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May the odds be ever in your favour


Yesterday, before a birthday dinner, some friends and I went to watch The Hunger Games. It's one of the films I really wanted to watch so since it came out this Thursday, I've been bugging several people to go watch it with me.

I've read the series and I must say, it sits at the apex of my favourite series of all time. The idea was unique (in my opinion anyway) and the character development was executed beautifully. Katniss in particular, was such an inspiration.

That aside, I was first a little skeptical of the film adaptation. I liked the trailer but trailers are never really a good way of determining whether a film is good or not. So I was thoroughly surprised when the film turned out to be FANTASTIC. The entire film was emotionally driven and well performed. The producers did a very commendable job on the casting. It was worth the $19.50 I paid to watch it in Vmax.


Jennifer Lawrence played a very good Katniss Everdeen. She's exactly how I imagined her to be: Strong, beautiful, a little emotionally detached but warm-hearted nonetheless. And just as a side note, I think Lawrence looks good as a brunette.

But to be completely honest with myself, as a design student, what REALLY intrigued (and delighted) me was the couture fashion and architecture in the film. The Capitol, the driving power and host of the Hunger Games is a place completely detached from the out skirting districts. Whereas in District 12, the peasants wore "normal" clothing, The Capitol is a different world altogether.


Just look at that. It might be a little weird to look at (at first) but imagine this being worn by an entire city and you get The Capitol. Every piece (said by Cindy) was like an Alexander McQueen. Quirky, high-end couture and so colourful too!


Compared to that, all the district costumes just seemed very "modest". Nice juxtaposition though. And a good way of emphasizing the power The Capitol holds over the other Districts.


Unfortunately, I couldn't find any detailed pictures of the architecture...the interiors especially. But they are absolutely mind-blowing. The film shifted from a poor 1800's working class environment to lavishly decorated Victorian Interiors and then to a Futuristic cityscape (Penthouse scenes).


Another driving factor for my love of the film will have to be Katniss's love interests. First of all, Gale...who I thought (at first) a better match (physically and intellectually) for Katniss. He just seemed like someone who's capable of protecting her (not that she needed protectection). Unfortunately, he didn't get much screening time in the film (which is a bummer because Brunette Liam Hensworth is such eye candy!).

BUT as the movie progressed, I was won over by the cute chemistry between Katniss and Peeta (played by Josh Hutcherson. That guy from Bridge to Terabithia and Journey to the Centre of the Earth). It's strange because Hutcherson always seemed like a kid to me...but he really did step up this time. For this film, Josh had to dye his hair blond. And I must admit, it SUITS HIM a lot. He looks less like a kid in my opinion.

Most of the main characters' actors/actresses had to dye their hair for their role. Lawrence and Hensworth went from blonde to brunette. And Hutcherson did the opposite and went from Brunette to Blonde. A very notable AND SUCCESSFUL change of appearance. Their images now suit their roles much better.

Overall, I'm hoping for a sequel because this movie was seriously good. Hopefully the quality doesn't change when they do start filming a sequel. Fingers crossed! I won't spoil too much now, because there's a lot of amazing scenes that you just have to watch for yourself to grasp its awesomeness...but I recommend anyone who haven't watched it yet to go watch it. Don't download it...seriously get off your butt and head over to the cinemas NOW. The effect of seeing this movie on a giant screen is astronomical. And if possible, for those in Australia...WATCH IT IN VMAX. Not trying to be bossy, but it makes a lot of difference.

So that's all guys :)

May the odds be ever in your favour.

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KONY2012: Who is naive...really?

Edit: I wrote this post last night at 1am so there's a few disclaimers I should have put in to prevent people from getting the wrong idea. So I'm sorry if you did "get the wrong idea". I'm not PRO-InvisibleChildren nor am I ANTI-InvisibleChildren. I do want to raise awareness about the Kony issue though so I "AM" defending the campaign or at least...the idea behind the campaign. 
This rant is directed at people (on Youtube specifically but also on other social networking sites) who spam comments dissing the "Kony2012 campaign" without supplying back-up info to support their comments. Not convincing. 

