The advertisement consists of a strong narrative that starts in tragedy- a separation of a young boy from his mother, amidst images of conflict and violence.
The exact place of Deng’s capture is not mentioned. The images of strife,the people involved in the conflict ridden place in the African continent. A meaning that draws from the visual vocabulary presented and taught to us by western media.
The first statement is a very short, concise, and precise statement, drenched in pathos. We are introduced to juxtaposed images of a rough childhood, children holding weapons amidst explosions, implying and spreading awareness of a situation that is a reality in some parts of the world, but also capitalizing on the abject misery of the ones affected by the horror of the crisis.
The text that appears in the advertisement is in the form of brief short sentences, crafted so that the only information they convey is the one required to contribute to the narrative, meant to be portrayed.
An extremely strong emotional,and tragic scene, that is meant to pull at your heart, and evoke an intense sense of sympathy and compassion, is the one portraying Deng as the young twelve year old boy in pain, as a result of the bullet in his back.
The shots in the beginning are fast moving. the camera swerves recklessly, unpredictably, and dramatically. The focus of the shot is often not the centre, and is constantly in motion, adding to the element of chaos, confusion, and building sense of anxiety. On reaching Australia, the shots get slower,cleaner, and easier to focus on. Deng’s clothes, hair and over all appearance acquire a western look. Perhaps this is meant to convey the community, he now considers himself a part of. This appearance also implies the definition of the words ‘reformed’, ‘educated’, ‘healthy’, and ‘successful’ that the audience is acquainted with.
Once this success is effectively indicated, the narrative switches to a memory, to remind the pathos of the story, that the success of the impact of the audience, depends heavily upon. the memory is meant to juxtapose the ease and comfort of his life in Australia, versus that in his own country.It also implies that his education at Western Sydney university, has enabled him to enjoy this significant improvement in his lifestyle and living conditions. The advertisement also reminds the audience, as the audio track of the video suggests, to remember their roots. This moment in the video is extremely powerful. he seems to be looking at his mother from across a metaphysical invisible barrier of sorts, perhaps the veil that separates life and death, and the change in expression on his face, indicates both, a sense of being grounded to your beliefs, and the idea that he knows his mother would be proud of him, had she been able to see him today. i think I would have found this last shot more powerful and impactful, had I not been jaded by similar shots brought before me by media sources like movies, music videos, and even novels.
Perhaps this advertisement meant only well and nothing else, and I am just a cynical privileged girl, who will never truly understand the difficult life of Deng Adut, nor the intentions and motivations of the UN, but while watching the advertisement, I felt like I was experiencing subtle tones of a white saviour complex, running through out the story line.
UN is not innocent.Western Sydney’s decisions are not purely born out of the niceness of their heart.Yes I think his story is important to be brought out to the word but the video did not spend enough time tell his story about how he fought his way to get the attention of the UN or fought his way to western Sydney or through college even. It’s like they are capitalizing on something that to them is a mere unrelatable but emotional and touching sob story. Manipulating probably his darkest memories for profit. They spend exactly one third of the video talking about his hard life. He is shown as the guy who got lucky.
