The Netflix drama, out Friday, features an all-Asian cast mostly composed of nonprofessionals.
After a casting director was anonymously quoted last week as saying that “Asians are a challenge to cast because most casting directors feel as though they’re not very expressive,” the hashtag #ExpressiveAsians took over Twitter as users shared their outrage on the comment.
But on Thursday night, this was all new information to Angelina Jolie, whose latest directorial drama First They Killed My Father features a cast composed solely of Asian actors, many of whom are nonprofessionals and appear onscreen for the first time.
“Who said that? What’s wrong with them?” she told The Hollywood Reporter, dropping her jaw in surprise. “I hadn’t heard that, but it just sounds completely ignorant. Wow, it’s just insane.”
When asked about what the controversy’s naysayers could learn from
Jolie’s Netflix title, she explained, “I hope people see this film and
they do recognize the great artists that made this film and the
extraordinary performances. … I hope they recognize the talent from
Southeast Asia. All artists express in different ways — I find all
people to be artistic and expressive — and I find Cambodian people
extremely creative and expressive!"
Adapted from Loung Ung’s memoir, First They Killed My Father recounts Ung’s harrowing survival story
under the Khmer Rouge regime, as her hometown was overtaken, her family
was separated and she was forced to become a child soldier. The
genocide included the deaths of one-quarter of the country's population.
“Cambodia is a very special country — I hope when you see this, you
do understand what they’ve gone through but you also not only see the
hardships, you see the resilience of these extraordinary people,” Jolie
told attendees after an introduction from Netflix film chief Scott
Stuber. To Ung, she said, “Thank you for allowing us to tell your
family’s story.”
The intimate New York City event, held just hours before the historical
drama became available on Netflix, was a joyous family affair. Jolie,
wearing a pleated taupe Dior Haute Couture gown that showcased her arm
and back tattoos, gathered her six children and the film’s cast for
photos before the film was shown at the Directors Guild Theatre. Ung’s
four sibling survivors also attended the screening, which was followed
by a bash at the restaurant Jams inside 1 Hotel Central Park.
I continue to be in awe of Angelina Jolie. Her new film FIRST THEY KILLED MY FATHER is raw, powerful, necessary and on @netflix today. https://t.co/Ogrz779T7h
Stephanopoulos' aside that Brad was "of course a part of the family"
made it a two-part question but it is clear that the main question
was if she still believed he was a wonderful father, and her response
was "of course." In saying "of course" emphatically even without
elaborating she gave him a strong endorsement as a father. So it would be reasonable to conclude that one of the reasons why they are and will always be together and a family is because she still believes him to be a wonderful father.
Stephanopoulos noted, as we did, her use of "family" in her initial statement which was a big hint that she was also looking after Brad.
The GMA interview followed the BBC interview. Unlike with a face to face interview, a satellite
interview always involves a split second lag and it somewhat affects the flow of the interview and our perception of her reaction to the question.
BBC: We know that an incident occurred that led to your separation. We
also know you haven't said anything about this. Would you like to say
something now?
AJ: "...Only that...I don't want to say very much about that...except to say
it was a very difficult time. And, and we are a family and we will
always be a
family, and we will get through this time and hopefully be a stronger
family for it,
BBC (audio) : Because you haven't said much actually, the tabloids have been
doing all the talking for you. And you haven't said anything at all.
AJ: And I won't.
BBC: Can I ask how you are coping?
AJ: "I'm, I'm...Many, many people find themselves in this situation and this kind of...my
whole, my family… we're all, we’ve all been through a difficult time. It's not ...My focus is
my children, our children… and it is...and my focus is finding this, this way through. And as I said we
are..we are and forever will be a family and so that is my...that is how I am coping. I am coping with finding a way through
to make sure that this somehow makes us stronger and closer.”
The point of the first part of her answer above is one she frequently makes when asked about how she copes -- whether its taking care of six children or her many commitments or her health -- that her position isn't unique or even exceptional. That she wasn't the only one in a difficult position, they all had a hard time and many other people have to cope with similarly difficult family situations.