So with all the hype/argument/debate about the recent Kony2012 campaign hitting the internet by storm, I have no choice but to come out of my hiatus and say my bit. I didn't want to...but some of the comments I've been reading on Youtube REALLY pissed me off and I need to get this out of my head before heading off to sleep.

Please pardon my tone here guys...but some things just need to be said. Please do not misunderstand me. I'm not claiming to know everything or the nature behind the campaigns. I don't know whether or not Invisible Children is a scam...although I do trust in them myself. That's my personal choice. In no way am I trying to convert people's opinions. Afterall that's your decision to make.

There's so many theories/counter-theories/counter-counter-theories out there about Invisible Children that I'm genuinely confused about whether or not my support is in the right place. BUT I do know for sure that Joseph Kony IS a bad person and the campaign that's working to bring him infamy IS WORKING. To me, that's good enough. This post covers a few things that's been bugging me these two days. I thought I should just spend some time writing about it. Feel free to ignore it.

Before we begin, for those living under a rock who don't know about the Kony2012 campaign yet, here's a link to the wikipedia page and their campaign video. Alternatively, if you don't want to sit through the 30minute documentary, you can opt for this 1min32second one by Ryan Higa (nigahiga) although I do recommend watching the 30minute original.

Here's a quick excerpt from wikipedia for those lazy people who don't like clicking on links:
"Kony 2012 is a film created by Invisible Children Inc which became a viral video. The film's purpose is to promote the charity's 'Stop Kony' movement to make indicted Ugandan war criminal Joseph Kony internationally known in order to arrest him in 2012."

So let's start on those little buggers..

1) Being called "naive" for believing/supporting the Kony2012 cause by hypocritical youtubers.
Most of the people who are posting things like "Invisible Children are scammers" have done no significant research themselves. It seems to me that all they've done is read other articles online accusing the organisation of being fraudulent and 'shady'. Perhaps they looked up some statistics too...but that's the general scope of their "research".
Most of the things that they say are not backed by concrete evidence. Personally, I think they have the organisation all wrong. But I will get to that later. What I do want to say is...aren't you guys just as naive as you say other people are? Do some research guys...don't jump on the anti-Kony2012 bandwagon just because the articles (disclaimer: by articles, I am 'sarcastically' referring to those spamming comments people make...not the news articles themselves) say so.


2) "Invisible Children can't be trusted because they only spend 31% of their fund on direct aid. The rest are spend on film-making and travelling expenses."  
(Disclaimer: The following is strictly my own opinion on the matter or what I interpret as the agenda of the group)
Of course. Isn't that to be expected? Direct aid is only one third of the organisation's agenda. Helping the people directly can only get so far. The other one third of what the organisation is doing is promoting and raising awareness through film-making and screenings. Making films, screening them for free all around the country costs TIME and MONEY. Travelling to different places/overseas also demand fundings. Where do these funds come from? From the donations of course! I think the promotion aspect is just as important as direct aid. There's already a lot of charities working to aid third-world countries. We don't need another one. Besides, how many times have YOU looked away/avoided eye contact when you saw a charity-person approach you to talk about supporting/sponsering a less-fortunate child? 
Invisible Children is taking a creative (and more successful) approach to raise awareness. Films and online propaganda via social networking is a brilliant way of reaching out to people, especially the younger generation. Instead of them coming to us, we are flocking to them. Through such promotion, the viewer can then take whatever action they choose (they can even choose to donate to other charities). Afterall, if it wasn't for the Kony2012 video, most of us wouldn't even know about Joseph Kony and none of us would have even considered donating anything to anyone.
So...spending all that money on their film and music making? I think that's 1/3 of their funds well spent.
The other 1/3 goes towards campaigns/rallies and travelling around the country screening their films to people. These screenings, campaigns and events require manpower, time and effort. None of which WE can afford. The directors (I assume) have no other jobs so doing this is probably their full-time (if not most of their time) career. They have families. They need to be paid too. (I don't care HOW MUCH they get paid...but I know all that effort deserves SOMETHING).
Invisible Children's response to the issue: "Invisible Children’s mission is to stop LRA violence and support the war affected communities in Central Africa. These are the three ways we achieve that mission. Each is essential: 1) Document and make the world aware of the LRA. This includes making documentary films and touring these films around the world so that they are seen for free by millions of people. 2) Channeling the energy and awareness from informed viewers of IC films into large scale advocacy campaigns that have mobilized the international community to stop the LRA and protect civilians. 3) Operate programs on the ground in the LRA-affected areas to provide protection, rehabilitation and development assistance.
As you will see, we spend roughly one third of our money on each of these three goals. This three-prong approach is what makes invisible children unique. Some organizations focus exclusively on documenting human rights abuses, some focus exclusively on international advocacy or awareness, and some focus exclusively on, on-the-ground development. We do all three. At the same time. This comprehensive model is intentional and has shown to be very effective."


