I'm going to be a member of Team Anti-Cynical when it comes to Kony:
What's important to understand is that whilst the video currently has 55 million hits that's a freak event and nothing that the makers could've predicted. Obviously they produced the video in the hope of attracting attention but the attention that it has attracted, in such a short space of time, is unbelievable and could never have been factored in to their production.
Yes, it is clearly an over-simplification. But that's because you're watching an emotive YouTube video made by a charity with a clear agenda when it comes to Kony. If you don't want a simplified version, go and read the ICC's indictment reports. If you are looking for information on YouTube, it's hardly fair to complain that it over simplifies things. It's the equivalent of, in my English Literature degree, taking all my references from Wikipedia rather than specific critical texts.
I would also defend the charity by saying that the purpose of the video isn't to raise money. Yes, it makes people want to buy t-shirts and posters but there is no reference to 'you can help by donating'. Almost all charities go down that line of attack but don't get these criticisms levelled at them, so the fact that Invisible Children gets this stick without even making that argument is, in my opinion, unfair. Yes, there are some transparency issues within the charity's fundraising capacities but that's because it's come under such enormous and unprecedented media scrutiny in such a small space of time. The press will always be able to find some sort of issues when they have the upper hand over a (relatively) small charity. I'm not saying that totally excuses any discrepancies but I think it's unfair to dismiss them out of hand just because one or two things have emerged. However bad their policies are, they're not as bad as what's being done in Uganda.
Which brings us to the most important issue regarding the Kony2012 campaign and that's its political and social validity. Really this ought to be the only rational argument being brought against it. There is a suggestion that the US could be infantilising Africa by intervening with the LRA and that the Ugandan army is a dangerous ally to equip with state of the art technology. These subjects are certainly up for dispute but the fact remains that Joseph Kony is #1 on the ICC's list of indicted but uncaptured human rights criminals. Clearly he ought to be brought to justice; I don't think anyone will dispute that. Whether you agree with moral interventionism is another thing altogether but it should only be a fundamental disagreement with that principal that leads anyone to actively object to the Kony2012 video and campaign. I think that is a totally valid line of debate and one that the charity would be happy to engage in.
So, in summary, I think it's easy to be cynical when something explodes in social media and makes a lot of people become overnight advocates of a cause they'd never heard of before. There is definitely an argument about the moral position of supporting US intervention in Uganda but, in terms of bringing to light a devastating global issue, the film is excellent. Simplified? Of course, but they've managed to get millions of people to watch a 30 minute video on YouTube which is more than any of us could ever say for our short films. People who feel strongly about the issue ought to pursue a more rigorous investigation of the issues before trying to convert others, but as a jumping off point this video expresses a lot that I think is good about humanity's social conscience.