The Recyclable Youtube: Movie Songs

Youtube is probably one of the most popular websites. People use it for all manner of things, but more often than not, it's to watch your favourite viral videos, sharing them with friends and discovering new ones. One of the reasons we love Youtube is for its users' talent for 'recycling' old films, tv shows and music, mashing them up and creating their own videos.

These amazing videos aren't purely original, and this series of posts is not about videos like 'Charlie Bit My Finger' or 'Ultimate Dog Tease' but rather, it celebrates the people who give whole new meaning to our favourite things.

Firstly, we'd like to introduce you to the world of Pogo. This guy basically takes your favourite films from the 1990s and early 2000s and makes them in to songs. But here's the catch. All of the sounds you hear are from the films themselves, he's cleverly added effects, pitch control and other editing to make some truly wonderful ambient pieces of music. If you haven't heard of him by now, you should really check his stuff out. Our personal favourites include (but are not limited to) 'Alohamora', 'Bloom' and 'Murmurs of Middle Earth'.

The thing that makes Pogo so interesting, is the sheer amount of work he must have put in creating the songs. Imagine trawling through one of the Lord of the Rings films, just looking for sounds you can use, and that's before you have to cut it together into something that sounds like music! Then the guy goes one step further by making a video for it, and syncs up the dialogue he uses (often just unintelligible clips) with the video. It's truly an art form.

The next people we're going to talk about are the people who make songs out of clips in films in a slightly different way. The two best examples are 'I've Got A Jar Of Dirt' and 'They're Taking The Hobbits To Isengard'. We reckon most people well-versed in memes will have seen both of these, but they're worth a mention! Videos like these are well done, but ultimately, just a bit of fun. Compared to Pogo, they're hardly going to be in our iTunes library (although I'm sure there are people who do download them!). It's not 'serious' music, but hey, it's good fun!

Hey, you! Like the blog? Want to be involved? We're now on Twitter (@MoviesMusicSoap) so feel free to follow and drop us a line. Maybe there's something you want us to write about or maybe you have an idea you want to write yourself, get in touch! If you're a band, filmmaker or any other kind of artist and want us to review you, again, please get in touch! Or hey, maybe you're just lonely and fancy a chat...

Is Music Getting More Political Again?

In years gone by, it was normal, almost expected for musicians to have a political voice. Song has long been a method of getting one's point across and often this has been used for political reasons. This is a very brief history of some major political movements in relation to the music they inspired.

In the 1960s we had great social change - youth culture was blossoming, railing against parents who had grown up in a completely different era, perhaps in the interwar years or during the Second World War, accustomed to a climate of austerity and duty. America was now sending its children to die in a war, claiming to fight for democracy, while on its own soil, there were still deep-set racial democratic issues. It's almost poetic, that the line between good and evil, so clear during the Second World War, was becoming blurred. Bob Dylan sang The Times They Are A-Changin', a song about racism and social change, begging Congressmen to listen, and telling parents that their children were out of their control. Looking back on it as a young person today, the 1960s seem like a brilliant time for really meaningful music. Neil Young's Southern Man, The Beatles' Revolution and Cat Stevens' Peace Train are all examples of some of my personal favourites from the decade.

In the 1980s, both the U.S.A. and U.K. were dealing with some of the most notorious right wing governments in living memory. On the world stage, South Africa was beginning to experience political pressure, exerted by other countries due to its policy of apartheid. At home, there was financial instability, brought about by free market policies and debt culture. In Britain, Margaret Thatcher was Prime Minister, who spent much time closing down mines and putting much of northern England out of work in the process. Unemployment was reaching record levels. Once again, the music scene had something to say about this. Gone were the days of gentle folk music, hippies smoking weed and holding hands, chanting for change. Music had changed. The punk scene had been and to some extents, gone, but it had left its mark on the music scene and gradually the discomfort about the state of affairs grew, boiling over into music, and even film.