 3) "Kony left Uganda ages ago...the war has already stopped there. Why are they still using this as the catalyst for their campaign?"
So? Just because Uganda is now safe doesn't make the things Kony did any less atrocious. The aim for the campaign is to bring Kony to justice. Not just to protect the people. For the people of Uganda, the things they went through, the families they've lost...it still matters to them. If someone slaughtered/kidnapped someone from YOUR family and then left your house...you would still want to catch him and throw him in jail...if not killed. Wouldn't you? Kony is still operating elsewhere (even if he is in hiding) and the people won't feel at peace without him captured. It's something that ordinary people like you and me can't possibly imagine.
Invisible Children's response to the issue: "The LRA left northern Uganda in 2006. The LRA is currently active in Democratic Republic of Congo, Central African Republic, and South Sudan. Invisible Children’s mission is to stop Joseph Kony and the LRA wherever they are and help rehabilitate LRA-affected communities. The Ugandan government’s army, the UPDF, is more organized and better equipped than that of any of the other affected countries (DRC, South Sudan, CAR) to track down Joseph Kony. Part of the US strategy to stop Kony is to encourage cooperation between the governments and armies of the 4 LRA-affected countries. The LRA was active in Uganda for nearly 20 years, displacing 1.7 million people and abducting at least 30,000 children. The people and government of Uganda have a vested interested in seeing him stopped."

4) The Invisible Children are working with the Uganda government/military who was also responsible for many rapes/murders in the past...
I don't think they have a choice. They are working on a foreign land. Who are they going to work with if not with the government/military there? How will they manage anything if they do not gain the support or at least the recognition of the regional government? The only forces that they can work with at the moment are the Ugandan military.  
Invisible Children's response to the issue: "We do not defend any of the human rights abuses perpetrated by the Ugandan government or the Ugandan army (UPDF). None of the money donated through Invisible Children ever goes to the government of Uganda. Yet the only feasible and proper way to stop Kony and protect the civilians he targets is to coordinate efforts with regional governments." 

There's a lot more issues I haven't covered yet...because I really need to sleep now...it's 2am and I'm not thinking straight so the things above probably won't make a lot of sense. But you can read about all of them AND Invisible Children's responses here: http://www.invisiblechildren.com.s3-website-us-east-1.amazonaws.com/critiques.html

Before I finish, here's something to consider though...if the organisation really is a scam...then why would they want to make the campaign such a big phenomenon? Isn't that just asking for trouble? Wouldn't it be better to just remain under the radar? No one will bother investigating...
That's just some food for thought.

Once again, I'll stress that I don't know for a fact whether or not the Invisible Children's organisation is trustworthy..but the same can be said about a lot of other charities. I know this at least...no matter what the organisation is doing...the campaign KONY 2012 is a worthwhile cause to support. You don't have to donate...you just need to spread the word. You'll be surprised how much just "spreading the word" can do. Afterall, if people don't know about it, how can we possibly change anything?

Edit: Once again...this is a RANT. I was angry at the people who spam all those videos that youtubers (like DavidSo and RyanHiga) post up dissing them just because they support the campaign. Not many (although some did try) commented with the intention of persuading. Most just wanted to diss. So I got angry and wrote this. Hope that clears some stuff up.


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