BBC: What do you really want to do when you wake up first thing in the morning?
AJ: "Get through the day. It's been a difficult few months. Right
now, I’m going through a moment where there's just everybody’s in my
room. Two dogs, two hamsters and two children at the
moment. It’s wonderful. But, usually, I just wake up trying to figure
out who’s going to get the dog out, who’s going to start the pancakes
and did anybody brush their teeth.”
It's been a difficult few months but now she can say she's having a wonderful time. And I made the point in the previous post that part of the reason is because those latter thoughts are directed at the people in the room and indicate Brad is there and alternates with her in making pancakes. Needless to say, she did not bring the dogs and hamsters to Cambodia and they are not taking over the hotel kitchen to make pancakes. She is talking about their home life. While there are again no photos of Brad, the family has been away from L.A. for at
least a week and Brad would not want to be apart from them that long. As with Crested Butte they would have found a way for him to slip in and out quietly. Angelina herself seems to be traveling quietly as there are no airport photos of her.
GS: You filed for divorce, you said, for the health of your family. Is your family healthier now?
AJ:
We are..we are ..... focusing on the health of our family, and so..and so we will be. We
will be. We will be stronger when we come out of this because that's
what we're determined to do as a family."
GS: In the past you described Brad often as a wonderful father, of course he's part of the family. Do you still believe that?
AJ: Of course. Of course. We will always be a family. Always.
She gave what looks and sounds like a sigh of relief. She had a fleeting hint of a smile before she composed herself and proceeded to answer deliberately. She searched to find the right word and seemed to start to say "working" but shook her head and chose "focusing." Unlike "working," "focusing" doesn't necessarily connote any action on their part. So while she may have declined to say so at this time, they don't need to do anything more to be a healthier family. She paused but did not sigh when responding to the question about Brad.
"When (they) come out of this" will be when their legal path is cleared, "this"
being the dissolution petition. Being legally married turned out to provide
valuable protection for the children because the divorce petition
served as an umbrella under which legal safeguards for the children's
recovery could be put in place and enforced by the court. It's a benefit of
being legally married that Angelina never imagined she would need.
Her
answers became firmer and more definite. She went from, "We will get
through this time and hopefully be a stronger family" and "make sure
that this somehow makes us stronger and closer" to "We will be stronger when we come out of this
because that's
what we're determined to do as a family."
She was consistently firm and resolute in saying "we are and forever will be a family" and "We will always be a family. Always."
******
"...get through .... come out... stronger... closer...."
She didn't use any of the key words from past statements -- healing,
recovery, reunification. Or delicate and sensitive. We know she wouldn't be talking about getting through and coming out of this unless they were in fact already through and out of it. The children have recovered. The family has healed and they've been reunited. They are back to being a family. A healthier family.
They are all visibly happy and relaxed -- including Brad before Jan. 25. Her face hasn't been this full in years so she has been eating well. In her interviews she was often lighthearted and playful. She is clearly in a very happy and jovial mood.
The family is already stronger and closer so she can confidently say they are, always and forever will be a family. She didn't say they have always been a family. She is saying now and in the future.
Angelina Jolie made an appearance on Tuesday’s Good Morning America, where she addressed how her family is doing in the wake of her filing for divorce from Brad Pitt last fall.
“We are focusing on the health of our family, and so we will be, we
will be stronger when we come out of this,” Jolie told ABC News’ George
Stephanopoulos during the interview, “because that’s what we’re
determined to do as a family.”
She added “of course” she still thinks of Pitt as a wonderful father
and part of the family. “We will always be a family, always,” she said.
Jolie spoke to GMA from Cambodia, where she has been promoting her latest directorial effort, First They Killed My Father. The
film, which will be released on Netflix, is based on author and human
rights activist Loung Ung’s book of the same name recounting her
suffering under the horrific regime of Khmer Rouge.
“This country means a great deal to me. This country has been through
so much,” Jolie said. “Forty years ago this war affected every single
individual here, and I wanted to understand [it] myself. I don’t know
much of my son’s [Maddox] birth parents, but I believe they would’ve
gone through this war. I wanted to understand him and his culture in a
deeper way, and I wanted to bring this story to this country in this
country’s language, and I wanted to tell the story of Luong Ung, who’s a
dear friend of mine.”