Morrissey woefully sang "the kind people have a wonderful dream, Margaret on the guillotine". Although the song Margaret on the Guillotine is softly played and sang, it's lyrics hiss with venom and contain a violence that can only have been influenced by the anger of the punk scene. The Clash sang about the Brixton Riots in no uncertain terms, singing of how the police were too heavy handed when dealing with the rioters. Music left little doubt what it was talking about in the 1980s. There was no dressing it up, the songwriters cut straight to the point in their messages.

A song that is often overlooked it Peter Gabriel's Biko. This song is about apartheid in South Africa; more specifically it us about the murder, at the hands of the Secret Police, of Steven Biko, a black activist, peacefully protesting for change. The song's final lyrics are "the eyes of the world are watching you now", Gabriel, like other artists wasn't about to use pretty metaphors or obscure lyrics, disguising his views; he just put them out there for all to see. Obviously, this is just one example of a pretty hot topic from the 1980s, but it's one that always stuck out in my mind. On a slightly different note, if this is something you do not know much about, I would strongly recommend watching Richard Attenborough's Cry Freedom. It's based on the true story of journalist Donald Woods and his friendship with Steven Biko. It was made during apartheid and it one of the (many, many, many) reasons it was brought to attention as a global issue. You never know, you might learn something!

Then in the 1990s, something happened in the UK. Labour won a landslide majority and suddenly it was as if there was nothing for people to sing about. Everyone knew that the Conservatives were the bad guys. Billy Bragg had spent the whole of the 1980s convincing people to vote Labour, as did celebrities more recently such as Noel Gallagher, but what now? Labour was in power and musicians had nothing to sing for. What was the alternative? An idealistic socialist or communist state which was never going to happen? The Conservatives that many musicians had grown up writing scathing songs about? Or maybe some sort of anarchy? Musicians didn't know anymore.

What happened in music between 1997 and 2010 did not truly mean anything. Bands like Radiohead and Muse decided to go off and make vaguely political references in some of their work, but Muse mostly stuck to viewing the world through what we like to refer to as the Orwellspecs. By writing songs as if they were in a George Orwell book, and that the government is secretly spying on everything we do, Muse were able to do something vaguely political without any real substance. Nowhere in their lyrics did they mention specifics, instead, "they" is used. Who or what is "they"? The establishment? The government? The Illuminati?! Who knows, but it worked and we loved reading in to it. Radiohead took this view with OK Computer (this lucky reader once read an entire article on how OK Computer is just one big reference to Nineteen Eighty Four by, you guessed it, George Orwell). In 2003, Radiohead did seem to make an explicit reference to a certain event - they named their 6th studio album Hail To The Thief, which many believed to be a reference to George W. Bush's victory in the 2000 American Presidential Election. Thom Yorke then spent the next year or so trying to make the title sound a whole lot more pretentious than it really was, because he didn't want to 'state the obvious'. It was almost as if musicians didn't want to address issues that bothered them anymore.

Bands like Franz Ferdinand and Bloc Party opted to stay away from overtly political messages on their first albums - they just wanted to make people dance. One of the biggest bands of the last decade, the Arctic Monkeys stay far away from making broad political statements, preferring observational remarks about everyday life. Even Frank Turner, who seems to have roots firmly planted in folk, folk-punk and protest music doesn't want to be labelled as such, and many of his songs just seem to document the tales of him and his friends feeling disillusioned with life, rather than with the politics of today. Arguably the closest thing to an accurate political observation was when Kaiser Chiefs sang I Predict A Riot and were only about 6 years off with their predictions...

Currently, the coalition government have been in power for almost 2 years. There is so much artists can write about with regard to this. Firstly, there's a Conservative as Prime Minister, secondly, the Liberal Democrats joined them in government. Thirdly, the Liberal Democrats went back on their promise to cut tuition fees for university and instead voted to triple them. Basically, quite a lot. Plus, there's a pretty bad financial crisis going on, there's really high unemployment and we still have troops in Afghanistan. So where'a all the political music?! I hear you cry that Rage Against the Machine got Christmas number 1 not too long ago with their overtly political Killing in the Name, but that was the public rebelling against the manufactured television competition pop of the X Factor, not a genuine political movement - besides, the song is over 10 years old and refers to mainly American issues. So where are the British political musicians we used to pride ourselves on? We were so wrapped up in the awful state of the music industry that somewhere along the way, we forgot how bad other things have got in recent years.

