Almost Adult of the Month: Jason Russell
Bringing back the blog after a way long hiatus with March’s Almost Adult Hall-of-Famer, Jason Russell of Kony2012/public-nude-mental-breakdown fame.
Too easy?
OK. So I didn’t know who Joseph Kony was either. Sure, I heard long ago about the child soldiers and the shit they were forced to do. But that info was comfortably filed in the same “That’s Really Fucked Up” folder I place other atrocities I know but can’t really do anything about, like stopping female genital mutilation and cleaning up after 9.8 earthquakes.
That is, until Jason Russell and his cronies came around and showed me and 100-million other people that you too can stop a psycho warlord by buying a bracelet.
That was harsh, but we’ve all read the backlash. I feel bad for the guy. Bloggers and journalists have dug up the shady nature of the organization; that Russell should have divulged his Evangelist Christian roots; that he drips with post-colonialist Bono-like white savior complex; that Kony actually escaped Uganda in 2006; that when actual victims of the LRA were shown the 30-minute vid, they reacted from confused to pissed off because those ignorant Americans in the film were bringing up some pretty fucked up memories. And here’s Ugandan Prime Minister Amama Mbabazi take, who’s kinda just like, “Um, thanks for your concern and the slick vid, but it’s really not that bad here.”
With all that negative press, I’ll buck the trend and grant that Russell was well-intentioned. I’ll grant that the money raised will actually go to the right places. I’ll grant that he motivated folks to actually watch and care about an internet video that didn’t involve Justin Bieber. I’ll grant that after he created a violent wave of click-tivism, the gullible hoards might actually look at both sides of an issue before they hit “share.” I’ll grant that those blogging, mouth-breathing naysayers and do-nothing skeptics were just slapping their keyboards with holier-than-thou hate while sitting in their underwear.
…BUT AT LEAST THEY WORE UNDERWEAR.
This is where I can no longer defend the guy. If you want to save children’s lives, don’t romp around naked on a street corner while shouting nonsensical verbiage about “the devil”. If you want to be taken seriously as an adult and functioning member of society, please keep your clothes on.