...
Angelina Jolie claims she's almost ready to retire from acting. "If it
went away tomorrow, I would be very happy to be home with the children,"
she said in an interview with Britain's Channel 4 News. "I think I'm going to have to give up the acting as the kids hit the teenage years, anyway, too much to manage at home."
It's not the first time Lara Croft has threatened to ditch her guns -- in 2010, Jolie told Vanity Fair
she probably wouldn't be in business for much longer -- but it's hard
to believe her retirement will last. She'll have to break it for
"Maleficent," the movie she's currently working on, when it premieres in
March 2014, after the 13th birthday of her eldest son, Maddox.
Jolie's soon-to-be husband, Brad Pitt, has also said he plans to stop
acting in a few years, but historically, superstars don't stay retired:
Michael Jordan
The basketball icon's 1993 retirement didn't stick. He returned to the
game in 1995 after a lackluster stint in baseball with the Chicago White
Sox, and led the Bulls to three more consecutive NBA championships in
1996, 1997 and 1998. He retired for a second time in 1999. These days,
Jordan's most often found swinging clubs on the golf course -- that is,
when he's not getting kicked out because of his cargo shorts.
Jay-Z
Jigga Man's likened himself to Michael Jordan in more than a few songs,
and with good reason -- both are among the best in their fields, and
both can't stay away. Jay-Z said he was retiring from rap with 2003's
"Black Album." In 2006, he announced he was recording a new album and
told Entertainment Weekly his attempt to get out of rap was "the worst
retirement in history."
He just headlined eight shows at Brooklyn's new Barclay's Center in New
York and delighted elderly subway riders in the process. It doesn't look
like he's going anywhere anytime soon.
Alec Baldwin
Time's ticking for Baldwin. In 2009, the "30 Rock" star told Playboy
he'd give up acting in 2012, when his NBC sitcom wrapped. "In March
2012, I'll wake up and say, 'What am I going to do now? Am I done?'" he
said. "I think I will be done. I may finish a play or something, but I'm
retiring at the wrap party."
Since that interview, he's reiterated that he plans to get out of the
game, but he also took on roles in "Rock of Ages" and Woody Allen's "To
Rome with Love." If he's really looking for a new challenge, he could
take on Donald Trump for Most Prolific Twitter Ranter.
Clint Eastwood
In 2008, the legendary actor-director said "Gran Torino" would be his
last starring role, but he'd continue working behind the camera as a
director. He broke his pact with this year's "Trouble with the Curve,"
which he directed and starred in alongside Amy Adams and John Goodman.
He also stole the show at this year's Republican National Convention,
though he may not want that on his resume. (Remember his conversation
with the empty chair?)
Barbra Streisand
Streisand threw in her touring mic in 2000 with a "farewell" concert.
"It feels like time to say goodbye to this part of my life," she told the sold-out crowd at Madison Square Garden.
Or ... not. Six years later, she was back on a comeback tour, and this
year, she embarked on the "Barbra Live" set of concerts, which kicked
off at the Barclays Center in her native Brooklyn, N.Y.
Angelina Jolie
says she's thinking about giving up acting to be a stay-at-home mom,
but hasn't she been semi-retired for a while now? Jolie, who can
generate headlines simply by pursing her pillow lips a certain way,
started the Internet buzzing when she told Britain's Channel 4 News (via the Huffington Post): "I think I'm going to have to give up the acting as the kids hit the teenage years...too much to manage at home."
Jolie also told the British broadcast concern that if her acting
career "went away tomorrow I would be very happy to be home with the
children." But after looking at her work schedule as of late, I can't
help but think that she's already begun saying her goodbyes.
Her last films were released in 2011 and, technically speaking, she didn't appear in either of them: She wrote and directed In The Land of Blood and Honey, and she was the voice of Tigress in Kung Fu Panda 2. In other words, she was last seen onscreen in the flesh in 2010.
