Last week I blogged about the Kony 2012 viral sensation, which you can access here. I mentioned that the filmmaker and co-founder of Invisible Children, Jason Russell, had been instrumental in the effort to spread the word about Joseph Kony to young people.
Russell was detained on Thursday morning, after police received several calls of a man who was undressed, and running hysterically through traffic. A spokeswoman for the police told reporters, “During the evaluation we learned we probably needed to take him to a medical facility because of statements he was saying.”
The Kony director’s wife addressed the incident in a statement, blaming extreme
exhaustion and dehydration, coupled with the pressure of the video’s critics, as the reason for Russell’s meltdown. Described by Invisible Children as, “our grand storyteller and dreamer,” Russell has received a significant amount of flack for his Kony 2012 video. Critics say that he oversimplified the situation in Uganda, or that he had ulterior motives for instigating the movement.
Upon searching Kony 2012 on Google, the first thing that now comes up is Jason Russell’s incident, significantly taking away from Invisible Children’s efforts. Do you think that the organization can bounce back after this setback? Or will people keep reminding themselves of what happened behind the scenes? Let us know!
prowlpr.com 