of coping with stress and ways of not coping with it. All you need is something to overwhelm those normal coping mechanisms and a psychotic episode may be the result. It's not that uncommon. As the guardian article pointed out if this was a heart attack he would not have received anywhere near as much vitriol but because he 'lost it' so to speak he was condemned even more.

Anyway if you ask me, if there was to be any underlying disorder I'd pick bipolar, just cause he comes across a bit manic and from what I've seen of him in videos and what not a tad delusional and self aggrandising then again you could say that about anyone a bit up themselves like Bono etc. Not really anything to base any sort of judgement on.