Yes, she's currently shooting Maleficent (and her four-year-old daughter Vivienne Jolie-Pitt reportedly has a minor role in it), but that doesn't hit screens until 2014. She's also rumored to be talking Tigress again in Kung Fu Panda 3, but that isn't expected out until 2016.
According to IMDb, she's also working on a project with La Femme Nikita filmmaker Luc Besson slated for 2013, and that Cleopatra and, sadly, Salt 2 may be in the works, but those projects are more tentative.
If Jolie does follow through on her intent to retire when her kids
hit their teens, she doesn't have a lot of time for smoldering
close-ups. The eldest of her six kids, Maddox is 11, and if you've read
any Bret Easton Ellis, you know that the kids of Hollywood royalty grow up faster than their civilian counterparts.
The good news is that, with her marriage to Brad Pitt in the works,
Jolie won't have to worry about fading from the public's short-term
memory if she does retire from the screen for a while. She's one of
those rare actresses whose life makes a more interesting tale than some
of the movie choices she's made. Unless she follows in the footsteps of
Brigitte Bardot, the camera will always love her.
A bit harsh and exaggerated but valid central thought.
If
the Maleficent star is to bow out in style she'll need to steer a
course between the vapid action fluff and middlebrow issue movies she's
favoured lately
Dropping the act … Angelina Jolie at the Sarajevo film festival in July. Photo: Reuters
Angelina Jolie has always tried to use her celebrity to draw attention to humanitarian causes. So, following her recent Channel 4 News interview alongside William Hague
to discuss warzone sexual assaults in her capacity as a UN special
envoy, all the headlines were naturally about when she's going to stop
being in films.
And the answer is apparently quite soon. Upsettingly for fans of her work, and for fans of errant red carpet leg-juts,
Jolie already has the finishing line in her sights. "I think I'm going
to have to give up acting as the kids hit the teenage years because
there is going to be too much to manage at home," she said. Given that
her oldest son Maddox is now 11, that means Angelina's retirement could
be as soon as two years away. If IMDb is right – which, admittedly,
could well be a first – then her last role could well be as the Tigress in Kung Fu Panda 3.
Hopefully
it won't play out exactly like that, though. Hopefully with a
retirement as meticulously planned as this, Angelina Jolie will manage
to bow out in a slightly less ignominious manner, with a film that
manages to perfectly pull together all of her different acting
skillsets. And that film will be incredibly hard to find, because for
the last decade or so, Kung Fu Panda aside, she's ping-ponged
schizophrenically between two very distinct types of fare.
The
first of these, and probably the most financially successful, has been
the slightly undercooked blockbuster. These are the films where
Angelina, either desperate or unable to let go of Lara Croft,
has been happy to grimace and growl and leap about with guns to the
sort of bombastic dance music that angry teenage boys stopped listening
to in the late 90s. In this category are Gone in 60 Seconds, Wanted, Salt and Mr and Mrs Smith – all mildly diverting films that appear to have been designed to be as instantly forgettable as possible.
The other string to Jolie's bow has been worthy Oscar-bait. She made a Clint Eastwood film, Changeling,
back before Clint Eastwood started talking to chairs, when he could win
an Oscar if he filmed a cat falling off a shelf. She starred in The Good Shepherd and A Mighty Heart,
both so unremittingly serious and self-important that watching them all
the way through technically constituted self-harm. And then there was
her directoral debut In the Land of Blood and Honey, which once again substituted storytelling for jackhammer moralising.
Somewhere
along the line, though, the middle fell out of Jolie's film choices.
It's now either hopelessly dumb, borderline-direct-to-DVD action fluff
or aggressively middlebrow issue cinema that alienates most mass
audiences. There's nothing of the sparky character work Angelina used to
excel at in Girl, Interrupted or Hackers or even, to a lesser extent, Pushing Tin. To be fair, Maleficent
could move Jolie's career into an interesting new area, but it's a
live-action fairytale movie that's coming out two years after everyone
stopped liking live-action fairytales, so nobody should get their hopes
up just yet.