Every now and then, the NME rears its ugly head, writing an article or two about politics, Love Music Hate Racism or how awful David Cameron being from Eton is. It's not like it used to be. In the riots in the UK last summer, countless teenagers claimed they were 'getting their taxes back' and that they were 'showing the government what it was about'. Even riots have lost their political edge, people were just filming it on their Blackberries, getting a cool pair or trainers and putting up a Facebook status about it. There was no heart and soul to it anymore, just like music. Artists don't seem to know how to complain about stuff anymore, or write a hard hitting song. As much as a tune Take Me Out is, I hardly think Franz Ferdinand will be remembered for their impact on society the way that people like Bob Dylan or the Beatles will be.

Is popular music in the UK getting more political again? That's one big fat 'no' from where we sit.

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Why We Love: Last.fm

My general philosophy on music is that someone is not a music fan unless they have a last.fm account to prove it. If you haven't heard of last.fm and you are a music fan, then where have you been your whole life?!

Last.fm isn't just a website, it's a lifestyle choice. I have had my account since May 2006 and it is a beautiful thing. It's just such an interesting way to look at your music taste. Hopefully by now most people at least know roughly what Last.fm is so when I'm explaining it is isn't a completely alien concept.

Basically, I don't know much about the technicalities of it, but you sign up for a free account and download something which you then have to switch on in your iTunes (it is available for other music players too). This is where the magic begins. It basically uploads all the music you listen to on your computer (you can even use it with online streaming programs like Spotify) and builds you charts based on which artists, songs and albums you listen to most often.

You can add your friends, and then see what you listen to. You can search for your favourite artists, read their biographies, look at photos, see when their next concerts are coming up. You can see which of your friends listens to an artist the most. You can join groups, chat in forums, update your profile and send messages to friends. You can send and receive recommendations to friends, and the site will build up its own recommendations for you based on what you listen to. You can even see what the charts for the whole of the web community are.

In short, last.fm is a great way to discover new music, listen to music and get really anal about which bands you listen to. If you become addicted and obsessed like I am, then you'll start deliberately listening to artists that you want higher up on your charts. It's a brilliant and unique way to genuinely see which bands are your favourites, and I have discovered my fair share of music through it. I will never delete songs from my Last.fm, and it gives a near - complete listening history for the last 6 years for me. On top of this, it is compatible with iPods and iPhones (and other devices), so your charts really can be super-accurate!

If you're an artist, it also presents opportunities that few take full advantage of. You can upload pictures, your own music (and set songs to just be a sample, be played on Last.fm's random radio or be free to download). It gives you an idea of how popular your music is, listing how many plays there have been overall, by how many users, and, of course, makes charts so you can see which is your most popular song. On top of this, you can create events, so when you're playing live, people can find out about it and state their attendance.

Last.fm provides opportunities for music fans and musicians alike, and more people should definitely get into it and stay into it!

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Films We Love That Make Us Really Angry

Here at Movies, Music and Soap, we're suckers for a good old fashioned romantic comedy, preferably of the variety where Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan fall in love but don't actually meet until the end of the film. You all know what we're on about. But sometimes you watch certain romantic comedies and they just make you really angry. On the surface, it's all charming, sweetness and 'lovey dovey', but if you watch it with more cynicism, you realise how horrible and offensive some of these films really are.

You've Got Mail is the first culprit. We absolutely love this film, even though it seems light-years out of date (it was made in 1998), and should probably be remade as 'You've Got A Wall Post'. Ignoring the obvious advances in the Internet since the film was released, it's pretty cute. A boy and a girl hate each other, but they're having an anonymous 'relationship' online without knowing it. By the end of the film, they meet and realise that is doesn't matter that they hate each other, because they actually love each other. It's a classic romantic-comedy storyline, we've seen it time and time before and we love it.

