Entertainment industry and social activism: A rant

If you know me at all you know I’m a passionate person.  I give myself fully to whatever I’m involved in (or whatever God get’s me involved in).  You also know that Uganda is part of that passion – one that I’m constantly learning more about and praying for.  Yesterday three things popped up about the rebel group which has been abducting children, mutilating people, and causing terror in northern Uganda, South Sudan, and DRC.  One of these was a report from an organization that is reporting an increase in activity of the LRA rebel group, possible re-established ties with the Sudanese government in Khartoum, among other more factual reporting.  You can read the information here: http://www.resolveuganda.org/node/888

The other two, however, are people trying to walk the razors edge between entertainment and social activism.  You can read a little about them here: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/8226675.stm

I had been struggling with this sort of thing since the release of District 9. I’ve avoided it because I don’t think my heart could handle social commentary on refugee camps and racism that so closely resemble the ones that exist now but instead of people they are filled with aliens.  Just where I’m at.  But the article above pushed it from the background processing to the forefront.  The organization that I volunteered with in Uganda is involved with the film, and I believe and hope it will be well and responsibly done. But that hadn’t even been a concern until I read the line, “Earlier this week, a comic book about the LRA, featuring the WWII character Unknown Soldier, was launched by DC Comics.”

A comic book about the LRA?!  The first 29 pages are available on the internet and I recommend that you do not read them if you care about this situation or have been to Uganda or are generally sensitive to violence.  It graphically depicts, in comic book art, some of the horrors of the LRA.  It was hard to read, which is good because reality is harder, but at the same time I had to wonder if that is really the medium to bring those horrors to light?  Comic books and movies are a business, they are out to make money.  Do they really have the heart to do this responsibly or are they going to cut corners on truth to make it more sensational?  And the other side of things, will those who read or watch actually tie what they see into reality?  Will it grip them or be marginalized because we have generally been desensitized to what we read and see from entertainment media sources.  And if it does grip us, what will we do with it? Will the general comic book reader or movie goer dig deeper than the info they are presented with or will they feel informed about the situation because of how the media has filtered and presented it?  Will the general viewer of a gripping documentary dig any deeper?  The profits from the movie “Girl Soldier” will go towards organizations in northen Uganda – which is among the reasons I trust that film and those making it.  But what of the profits from the comic book, or from District 9?  I don’t know.

” ‘The film is incredibly fictionalized in certain areas,’ Mr Raee told the BBC’s Network Africa programme.” That’s my other concern for social activism coming out of the media industry and also from documentaries and social justice organizations.  Truth.  Do they actually present truth or do they adjust lighting and music to present a gripping yet accessible portion of reality in order to activate people towards their movement.  Is truth forfeited in substitution for action and mobilizing the masses?  It’s much easier to stir people up than to truly inform and educate them.  There is a growing generation primed to be passionately released to change the world.  Will they do it in ignorance or in truth?  Will they be motivated by a selfish compassion that wants the pain inside them to end or a Christ centered compassion that seeks to better things not only now but for all eternity.  One that can actually enter into the suffering and not be consumed by it.  One that is passionate to see things change but at peace in each moment knowing that it is God who is in control and He who is responsible for the transformation.  A compassion that is patient because it knows and trusts that it comes from the Father in heaven who cares more deeply than we could ever imagine over the distance between the way things are and the way things should be. And lastly a compassion that is filled with a near inappropriate joy knowing how good the Father is and how much it is in his heart for all to be under his care.