If she really is going to retire in the next
few years, Angelina Jolie will want to go out with a bang. She's one of
the most famous movie stars in the world, and she'll want to remind us
of what we're missing without her. If she can find the sweet spot
between hollow entertainment and endless lecturing, she might just do it
on a high.
Oscar-winning actress Angelina Jolie, who serves as Goodwill
Ambassador to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, thinks
Ugandan warload Joseph Kony is a vile person and said she felt inspired
by so many young people “rising up” to demand his capture.
“I don’t know anyone who doesn’t hate Kony,” Jolie told the U.K.’s
The Telegraph at the Third Annual Women In The World Summit, an event to
mark International Womens’ Day, in New York City Thursday.
“He’s an extraordinarily horrible human being who, you know…his time has come,” she added.
Invisible Children, Inc., a San Diego-based nonprofit, launched a 30-minute documentary and campaign Monday
to raise support for the arrest of Joseph Kony, the leader of the
Lord’s Resistance Army, a militia group that terrorized northern Uganda
with torture, killings and kidnappings. In the past, he forced thousands
of children to fight in his army.
The video, “Kony 2012,” went viral within two days,
catapulted by a social media-savvy younger audience, and now has almost
60 million views on YouTube. The film’s wide and rapid international
attention baffled diplomats and foreign affairs experts who have been
working to raise awareness about the region for years, but “Kony 2012″
has also drawn numerous criticisms surrounding Invisible Children’s
agenda.
This isn’t the first time Jolie has been outspokenly angry against Kony.
Jolie sat down for an interview with “Nightline” anchor Cynthia
McFadden in March 2010 to promote her film, “Salt,” and talk about her
humanitarian efforts.
In “Salt,” Jolie stars as a CIA operative who is on the run from the
agency after a defector accuses her of being a Russian spy. Jolie’s
character is forced to fend for herself, and to sort out who she can
trust and who is evil.
At the time, Jolie told McFadden that there were a “few bad people,”
in real life, that “if I was left, you know, alone in a room with, I’d
be tempted” to take down.
“Joseph Kony,” she said. “I hate him.”
Her anger even then towards Kony was a visceral reminder of just how
tough the actress can be when she’s fighting for a cause — Since 2001,
Jolie has conducted humanitarian field missions in more than 20
countries, launched a foundation to help combat extreme poverty and
protect natural resources, and adopted sons Maddox, 10, from Cambodia,
and Pax, 8, from Vietnam, as well as daughter Zahara, 6, from Ethiopia.
“When I have to protect something in my life or when I’ve decided
there’s something I have to accomplish, I do, I do kind of push to the
end and I don’t take ‘no’ very well,” Jolie told McFadden. “If it came
down to something I had to do, I would believe in what I’m fighting for
and I’m not afraid.”
The social-media sensation brought African
horrors to 30 million viewers. But the controversial NGO that made the
heart-wrenching video has some critics questioning its finances.
SPOILER ALERT: What you are about to read may not be easily summarized in a tweet.
Therein
lies the problem with that superviral Kony2012 campaign that launched
Monday with the release of a 30-minute documentary juxtaposing a cute
blond kid in Southern California with a bunch of terrified ones in
Africa; a video that by Thursday had already reached 38 million views; a
hashtag of #stopkony that is still trending on Twitter, along with
#Uganda and #Africa and a Facebook page with more than 400,000 “likes”
and celebrity weigh-ins from Lady Gaga to Justin Bieber.
“Stop Kony”
is a simple, powerful slogan, a message bolstered by a beautifully
shot, powerful video, along with a logo, social-media campaign, winsome
founders, and young people all over the world convinced that if they
themselves can’t drop everything and sign up for this cause, they can at
least re-tweet it. Even if they have no idea what’s really going on in
Uganda.
First, here’s what’s going on in Uganda, according to this post four months ago from Foreign Affairs’s
Mareike Schomerus, Tim Allen, and Koen Vlassenroot: during three
decades of brutal war, Joseph Kony led the violent central African rebel
group the Lord’s Resistance Army,
comprised largely of kidnapped children, to all sorts of horrifying
acts against their own people. Now, the LRA’s ranks are depleted and
Kony is on the run. His forces no longer operate in the country, at
least not as the LRA, though he remains at the top of the International
Criminal Court’s Most Wanted List, indicted for war crimes and crimes
against humanity.
