The Invisible War And Children: Documentary Analysis

Clarence Vappie

Erin M. Breaux

English 1020

3/11/14

The Invisible War/Children

Throughout the documentary the video tries to make viewers aware of the horror taking place in northern Uganda. It wants the viewer to become educated and possibly involved in the movement to bring justice to the children of Africa, who desperately need our help. This documentary uses images and actual interviews with the children who have suffered and the people of Uganda who want to make a change. This documentary is a very powerful tool when it comes to getting the reader to understand the issue at hand for the people of Uganda. The intention of these filmmakers is to get the full international attention that this subject needs. The three filmmakers
of this compelling documentary are Bobby Bailey, Jason Russel, and Lauren Poole. What these guys did was help the rest of the world see what truly plagues the country of Africa. They decided to investigate for themselves after hearing what Colin Powell had to say about what problems are really going on in this world. Colin Powell stated, “There is no greater tragedy than the one that is unfolding in the Sudan.” Over 2 million Africans have died and over 5 million have fled the country due to the 20 year old long war that has been taking place between north and south Sudan .
Some people even consider this a genocide or Holocaust of some sort. This information has just been recently discovered. I do not know why someone would want to keep this under wraps. Our media keeps us informed with what is going on in the world around us. This situation in my eyes should have been addressed sooner . One filmmaker stated that, “Media shapes the way we view our life, what you see in magazines , movies, and on television is what you know about life, so in a sense media is life. These courageous gentlemen set out to find the truth and teach us about life for the struggling kids of Uganda. These children are forced to live in fear. They fear that if are they seen during the night they might be subject to abduction. A former abducted boy named Jacob tells us, “That in the day we cannot fear, but in the night we can fear.” This is how every child of Uganda feels. They used to go pick fruit and gather food but now the bush/jungle is ruled by the LRA “Lords Resistance Army”. This group is known as the rebels. The children who were once a part of this group say that if they were caught crying they would be executed, and if they tried to escape they would also be
executed. This forces the children to take refuge in basements of hospitals, where they huddle together like animal infants.
Some children who had homes would fear that if they were asleep in their own homes they might stand a chance of becoming abducted by this vicious movement. Most of these children are orphans and form families amongst themselves. They watch and take care of each other through the daily battles of starvation and poverty. The war all started with a woman named Alice Lakwena, her motives were to overthrow the government of Uganda. For support she claimed that there was a spirit within her that would protect her and any of her followers. Once one would smear themselves in Shea oil from a African Shea tree they would be anointed and impenetrable from bullets. After Alice came a man who brought with him the destruction of Africa’s youth known as Joseph Kony. Kony became the leader of the LRA and he claimed to be a descendent of Alice. Kony 's mission was to gather as many soldiers as he could. His plan was to abduct children who could easily be brainwashed and forced to kill for his own benefit. He trained the children to kill with weapons such as guns, knives , and even their bare hands. The children say that Kony wishes to bring peace to all Acholli but when in fact he is slaughtering the Acholli people. The children he targeted were between the ages of 5 to 12 years of age. He did so because this particular age group could hold weapons and were also able to pass
as students so that they could find new recruits to abduct. The people of Uganda protest to the government that, “The question of life is for all people regardless of the color of one 's skin. Unless the whole nation rallies with one voice, peace for this country and peace in every corner of this country will not be possible unless we come together and fight.” After viewing this documentary one might want to help in the aid of these kids and put an end to evil that walks among us claiming the innocent lives and damning the children of Uganda who are forced to commit great sins against their own people. I would like to point out a quote from one of the filmmakers which describes why these children are considered invisible: “Invisible because they roam distant Battlefields, away from public scrutiny, because no records are kept of their names, numbers, or age, because their own government/army denies any knowledge of their existence.”

Works Cited http://topdocumentaryfilms.com/search/?results=The+invisible+war topdocumentaryfilms.com/invisible-children/