Both documentaries and the reading illustrate pretty well
what is this networking revolution about. Because I’m international, watching
this kind of videos of people protesting and having troubles with the military
or cops that tried to suppress acts of rebellion towards the government are not
so unusual as is in the States. I actually, value the power of manifest and
rise your voice against something that you disagree, even though it might not
be what I believe or share my own values, I defend the right to express
yourself freely and peacefully. Sadly, and as you can see in these two
examples, both kind of manifestation provoke some sort of violence.
So we can better understand what activism is, I look up the
word in the dictionary and is defined, “the policy or action
of using vigorous campaigning to bring about political or social change.”
Because of this definition and how is explained in the text and, showed in the
two documentaries in order to have activism there should be some sort of
reaction, and counter reaction against what is being put into attention.
In the case of the documentary about Kony this is
an example of activism and true rebellion because is sudden, violent, and call
some political involvement. The
video viral and by the fourth day on YouTube over 30 million people already
have watched and learn about this character. As the director would say, “ We
are going to make Kony famous.” Not because he is a good guy, but because he is
one of the most terrible assassins in the planet, and we need to stop him. Jason
Russel the director of this film use media to raise his voice, and give a voice
to the voiceless. Also made a call of action to actively participate in his
non-profit organization. He also described the power of Internet saying “Right now there are more people on Facebook than there were on
the planet 200 years ago. Humanities greatest desire is to belong and connect
and now we see each other. We hear each other.” Putting this information in the
audience power, he put Kony into our own hands. As the reading said “Movement are local and global at the same time.”
This documentary travel all around the world, meaning that
now that we’ve seen this documentary, is in us to really do something about
helping with this cause, whether we are concern or not.
All this huge campaign provoke many
reactions, one violent spread, and another violent critic from the people who
watched it, criticizing the director for profiting and using most of the money
to support his own non-profit. Those are the perks of direct democracy; people would react,
and would do it immediately.
All this fuss, provoke a violent revolution in Internet,
which was taken to the street to manifest and ask for answers about Kony. Another example about some similar case, is the A Death
of Tehran, on the contrary of the Kony example, the protests, and
other kind of movements started on the street, and where taken to the
media to create collective conscience about the things that were going on in
Iran. Usually this is the most
popular way that most of third world countries or countries that still have
direct democracy would manifest their opinion by protests. This documentary is about the examination of the
death of Neda Agha-Soltan and the protests against the controversial 2009
Iranian presidential election. The polemic death of Neda Agha- Soltan lighted
the fire of the people who was
protesting and this documentary keep alive her memory, as a martyr and a symbol
of the cause in the people against
the government and its supporters.
What internet and PBS made with
this documentary was taking something local becoming a universal issue. Another
important thing that internet made trough the You tube video of this woman dying
was to share a “specific
culture, the culture of autonomy, the fundamental cultural matrix of
contemporary societies.” Taking it
to a personal level, and the autonomy of watching and decide for ourselves if
this is or not acceptable whether we live or not in Iran.
In short, violence as a matter or violent
information load, physical violence, violent opinions and reactions are all
include in the effects of activism and how quick and popular this can be in an
era when internet shorten distances and facilitates communications. Manifest
opinions and protest for something that would call people’s attention is a
valid way to show democracy and tolerance with those who think differently and
those who might be suppress for all sort of economic or governmental power that
may dictate someone’s actions unfairly.
Protests in Chile and activism through
media.
thriller protest for education.
Camilla vallejos one of the head of the protests.
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