Or do we? The long and the short of You've Got Mail is that Tom Hanks' character is the biggest wanker on the planet. There are so many reasons why any self-respecting Meg Ryan character should run a mile from Joe Fox, but she just doesn't seem to be able to see them. Firstly, he arranges to meet her, then hangs around outside the restaurant, getting his friend to check if she's hot. If eying her up like a piece of meat isn't enough, he then decides to stand her up, but go in as if he isn't the guy from the internet and torment her. Then his big discount book store puts her little book shop out of business in what is probably one of the saddest movie moment ever. Then he spends the next few weeks going round her house and starting to befriend her. This is where Meg Ryan is a total idiot and doesn't just slam the door in his face as most people would, but she starts going shopping with him. He's known for months that she's the girl he's chatting to online, but continues to act innocent. He then basically butters her up, making her wish that the man she was talking to online was him, and then right at the end of the film, he reveals it's actually him.

If their relationship lasted longer than the kiss in the ending scene, we'd be genuinely quite surprised. Once the cameras pan up into the sky, she should be asking him a lot of questions. Not only is it creepy, but it's horribly deceitful, plus she hates him with a passion. He's a dick. We should hate him. But of course, if watching the film in the right mood, it's adorable.

Groundhog Day is the next culprit. Bill Murray is a grade a wanker in this film and not for the reasons you'd expect. Yes, his character is supposed to be a bit of a dickhead, and the moral of the story is that he learns to be a nicer guy, but that doesn't excuse some of his behaviour. He basically sets up his whole life to helping him get the girl. Basically, she's not attracted to him at all, and they're clearly not right for each other. However, he decides to butter her up in a manner not dissimilar to Tom Hanks in You've Got Mail.

Bill Murray's character basically makes a list of all the things Andie MacDowell does and doesn't like and then pretends to be exactly the same. I'm sure we've all done that to an extent... pretended to like a film or a song to impress someone, but seriously, he does this in an almost sociopathic way. But it's ok, because it's just some sort of fucked up dream world, so he can just get the girl and tomorrow she won't even remember, because tomorrow is just today, but erased. So making lists of what she drinks, toasts to and what her favourite ice cream flavour is, is totally excusable, right?  

No it isn't! The films ends with Bill Murray getting the girl and keeping her. How long is that relationship going to last?! "Oh, by the way, I don't actually like any of the same thing as you do, I was just doing it because I fancied you, but there isn't any substantial attraction here. I didn't actually think we'd wake up tomorrow and it'd be tomorrow. So, I guess we'll just leave it at that then." How stupid are the women in these films?! Whatever went on in Groundhog Day, Bill Murray certainly didn't fall in love, he just wanted to get laid.

Titanic: Where to begin?! Firstly, Kate Winslet needs to get over herself. She's living the life of royalty and she wants to kill herself over it!? What did Leo ever see in her?!

Seriously though, Rose is quite clearly a bitch, and you can blame James Cameron's poor camerawork for this. When they're floating on the wooden door-thing after the Titanic has gone down, you think there's not enough room for Jack on it, so he does the manly thing and floats in the freezing water while Rose lies on top of it. Fair enough, in 1912, that's probably what most men would have done, you don't really think twice about Jack's gesture. Until James Cameron does a nice shot from above and you see just how much room there is on the door. Why doesn't Rose say something? This is the first man she's ever loved and she's just letting him freeze to death because she's too god damn lazy to tell him there's probably room next to her if they do a bit of shifting round. What a bitch.

Also as if that wasn't enough insult. The message in the film is all about how much they love each other, no matter what, and how they'll "never let go" of their love. So Jack dies, and Rose goes on to marry, have lots of children, grandchildren and we're led to assume, great-grandchildren, and she never once mentions Jack to anyone until she sees the drawing of her on television and gets flown out to tell her story. A great tribute to your love for Jack, there, Rose. Cold-hearted bitch.