So,
one of many problems with the heart-rending film so many “slacktivists”
are now posting on their Facebook pages with urgent messages to
#stopkony is that he’s pretty much stopped, even though he has yet to be
brought to justice for many years of war crimes. The video brushes past
this fact, after 10 minutes of a self-indulgent backstory about some
hipster dude from Southern California named Jason “Radical” Russell, who
was shocked—shocked, I tell you—that people in Africa were slaughtering
each other; noting, astutely, that “If this happened in America, it
would be on the cover of Newsweek.”
Well, obvi. But then the video
moves into a call for action, using Russell’s son, “Gavin Danger
Russell,” as the way to remind other white people that it could just as
easily be their children being kidnapped and mutilated, even though
that’s not really true. By the end of 2012, Russell insists, Kony must
be stopped, because the video will “expire” at that point.
Which
means what, exactly? That’s not so clear. Russell notes—quickly—that
“Uganda is relatively safe” now, but insists that “Kony is still out
there, and he had to be stopped.” This is urgent, Russell says, because
President Obama sent in 100 armed advisers to Northern Uganda
last fall, on the pretense that they would help the Ugandan government
track Kony down—even though he’s not there anymore. Without major public
awareness (and stacks of donated cash) lawmakers could pull the plug on
the whole operation, Russell claims—even though no one is threatening
to do so now.
And
at that, with some gut-wrenching imagery, the glossing over of a few
facts, a movement was born on Monday—or reborn, as the case may be.
Russell’s nongovernmental organization, Invisible Children, has actually
been around for nine years now, and it’s a full-fledged $13 million
operation, not a fledgling movement.
Which may explain why Invisible Children is so determined to keep this
cause alive, even as Kony’s cause is all but dead. Russell and his two
cofounders earn nearly $90,000 apiece in salary, and of the $13 million
they brought in last year, only 32 percent of it made it back to Uganda, according to financial statements posted on its website. The highly regarded watchdog Charity Navigator gives the NGO a ranking
of three out of four stars, downgrading it largely because there is no
outside, independent board auditing its books—a problem, say critics,
because of the flood of hard-to-document cash donations the charity
receives.
So
as quickly as the Kony2012 movement went viral this week, so have the
NGO’s many and loud critics piped up, accusing the founders of
exaggerating an outdated cause in order to line their own pockets.
“Invisible Children Inc. directors are collecting financial donations
and laughing all the way to the bank with your money,” proclaims the website, which is home to a collection of myriad Invisible Children criticisms.
An
email inquiry from The Daily Beast on Thursday prompted an auto-reply
that explained the NGO has been swamped since the video came out. But
Invisible Children has heard enough of these complaints to warrant an official statement on its website.
It’s “in the process of interviewing board members,” for one, and even
though the LRA left northern Uganda in 2006, it remains active in Congo,
the Central African Republic, and South Sudan, writes communications
director Noelle Jouglet. “Invisible Children’s mission is to stop Joseph
Kony and the LRA wherever they are and help rehabilitate LRA-affected
communities,” she said.
So as quickly as the Kony2012 movement went viral this week, so have the
NGO’s many and loud critics piped up, accusing the founders of
exaggerating an outdated cause in order to line their own pockets.
“Invisible Children Inc. directors are collecting financial donations
and laughing all the way to the bank with your money,” proclaims the website, which is home to a collection of myriad Invisible Children criticisms.
On Monday the advocacy group Invisible Children launched an affecting video,
Kony 2012, to raise awareness about child soldiers in Africa and
advance the group's goal of ultimately killing or capturing Ugandan
rebel leader Joseph Kony. The response has been staggering:
The 30-minute clip has tallied more than 32 million views on YouTube,
dominated Facebook news feeds, spawned numerous trending topics on
Twitter, and garnering media attention from foreign policy publications
to tech blogs. Inevitably it has also spurred a backlash.
