Kony Part II: Beyond Famous Released
Invisible Children released a sequel Thursday to their original "Kony 2012" video which made African warlord Joseph Kony known across the globe.
The new Internet video, "Kony 2012 Part II- Beyond Famous," is similar in style to the original viral video but is lacking any narrative from Invisible Children's co-founder Jason Russell, who was the director of the first Kony video.
Russell was diagnosed with temporary psychosis last month after he was seen wandering naked in a San Diego neighborhood while incoherently shouting and pounding his fists onto a sidewalk. His publicly erratic behavior began shortly after the Kony 2012 video became wildly popular and Invisible Children was thrown into the media spotlight.
Another notable difference between the original video and its sequel is that it lacks the unique narrative from the first Kony 2012 short film. The original video included a discussion of the controversial issue by showing a conversation between Russell and his son Gavin about "stopping the bad guys."
The newest Kony 2012 video also directly addresses the critiques that Invisible Children has been subject to in light of the heavy scrutiny they were placed under when their name became globally known.
Some of the criticisms addressed is that Kony 2012 has too much of a focus on American involvement instead of on the people who are affected by the cause Invisible Children is trying to promote and that the organization does not give enough of its money to the victims of Joseph Kony.
Another critique addressed in the video is the claim by critics that the video oversimplifies an extremely complicated issue that has been occurring for 26 years.
Invisible Children's CEO Ben Keesey said the sequel was produced in two weeks in order to answer questions and criticisms posed by the public.
He said that social media has played an integral part in maintaining interest in the campaign, especially for young adults since they feel like they are part of a "global community."
"It's always hard to keep the momentum on an issue like this, especially because the majority of people watching this have no relationship, no connection to something that is happening thousands of miles away," Keesey said.
"Our goal is just to create compelling stories to bring back what the point is -- which is right now there are people living in fear of violence and being attacked by the LRA and we need to be reminded of that," he added.
Invisible Children continued their calls for Kony's arrest in their sequel video and asked viewers to volunteer on April 20, which has been declared a day for all supporters to spread the Kony 2012 message.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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