Every Jane Austen Adaptation Ever: OK this is purely for comic effect, but seriously, we need more strong female characters, rather than recycling the same pathetic morons from times gone by. In (the film version of) Sense and Sensibility, Marianne Dashwood is the most pathetic female character in the history of female characters. Bell Swan her more about her. First off, she falls over and sprains her ankle but luckily she's saved and carried home by the seemingly dashing John Willoughby. She makes him carry her home for a sprained ankle?! What?! Is she even serious!? I've known people break their ankle and not even go to the doctor about it for days. Man the fuck up Marianne!

Just when you think she's pretty robust and healthy again, Willoughby basically dumps her and she gets ill from this. Then she goes out walking to gaze upon Willoughby's house, but it's raining, so naturally, she falls ill to the point where she's about to die. We've all definitely been out in the rain before without a raincoat on and didn't nearly die because of it! People in these times were supposed to be more hardy, but she's just a pathetic human being.

Then there's (the BBC adaptation of) Persuasion. Louisa it a total idiot and jumps off the Cobb and Lyme Regis in the hope that the man she fancies will catch her. He doesn't and she gets sick. Ok she does actually get a head injury or something, so that's pretty serious. But who jumps off anything just expecting someone's going to catch you? It's ridiculous.

Anyway, there we go, some films that we absolutely love, but can't stand when watching them with a critical eye. There are others... don't even get us started on all the problems with Stuart Little, for example... actually, that might be one for the ideas board.

Hey, you! Like the blog? Want to be involved? We're now on Twitter (@MoviesMusicSoap) so feel free to follow and drop us a line. Maybe there's something you want us to write about or maybe you have an idea you want to write yourself, get in touch! If you're a band, filmmaker or any other kind of artist and want us to review you, again, please get in touch! Or hey, maybe you're just lonely and fancy a chat...

Tim Burton's Films and the Church

It's kind of strange that no one seems to have written anything about this before (although we doubt this is an original piece of writing - try Googling it). This humble writer used to be a huge Tim Burton fan when I was about 15, he probably got me into paying attention to directors and film in general. I have to admit, I have found his last few films pretty displeasing, but I'll always have a soft spot for him. The point of this post is to look at his portrayal of religion in his films as a one-dimensional embodiment of all that is bad about the world.

Edward Scissorhands is the first film that springs to mind. If it wasn't for the religious fanatic (Esmerelda?) then basically none of the bad stuff in the film would have happened. She warns all the women that there's something wrong with Edward, and the next thing is they're all organising a lynch mob to try and stop him. None of the other characters in the film mention religion, she is the only one who is portrayed as a religious person, and she is the only person who is unwelcoming towards Edward (at first, anyway). Religion in the film is basically portrayed as a cult, intolerant and closed-minded. A particular theme running through Tim Burton's portrayal of religion is that the religious characters often see the worst in things that are different, assuming they are demons or from hell, such as Edward, or as we shall see, the dead in Corpse Bride.

In Coprse Bride, religion is also not given a good name. The priest in the film the Pastor (Galswells) is not a nice character. He tricks Victoria into believing he will help her find out about Victor's marriage to the Corpse Bride, Emily, but only hands her over to her horrid family who locks her away to marry the murderer. He also tries to prevent the dead from entering the church, despite the fact that all the villagers realise that they are not evil or from hell, they are just their loved ones. Once again, the church is portrayed as intolerant and close minded, not to mention the fact that the Pastor is definitely quite sinister - Burton's casting of Christopher Lee (a horror movie veteran) as Pastor Galswells confirms this intention.

Sleepy Hollow presents a much more disturbing view of the Church. Set in flashbacks, the character of Ichabod Crane's past is examined. His mother is shown as a loving, spirited woman, but she is clearly a pagan, or some sort of 'child of nature'. She dances in the trees and puts flowers on the fire - presumably for 'magic' purposes. The Young Ichabod is not damaged by her, in fact, it's all innocent fun. Until his crazily religious father turns up, chastising the mother for her lifestyle, in once scene actually using a Bible. The father is shown to be an intimidating man, who Ichabod is afraid of. It culminates with Ichabod discovering the body of his mother in an iron maidan (torture device) in a Church. Yup, that's right, a Church. What more could you want?

