Regardless of radical changes on the geopolitical map and the collapse of giant empires, the modern world can still be viewed as a heritage of the colonial past, with multiple states trying to recover after a long period of ruthless exploitation and find their way. Africa remains one of the most complex regions in the modern world. The complex ethnic composition, the diversity of cultures and religions, along with the lack of experience in governing and ruling independent states result in the establishment of the post-colonial environment characterised by the existence of typical problems. The majority of Western countries proclaim their readiness to engage and improve the situation; however, their motifs are not always sincere. As Cole states, Africa provides the USA and Europe with the chance to affect public opinion and become a saviour that performs significant efforts to help people in the area and improve the situation. Unfortunately, these attempts disregard the essential local peculiarities and are organised from the imperialist perspective.
Kony 2012 can be viewed as one of the examples of how the Western world prefers to close its eyes to the root causes of some problems and act as wise governors and supervisors with the right to decide and impact the lives of people without their agreement. The movie was made to support people in Uganda and attract attention to crimes committed by its leaders. The importance of the mission cannot be doubted; however, the movie offers a one-dimensional perspective on the situation in the land, outlining only local reasons for the problems, the negative qualities of the dictator, and the need for action. At the same time, it disregards the negative impact of the colonial past, the unwise policies of Western countries, and the unwillingness to accept their responsibility for these actions.
The situation can be viewed from the ideas of post-colonialism. The continuous control and exploitation of these areas by giant empires in the past were characterised by the complete disregard for ethnic composition, religion, and political issues. It preconditioned the emergence of the ticking time bomb, which exploded in the 20th century after the European states left the region. In such a way, the current situation is the result of unwise policies and the dominance of imperialism, which was a main ideology in the past centuries. Unfortunately, the effects of this concept and its impact on the areas can still be viewed here. Moreover, other nations exercise unfair practices that do not contribute to the improvement of the situation here.
Turning back to Cole’s thoughts on KONY 12 and the idea that “a singer may be innocent, never the song”, it is possible to state that the Western world remains responsible for the post-colonial chaos and the emergence of multiple problems in the region. Moreover, today, regardless of the demonstrative attempts to help African nations and attract the public attention to the existing topics, the “song” remains the same, as there are still imperialistic moods and attitudes. The local conflicts, poverty, and undeveloped infrastructure are viewed as a result of regional problems and the weakness of African nations, which have always been viewed as inferior ones. Instead of accepting the idea of their responsibility, politicians, celebrities, and international agencies use Africa as the opportunity to become saviours and popularise their ideas and incentives.