The Kony Dilemma

Lately I've been obsessed with literature on gaining rapport and psychological persuasion (Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion - Robert B. Cialdini). Trying to better myself for upcoming employment, and right my past communication wrongs.
And so, I thought I was smart enough not to get caught up in "psychological jujitsu" (def: verbal and emotional trickery sales people use when they are trying to persuade you to purchase their wares.)

Boy was I wrong!


Hook, line and sinker.















Last night, while eating vegetarian food from a local Hari Krishna restaurant (delicious by the way), some friends and I watched a 27 minute documentary about the atrocities performed by Ugandan LRA warlord Joseph Kony and his army of kidnapped child soldiers and female sex slaves.



KONY 2012 from INVISIBLE CHILDREN on Vimeo.

It was presented on a legitimate Australian news program in its entirety. Subconsciously I was already falling into the 'sale' ('Directed Deference' - "News programs vet all content, don't they?" - Wrong!).


FYI: Many 'News' programs sensationalize and use persuasion tactics in promos and in their newscasts all the time to capture, and keep, an audience.

Kony 2012 started out stating their was a deadline of December 31, 2012 to take action (Red Flag).

It then used clips from Ugandan survivors, celebrities, and people "just like you and me" ('Social Proof' - Red Flag). The filmmakers brilliantly used the 'Good vs Evil' theme, allowing the innocence of a child to explain Kony is bad and needs to be captured.

At the end of the doc the narrator called people to action, laying out steps to follow (red flag).

So what did I, this newly educated man on the effects of Psychological Influence, do at the end of the credits? That's right, I blindly jumped onto their website www.kony2012.com, signed the petition, donated $20, purchased a bracelet and t-shirt AND paid $20 for international shipping.

Aside: As a professional film editor, who has cut and produced a touching video or two, I must say Kony 2012 is quite the masterpiece. Great pace, a rollercoaster of emotion, stirring imagery... I challenge you to watch the documentary and walk away unmoved.



After donating money I don't have (I'm currently jobless - I like to call it an extended vacation unsupported by the monetary system) I THEN did some research on Kony 2012/Invisible Children. What I found was a lot of criticism.

Articles stating that only about 32% of the donated monies actually go to ground efforts in Uganda.


"...echoes of Colonialism...",


 "...the campaign oversimplifies the issue..."


"encouraging vigilanteeism...".

Some of the articles emphasize that the documentary understates the efforts already going on in Africa, and paints the Ugandans as powerless, in need of outside help from "white saviors".

The truth is, and I do feel guilty of this, I never even heard of Joseph Kony prior to this documentary. Sure, perhaps the docs producers did oversimplify the issue and have made some mistakes along the way (see photo holding guns).

But isn't this more of a 'War on Terror' than the gulf oil fiasco was? Kony is raping and committing genocide just to stay in power, spreading his extreme religious ideology. There's a reason he hasn't been stopped sooner. There's no money in it for business and government.


Perhaps these guys are making some cash off this. I'd rather pay my money to them, helping to make over 50 million people aware of Kony's atrocities, than have mega corporations pad the pockets of some politician in order to get first dibs on oil reserves.

The filmmaker's goal is to make Kony famous. It's working via a simplified message, using social media as a weapon and "psychological jujitsu" as a motivator. I think it's working, and I plan to help.

Or perhaps I've fallen under the spell of another 'influence' technique called the "consistency principle". Basically, it theorizes that once a person makes a decision to do something, and people know about that decision, they are more inclined to defend that something, even though it may have been the wrong choice.

Alas, I made a choice and I'm sticking to it. I can skip a couple coffees and takeaway lunches to make up the difference.

I think I liked my life much better when I was ignorant to the tricks of psychological persuasion.

























Here are a few links to a pro and anti-Kony 2012 articles:

Kony2012 website
Child Defends Film
Detailed Article by the Guardian
Are You A Skeptic?
Producers Motives Questioned

 You decide.

Jimmy