Did Tim Burton have some sort of horrifying experience of the Church, or religion, or does he just not like it? Are his films trying to preach something? Who knows, but it's become a bit of a habit...

Hey, you! Like the blog? Want to be involved? We're now on Twitter (@MoviesMusicSoap) so feel free to follow and drop us a line. Maybe there's something you want us to write about or maybe you have an idea you want to write yourself, get in touch! If you're a band, filmmaker or any other kind of artist and want us to review you, again, please get in touch! Or hey, maybe you're just lonely and fancy a chat...

Why We Love: Midnight in Paris

Midnight in Paris is a pretty standard Woody Allen film but it was set in Paris, with fantasy, and Owen Wilson was playing Woody Allen. This might not sound like a great combination to you, but we were hooked. Owen Wilson's contributions to indie comedies are much more enjoyable than his roles in frat-pack films such as You, Me and Dupree or blockbusters like Meet The Parents (although we always have a soft spot for Zoolander. Who doesn't though, really?!). His work with Wes Anderson in particular made many reassess their opinion of him

Firstly, Owen Wilson is a superb Woody Allen. From the way he walks, talks and even some of the looks, you can tell he's really spent his time studying the classic Woody Allen stock character. Secondly, he's almost slightly more believable than Woody Allen ever was in his roles. It's always slightly mystifying at the end of the film when somehow, he normally ends up with the girl. Or having affairs left right an center. Owen Wilson is not a short, bespectacled dweeb and he's believably good-looking enough to have the pick of the three girls in the film.

Rachel McAdams plays the dismissive fiancee wonderfully. Her character and her family say they are open minded, but ultimately, they are not prepared to accept that Paris isn't in the USA. In an almost flashback to Annie Hall, an irritating friend, Paul Bates seems to know everything about all the places the couples visit, and Wilson's portrayal of Pender's annoyance at this shines though, you are almost expecting him to say "Well, that's funny, because I happen to have XXX right here..."

Now for the story. A young betrothed couple (Wilson and Rachel McAdams) are staying Paris, and struggling with writer's block, Gil Pender (Wilson) goes on nightly strolls around the city, which he always finds beautiful at night. When the clocks strike midnight, he is transported back in time to the roaring 1920s, spending his nights with authors such as Hemmingway and F. Scott Fitzgerald and artists such as Picasso, Matisse and Dali (captured brilliantly in a small cameo by Adrian Brody). Pender is in awe, believing the 1920s to be a 'golden era' for, well, just about everything. Falling in love with the slightly mysterious Adrianna, he starts to wonder about his imminent marriage and life in 2011.

The film's ultimate message seems to be that everyone looks to the past as a golden era, without realising they may well be living in one right now. It once again proves that Woody Allen can still make amazing films!

Hey, you! Like the blog? Want to be involved? We're now on Twitter (@MoviesMusicSoap) so feel free to follow and drop us a line. Maybe there's something you want us to write about or maybe you have an idea you want to write yourself, get in touch! If you're a band, filmmaker or any other kind of artist and want us to review you, again, please get in touch! Or hey, maybe you're just lonely and fancy a chat...

Joseph Kony mk II (-write to your MP, don't share a video)

So I got all annoyed about this whole Invisible Children thing. Basically, how can you achieve change through liking a status and/or sharing a video? If you want to influence the government and your Facebook privacy settings are anything like mine, they're not even going to be able to see that I've shared the video/liked the Facebook page/pledged my support anyway. So I drafted some letters you could write to your MP and possibly even a Lord, to show you feel strongly on the issue. I've already advised against donating money to Invisible Children until things become a bit more transparent with regards to their finances, so this is something to do in the interim if you feel strongly. Or you could always donate some money to Save the Children...