But why now? There has been an International Criminal Court warrant
out for Kony's arrest since 2005. Invisible Children has released eleven
of these films over the years. The ever-growing importance of social
media is obviously a factor, but Invisible Children's real innovation
was to virtually guilt-trip an influential list of A-List celebrities.
First came an effective product: Invisible Children has a
multimillion-dollar marketing budget, which helped to pay for a
polished, professional video that combines a jarring, visceral subject
with high production values and a flashy soundtrack, including Nine Inch
Nails and Mumford and Sons.
But the real pipeline to big numbers was the Kony 2012 website,
which features "The Culturemakers," a slick, visual chart of twenty
celebrities, including Oprah, Justin Bieber, Jay-Z, Angelina Jolie, Bill
Gates, Bono, and more. "When they speak, the world listens," the
website says. And to encourage them to speak, clicking on any of the
celebs' photos automatically crafts a tweet directed at the
Culturemaker, complete with the Kony 2012 web address and two related
hashtags. The interface is easy, it's quick — messaging all twenty
celebs would take less than two minutes — and most importantly, it
allows anyone to feel like they're making a difference.
Beneath the celebrities section of the Kony 2012 site is the same
setup for policymakers, including George W. Bush, Condoleeza Rice, Mitt
Romney, Bill Clinton, and others. While politicians have been slower to
respond, they also command less influence on social media, and their
follower accounts are dwarfed by Lady Gaga and her ilk.
Reddit was also an early advocate of the video, with a post that
shared the video appearing on the influential front page two days ago.
The subsequent discussion of the campaign's validity was fervent, and hundreds of posts debating the topic now exist. The Kony meme, serious as it is, has even combined with nerds' favorite bits of Internet humor, giving the story even longer legs.
Then there's the everyday person — your aunt, your high school
best friend, your boss — clearly moved by the subject matter, curious
about the buzz, or inspired by the conversation. "I, for one, can't
remember the last time so many of my Facebook friends shared the same
link," wrote one Mashable writer. The Kony 2012 Facebook group has around 400,000 likes, and dozens and dozens of copycat groups. It's awe-inspiring, regardless of one's opinion of intervention in Africa or non-profits.
After years and years of abuses, the online mobilization of
millions doesn't make solutions for Uganda feel any closer, but if
awareness — however fleeting — is a goal for Invisible Children, then
they're inarguably having a hell of a week.
'I don't know anyone who doesn’t hate Joseph Kony' … Angelina Jolie. Photograph: Marc Bryan-Brown/WireImage
Angelina Jolie has joined those calling for the arrest of Ugandan warlord Joseph Kony, following a controversial viral web video that has now been viewed by more than 70 million people.
The
30-minute film posted on YouTube by the charity Invisible Children
calls for the leader of the Lord's Resistance Army militia to be
arrested and asks for more intervention by the US government. It has won
praise from millions of viewers but also criticism from human rights
activists and Ugandan journalists.
At an event to mark International Womens' Day in New York, Jolie said she didn't "know anyone who doesn't hate Kony".
The Oscar-winning actor, who is a Goodwill Ambassador for the United Nations, added: "I've been to Uganda
and Congo and been to the International criminal court myself … he's
the one we all want to see in jail, so I think it's great that more
people are talking about it.
"He's an extraordinarily
horrible human being who, you know … his time has come and it's lovely
to see that young people are raising up as well."
Jolie was
targeted by the people behind Kony 2012 as one of 20 "culturemakers"
they hoped would call for the warlord's arrest. Her image appears
towards the end of the documentary along with other famous figures, such
as Bill Gates and Justin Bieber, who Invisible Children hoped viewers
might pressure to condemn Kony.
The group raised $5m
(£3.2m) in just 48 hours after uploading the film, which makes an
explicit call for contributions. What will happen to those funds is
unclear: financial statements for Invisible Children show that only 32%
of the $8.6m it raised last year went to services in northern Uganda.
It's
not the first time Jolie has spoken out against Kony, who is accused of
kidnapping and enlisting thousands of children into his militia. She
told ABC news anchor Cynthia McFadden in 2010 she would be tempted to
"take down" certain people if she were left alone in a room with them.
