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Anyone remember Joseph Kony?
The Ugandan recruiter of child soldiers was one of the most famous people in the Western world for a week or so in March, when the film Kony 2012 went viral. Then Kony was overtaken by Katniss as the name on everyone’s lips.
Kony is a real person; Katniss is fictional. Fame is one thing they have in common. Another is age. Katniss is the heroine of The Hunger Games, first in a trilogy of novels (now a film) for young adults; Kony 2012 was made for school kids. And another is that they have both become linked to social activism.
The narrator of Kony 2012 turned his documentary subject into a children’s story he was telling to his young son. In the process, key facts were left out or glossed over, and the film was heavily criticised for simplifying its subject.
We make films that speak the language of kids. We say, "You may live thousands of miles away from these problems in Uganda, but those kids are just like you, and you can do something to help them by getting your government and your self involved."
The Hunger Games is fiction, but with its themes of violence as entertainment and entertainment as social control, it also encourages readers to think about what’s wrong with the world now, and what it might become. And activists are trying to harness the popularity of this and similar books to effect real social and political change. Imagine Better is a project getting fans of Harry Potter and Katniss involved in real-world campaigning. It’s not alone; this article gives an excellent overview of the growing phenomenon of fan activism.
As a writer for children and young people, I'm fascinated by this spill-over from fiction into reality. Kony 2012 took fact and turned it into a children’s story. Here the opposite is happening; young literary fans are being asked to take the ideas and ideals contained in the
4 Comments on Read a book: change the world - Lily Hyde, last added: 5/20/2012
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And the really scary thing is how the Kony business demonstrates the power of story. Millions swept up in what, when you stop and think rationally about it, is a call for Ugandans to invade a neighbouring country, and presumably to kill Kony's child soldiers. Story is a strong tool - hence the many instances of book burning through the ages. How does book burning translate into the world of the world wide web? Interesting. Thank you.
This is a great post, Lily. It's so true that good literature prompts us to think in ways that have an impact on the real world. The best, I think, don't contain a lesson but a prompt to thought. Where there is a clear stance (Narnia books, for instance) it's less effective than where it's up to the reader to think and decide - though obviously there is often tacit direction from the writer.
Excellent post, much to think about. I'm always aware of this when writing my children's books, a great responsibility.
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