Initially, I admit, it was a kind of narcissism that made me skeptical of Invisible Children’s “Kony 2012” video: I didn’t want my otherwise politically detached Facebook friends to be right. They urged me to “WATCH THIS—IT’S INCREDIBLE” and “SHARE NOW IF YOU WANT TO DO SOME GOOD IN THE WORLD.” Yet as I had feared, during the video, I felt the slightest pull on my heartstrings. The iconic Earth-from-space visual succeeded in making me feel small and insignificant—an uneasiness quickly alleviated by Jason Russell, the film’s creator and narrator.