If you would like to copy and paste it (make sure you change the name of the MP and the name of the constituency/area you live in) then please do! If you don't know who your MP is, or how to contact them, here is a good place to start (or try Googleing them; most MPs have websites these days). As if doing good for the world wasn't enticing enough, if you write the a letter, they send one back on really posh paper! Or maybe you want to write to your MP on a totally other issue. Well now you know how. Remember, they have thousands of letters to read and reply to every day, so it might take a while before you get a response. Try not to be mean or aggressive, even if they're not from the party you support - you want to get them on side!

"Dear Mr/Mrs -------

                        I am writing to you today to express my deep concern about events that have been happening in Uganda for the last 26 years. After watching the viral video by ‘Invisible Children’, ‘Kony 2012’, I was stunned that such atrocities can go on behind the world’s back. If a government was snatching children in this country, forcing them to kill, maim and mutilate our citizens, not only would the rest of the world condemn us, but every single news channel would be reporting it.

            Unless you have not got an Internet connection, I trust that you have seen the video by now. If not, it is easily accessible by Google, Facebook, Twitter and Youtube, and you should probably watch it now, before you read any further. The video may seem idealistic and very American, but the sentiment is true. Invisible Children may not be the most reputable of charities, but their work bringing this to light has to be commended and their main aim: to bring about the arrest of Joseph Kony has my full support. Not just the British Government, but the whole of Parliament should be endorsing the arrest and removal from power of Joseph Kony. While I am stunned this is not already on the lips of every single person in Britain, it is not too late to change this.

            I urge you to put your full support to and to encourage your fellow MPs, not to mention Lords, interns, researchers, security guards, cleaners and canteen staff be they Labour, Liberal Democrat or Conservative to do the same. It is you who can make a difference on the world stage. Please, pledge your support to the cause and use the influence you have to raise the issue in the Government, and spread awareness to your constituents in ------.

Yours sincerely,

---------"

It's hardly going to win any awards for the Best Letter Written Ever in the Whole Entire World competition, but I think it does the job. If you want to write your own letter, remember to include:

• Your name and address
• An outline of the Kony issue
• Mention of the video
• The fact that you want the government to do something about it
• If you support the Invisible Children, feel free to mention that too

I then used writetothem to send a message to a Lord. You can use the search engine to write to a Lord who already knows about the issue - type in 'Kony' in the top box. Or maybe you want to raise awareness of the issue to a Lord who hasn't already spoken about the issue.

"Dear Lord ---,

It was with disgust that I viewed a viral video made by 'Invisible Children' about Joseph Kony. I had previously not been aware of the state off affairs in Uganda and was shocked that this has not been in the news every day for the last 26 years. Invisible Children may not be the most reputable of charities, but their work bringing this to light has to be commended and their main aim: to bring about the arrest of Joseph Kony has my full support. I have written to my MP, urging him to use his influence to raise awareness and support for the arrest of this dreadful man. I wished to write to a Lord as well, and through the topic search engine on 'writetothem' I found that you have spoken about Kony before in the Lords. 

I urge you to readdress the issue, particularly as now is a time when knowledge of Kony's hideous crimes is becoming prevalent. Thousands upon thousands of people are viewing this video and speaking out against Kony, but the people of Britain are powerless unless those in power sit up and listen to what we are saying. Enough is enough and more needs to be done, by Britain and the world to stop him.

Yours sincerely,

----- "

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Who is Joseph Kony and just who are Invisible Children?

No doubt if you're into social media, you will have heard of 'Kony' or 'Invisible Children' over the last few weeks, days and hours. It's the new viral thing. But with a change. This isn't a video of a kid biting his little brother's finger to make you laugh. This is a video claiming to be an experiment, to see what social media can do. So here it is. Watch it and make up your own mind:

If anything it is inspirational! The only thing I would say is that for a 'worldwide' video, it sure is aimed mostly at the USA! Anyway, share it, talk about it, sign the pledge, do what you want in reaction to it. After you have read all the facts. But remember, this is only one of the terrible things going on in the world today, perhaps we need to focus on more than one issue at a time. Spreading awareness of something this awful can't be a bad thing, surely, and together perhaps something can be done about it. However, I am not going to endorse buying anything from the Invisible Children's website and I am going to try and explain why.

