Let's go viral!

[dieseldawn]

http://kony2012.s3-website-us-east-1.amazonaws.com/

Obviously i watched the Kony 2012 film, and i was surprised as well about how i continued watching it for 27minutes, instead of switching it off. Why did Jason Russell's film go viral?

Here were my initial thoughts as i was watching it:

1. The film maker is cute, and he's got a cute family. He films his life in an aspirational style and portrays himself as a cool young hipster. Like we watch celebs on tv, we want to know what he says next and we want to be him. 
   
2. He explains difficult concepts very very simply. He treats us like children. He removes complexity and states a BLACK and WHITE explanation. No grey. Africa is complicated, but Americans don't know that, so he doesn't really delve into the details. 
3. He uses children to explain injustice. He uses his own child and he uses pictures of Ugandan children as well. Like motherhood and apple pie, saving the children is a no brainer! Michael Jackson didn't thank his parents or his record company, he thanked the children and the children's children!
4. He harnesses the raw emotion that the child within us has too. This film is about connecting with emotions and not the brainy part of us. Like a cult leader, he has total mass appeal.
5. He treats the film like a Dan Brown movie. There is always a page turner. He hints at the solution and he hints about what he is going to tell us next. We can't help but want to find out. 
6. He is positive. He treats the film like a shit sandwhich, or a romcom. Good cute stuff at the front, bad stuff in the middle, and hope and positivity at the finish. We lap it up!
7. He uses celebrity- if Rihanna is supporting it, of course we are.
8. His film making skills are VERY GOOD. I was impressed that he turns a normal picutre into a 3D still - like in the Matrix film. But these cool effects suck the people in, and make it viral. The production quality of the film is very slick and shiny and it's just nice to watch. It's not cheap, and obviously, Invisible Children needs to spend money on such shiny showmanship. That's the only way to go viral. Who wants a film that looks and feels gritty and depressing like Hotel Rwanda? 
9. What he wants us to do is totally in sync with what we, as lazy people, want to do. Just click. No need to stress about volunteering in Africa, just share the link. It's easy, and we can feel a part of it. There is also a thrill when we click on the celebrity images and send them little emails asking them to listen. Live Aid also gave us what we wanted - a free concert! Of course we would support the cause!
10. If there is any direct action, it's the fun type that young hipsters want to do! 'Cover the night' is like when the Knitting guerillas roamed the cities at night and gave scarves to statues and knitted covers for lamp posts. It's fun, exciting, not really dangerous but feels like a rebellious activity (like getting a tattoo).
11. He is young, and we are impressed about his youth and we support him because we didn't do nothing when we were his age.
12. It's ok to spend money and donate to get rid of Joseph Kony. I mean, we spent billions bailing out banks so what's the big deal about messaging celebs and donating a few dollars a month? 
13. Oh yes, and Joseph Kony is a bad man. It might be complicated, it might be that he was abused when he was a child, but i wouldn't mind if they caught him. They caught Saddam and Osama as well, and i'm sure that they all had interesting human stories that we will never hear. 

So i guess invisible children exploded on to the scene within a day with amazing PR and media savvy- a lot like lady gaga with her 'who is lady gaga?' campaign following the release of her first single. Like ms gaga, many of us will hate her but he will accumulate a huge following in the impressionable youth. But he wouldn't have achieved his goal- he would have made kong famous.

Let's give him a break and support him. We've killed a lot more people for less.