Representation
Selected context: Documentary styles and traditions - Freeman (2020) & Contact (2009)
The viral documentary Kony 2012 by Invisible Children sparked intense debate around its representation of the conflict involving Joseph Kony's Lord's Resistance Army in Uganda. While aiming to raise awareness, the film presents an oversimplified, ethnocentric narrative riddled with problematic tropes. The Ugandan people are largely depicted as helpless victims in need of Western intervention and salvation, reinforcing a deeply rooted "White Saviour" complex.
This saviour mentality is not unique to Kony 2012 but reflects a long cinematic tradition of depicting the West, represented by a white male hero, as the solution to the troubles faced by the Global South. Films like The Constant Gardener, Blood Diamond, and The Last Samurai romanticise the idea of a morally upright Western protagonist intervening in "uncivilised" societies. Despite good intentions, such portrayals are rooted in an ethnocentric worldview that centres Western ideals as universally applicable.
The controversy around Kony 2012 exemplifies the dangers of this ethnocentric lens. By oversimplifying the decades-long conflict to a battle of good versus evil, the film fails to grapple with the complex historical, political, and social factors at play. Ugandans are stripped of agency and context, rendered as hapless victims awaiting rescue by Western military forces. This perpetuates the very neo-colonial mindset that has long undermined self-determination in formerly colonised nations.
As we critically analyse Kony 2012 we should interrogate whose perspectives are centred and whose are marginalised in the film's narrative. Whose voices are amplified, and whose are silenced or spoken for? What ingrained biases and assumptions about the world shape the film's framing? Examining these representation issues reveals how well-intentioned advocacy can unwittingly reinforce harmful worldviews when produced through an ethnocentric Western gaze.