Jason Russell's Naked Meltdown

Have you not heard? Kony 2012's director, Jason Russell, had a meltdown and was arrested after several onlookers reported to the police that a man was seen running around only in his underwear screaming and touching himself. The San Diego police department said that he was behaving very strangely and possibly under the influence of something - alcohol probably.

Telegraph reported that CEO of Invisible Children later said in a statement, "Jason Russell was unfortunately hospitalised yesterday suffering from exhaustion, dehydration and malnutrition. He is now receiving medical care and focused on getting better." From the Guardian, Russell's wife Danica also issued a statement to American TV network NBC, "We thought a few thousand people would see the film, but in less than a week millions of people around the world saw it. While that attention was great for raising awareness about Joseph Kony, it also brought a lot of attention to Jason. And, because of how personal the film is, many of the attacks against it were also very personal, and Jason took them very hard."

So my question is, why did Jason make this video so personal then? I am sorry to say that he should have expected criticisms will be directed AT him since this video was made seemingly to come from HIS point of view, whether or not that may be true. And the inclusion of his kid and many personal moments did not help at all. It was very unnecessary if you ask me.

Nevertheless, I do feel sorry for Russell. At first impression I was almost certain his meltdown was merely an effect from drug abuse or intoxication, but someone told me a person with bipolar can behave like that with or without knowledge of what he had done. So it could be genuine that he was under stress and had a meltdown.

But from a NGO's perspective, as the face of the organisation Invisible Children, his antics were highly unacceptable. If he is a person who would be sensitive to criticisms then he should've think twice before becoming the face of Invisible Children, and definitely think twice before making the video so personal. Whether his behaviour was intentional or not, he has undoubtedly ruined the image of Invisible Children. People may argue, Jason Russell has nothing to do with the cause, people should support the cause and not be affected by this. First of all, the cause is not even fully supported by the local Ugandan people. If you have not heard, the subsequent screenings of Kony 2012 were cancelled because of ill reception at its first screening in Uganda. The viewers were so furious they started throwing rocks and refused to keep watching. You can read more about it with National Post. Secondly, whether you like it or not, as a representative of an organisation, you have to uphold a certain image, and if you failed at that, people will not take you or the organisation seriously. That is the cruel side of the reality and the wonders of public relations.

And if you haven't seen the famous/infamous Kony 2012 film, the video in my previous blog post here.