"Joseph Kony. I hate him," she said.
Actress said the Ugandan warlord was an “extraordinarily horrible human being."
The filmmakers behind Kony 2012 were apparently preaching to the choir when they targeted Angelina Jolie as one of 20 “culturemakers” they hoped would call for the arrest of Ugandan warlord Joseph Kony.
Jolie told The Telegraph Thursday that Kony was
“extraordinarily horrible human being." The comments were made at the
Third Annual Women In The World Summit in New York, reports ABC News.
Jolie’s image appeared near the end of the 30-minute documentaryKony 2012, which went viral earlier this week. Viewers were urged to contact Jolie and public figures ranging from Bill Gates to Justin Bieber, and ask them to call for Kony's arrest. STORY: Hollywood-Supported 'Stop Kony' Viral Video Sparks Backlash From Activists and Journalists
After the documentary went viral Tuesday night, Twitter lit up with
Kony-related tweets to Jolie and other targeted celebrities. Kony 2012,
created by the San Diego non-profit Invisible Children, Inc., has
received more than 50 million views since its release, and has garnered
both praise for its effective promotion of the cause and criticism of its methods.
After her comments to The Telegraph, Jolie appeared on Extra to praise the number of "young people rising up" to demand Kony’s arrest.
Jolie had previously spoken out against Kony in a March 2010 interview on ABC's Nightline, when she was doing press for her action-thriller Salt. Jolie told anchor Cynthia McFadden she would be tempted “take down” certain terrible people if she were left alone in a room with them.
"Joseph Kony," Jolie said. "I hate him."
The filmmakers likely knew Jolie, an avowed humanitarian, was a
strong candidate to join its cause. Others targeted by the group range
in their political views and level of human rights involvement. PHOTOS: George Clooney: Career in Pictures
An excerpt of an interview with George Clooney, one
of the celebrities targeted by Invisible Children, appears in the
documentary. In the clip, Clooney calls for human rights abusers to be
as famous as he is, so it would be harder for them to hide. Rush Limbaugh,
also targeted by Invisible Children, last year questioned the U.S.
decision to send 100 military advisers to assist Uganda in capturing
Kony. Limbaugh later said he would need to examine the issue further.
Kony, leader of a military group called the Lord's Resistance Army,
has carried out a number of documented atrocities in Uganda, including
the kidnapping and enlistment of thousands of children into his militia.
NEW YORK (WABC) --
I certainly had no idea that one of the world's biggest stars had what it took to be a great director, but I am a believer now.
Angelina Jolie chose to make her first movie "In The Land
of Blood and Honey" on unfamiliar turf -- outside of her comfort zone.
The Angelina Jolie we thought we knew is a movie star and mother who
travels the world getting ever more famous while her six kids tag along
with nannies in tow.
Jolie is known for doing good works which only make her more visible -
too visible say her many critics who are frankly sick of seeing her
everywhere, so they are going to be especially surprised to find her
dressed down and staying behind the scenes to direct a film she wrote
herself.
What blew me away was how good her first feature is.
" In The Land of Blood and Honey " is set back in the 1990's when the
old, Communist Yugoslavia broke-up and war broke out between various
ethnic groups in the troubled region. The movie begins with a dance
between a Serb and a Bosnian Muslim who meet again later under much
different circumstances.
In the beginning, he is her jailer and
she is a prisoner, yet they seem to grow closer after he saves her from
being raped. Other women are not spared and the director doesn't spare
us the horrors of a war that killed more than 100,000 and displaced over
two million people.
The film gets preachy at times, but I so
admired the range of emotions here: joy and anger and so much in
between, but most of all I admired Jolie's ambition: directing in a
foreign country with a foreign cast.
One version of the film in Bosnian and another is in English.
It's a tough film to watch, but for every demand "In The Land of Blood
and Honey" makes on the viewer, it offers a reward in return.
---
Please visit Sandy Kenyon's blog for more entertainment news at wabc.typepad.com/whatsandysays