Some people are claiming that Kony is no longer at large (see the WordPress article). That he has moved into other parts of Africa and his atrocities committed in Uganda have largely blown over. So what? He committed the crime, and one of the number one points that Invisible Children are campaigning for is to have him arrested. This is surely not a bad thing, even if it has blown over. He has turned young girls in to sex slaves, allowed the rape of hundreds of women and stolen young boys away from their families, turning them in to child soldiers. Therefore, regardless of whether or not this has all blown over, surely it is important to bring this man to justice. Remember the Nazis? Well, long after the war ended there were all sorts of organisations trying to find Nazi's who had committed horrifying acts and bring them to justice and had fled (many to South America) following the war. Why should this be any different?


As I've already stressed, Joseph Kony is only one person in the world committing atrocities, there are many more who should also be stopped and/or brought to justice, but this is a start. The important thing is, it's got people thinking about more than last night's episode of Eastenders. It's inspiring enough to watch the video, and then to see it shared all over your Facebook news feed, by people who have never previously shown any interest in what's going on in the world outside their country. I think this in itself is brilliant. I hope that at least some of those people continue to stay interested and this isn't a one off thing. If somehow a campaign like this can help this awful man be brought to justice, then in some ways, whether or not he has left Uganda or the issue has 'blown over' is a little bit irrelevant. OK, if the world had sat up and taken notice in 2004 or 2005, it may have been dealt with quicker, and less children would have been affected, but at least something is being done now. After all, short of having a time machine, we can't go back and change things.


Now for the real bad bit. I have linked to a reddit post at the bottom of this article. This claims (along with the Visible Children tumblr - really worth a read) that Invisible Children hardly spend any of the money that they receive in donations on actually helping their own cause. Most of it goes on 'expenses'. The figure quoted is 32% of their income going on direct services. Many charities have between 80% and 90% going on direct services. This is obviously worrying. I can't verify this, but there's more than one person saying it, in fact, there's quite a lot, and they're starting to shout it. Obviously, make up your own mind. I've shared the video on all my social media platforms; I find it inspirational. I will not, however, be supporting Invisible Children; just their cause.


On balance, Joseph Kony is a man who I would like to see the back of, but I don't think Invisible Children are the ones we should be throwing money at to make it happen. If anyone knows of any charities that spend their money more appropriately, then please link me to them and I will include them in here for those who still want to donate something. 

If you want to help, write to your MP or a Lord (or if you're from outside the UK, whoever represents you). Get involved that way, but I would urge people to keep hold of their money until things become a little more transparent. Remember, sitting through a 30 minute video on a subject does not make you the expert. Charities do have motivations and it is important to read up on the facts before getting swept away. I shared the video on facebook, and also shared some articles to the contrary. The sentiment of the video - bringing about change through mass awareness, protest and pressure on governments is fine, but donating to certain charities doesn't always do the good you think it is going to do. It's sad, but it's the truth. 

If you've read this and feel truly disheartened, I'm sorry. The video is inspirational, and hopefully some people have sat up and taken notice of an issue on the global stage which normally wouldn't interest them at all. Campaigning for something you truly believe in is brilliant, but always make sure you do your research.

Here are some links to counter articles to add some balance (I have referred to these):
http://ilto.wordpress.com/2006/11/02/the-visible-problem-with-invisible-children/
http://visiblechildren.tumblr.com/post/18890947431/we-got-trouble
http://www.reddit.com/r/videos/comments/qk0pd/kony_2012_help_raise_awareness_and_stop_joseph/c3ycvhb


For those of you who are too lazy to read this, my basic sentiment is: Sure, go and spread the word and the video, but please please please don't donate to Invisible Children!

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