In Article 3 and Article 5 of The Universal Declaration of Human Rights, every human being has the right to life, liberty, and security of person (Donnely 5). Also, every human being is protected against torture. No one shall subject a man, woman, or child to cruel and degrading treatment (Donnelly 5). These are examples of universally recognized human rights. However, the dictator used to control Egypt seems unaware that it was his responsibility to uphold fundamental human rights (Nunns & Idle 35). Leaders of the free world are aware of human rights violations within Egypt, but they turned a blind eye, ignoring the fact that former president Hosni Mubarak was guilty of such crimes (Khalil 45). It took the courage of a few good men to jumpstart a revolution. After the successful process that dismantled Mubarak’s hold on power, many young people created a documentary to tell their participation in the said revolution. The documentary was entitled The Square. It is a powerful example of youth media. It was also a useful tool to educate others about the importance of human rights.
The film garnered numerous international accolades due to its content. The performance of the actors was imbued with a different kind of realism because the actors were eyewitnesses to the Egyptian revolution that started in Tahrir Square. Almost all the actors in the film had first-hand knowledge of human rights violations under Mubarak’s reign. For example, Magdy Ashour, one of the lead characters in the movie, was abducted and tortured in the past. He was tortured because he was a member of the Muslim Brotherhood.
Revolution and Social Media
Part of the inspiration for the film was the life story of one of the critical leaders of the Egyptian Revolution. He is none other than Wael Ghonim. It is essential to highlight the contributions of Ghonim because he was one of the first to leverage the use of social media. He was instrumental in encouraging young Egyptians to go out and express their displeasure against their government.
In 2011, Ghonim was watching the news about the revolution that radically altered the political structure of Tunisia. Ghonim decided to create an online page to inspire Egypt’s youth to start a process similar to what has transpired in Tunisia. Just like the average citizen of Egypt, Ghonim was sick and tired of Mubarak’s brutal suppression of people’s right to self-expression. He also wanted to put an end to numerous human rights violations.
Ghonim was only 30 years old when he created the Facebook page that changed the course of Egypt’s history. In his first attempt, Ghonim announced through social media that there was a viable candidate that could defeat Mubarak in the upcoming elections. After a few months, Ghonim decided to create another Facebook page. This time around, he wanted to talk about controversial issues. It says Kullena Khaled Said, in reference to a young Egyptian man murdered by the country’s top law enforcers (Ghonim 58).
Ghonim did not expect the overwhelming response from his countrymen. But one day, he realized that Egypt’s youth was no longer afraid to express bottled-up emotions regarding the state of the country’s economy and its political system. From the point of view of a tyrant, Ghonim was guilty of treason. Therefore, the government has the right to apprehend him. Mubarak’s men initiated a methodical search for the creator of the Facebook page, and the man instrumental in fomenting a revolution. On the same day that people were filling up Tahrir Square to stage a massive protest, Mubarak’s state security officers kidnapped and tortured Ghonim. News of his arrest was made known to the protesters. They pressured the government to release Ghonim. After enduring several days of cruel treatment from his captors, Ghonim was released. He went straight to Tahrir Square to join others in the struggle for liberty and human dignity. Ghonim spoke to the crowd. A few days later, Mubarak was forced to step down (Ghonim, 249).
Youth Media
Ghonim’s experience is an important side story that will help explain the spirit behind the creation of The Square. The film received critical acclaim because of its content. However, the compelling storyline is not enough to explain why it was so successful worldwide. It is also essential to highlight the fact that it is an example of youth media.
There are several reasons why the documentary can be classified under the youth media category. First, the creators and actors behind the production of the film are members of the younger generation (Ruddock 22). Second, the story is about Egypt’s youth who took over Tahrir Square and demanded the resignation of Hosni Mubarak. At the beginning of the documentary, the spotlight was trained on Egyptian youth when Mubarak publicly condemned the civil disobedience that was gathering strength in Tahrir Square. In his speech, Mubarak acknowledged that it was Egypt’s younger generation that made up the majority of the people staging the massive protest. On national TV, Mubarak threatened them with dire consequences if they will not back down.
The image of a defiant and arrogant Mubarak speaking through the government-sponsored TV network created a sharp contrast to the hapless protesters in Tahrir Square. This contrast also helps explain the difference between youth media and traditional media. Mubarak used conventional ways to broadcast his message to the public. The young protesters, on the other hand, utilized the power of social media to voice out their concerns and demands (Umaschi 65).
Mubarak’s speech and the protester’s use of social media underscore the different aspects of youth media and why it produces different results in contrast to TV and radio broadcasting. Mubarak’s speech was instantaneously beamed to hundreds of thousands of TV sets all over Egypt. It gave him the assurance that he was able to speak directly to the people. However, Mubarak had no idea how his message was getting through. In other words, he had no reliable feedback mechanism. More importantly, Mubarak was desperate to reach out to the youth. In his speech, he addressed them as sons and daughters. But Mubarak utilized the wrong medium. If he wanted to reach the child, he should have used social media.
The protesters used a different tactic. By leveraging the power of social media, they did not expect to reach out to millions of people at once. Nevertheless, a single video or an available post online was like planting seeds. Planting a single source may not seem significant at first. Nonetheless, a single basis has the potential to become a forest. Social media users compare the spread of information in the same way that a viral infection is transmitted from one person to the next. In the end, videos posted online and messages sent via Facebook and other social media networks were more potent than the speech made by Mubarak.
Finally, the documentary is an example of youth media because its core message resonated with the younger generation. At the heart of a documentary is a cry for change from an idealistic group of people that are not afraid to risk everything to achieve the things that they believe are important in their lives (Noguera 41). In the film, the narrator said that Egypt was under the iron grip of Mubarak for more than three decades. Therefore, the older generation was a silent witness to the dictator’s brutal regime. However, no one dared lift a finger, and no one spoke against barbaric acts committed in the name of decisive leadership. They cowered in fear because there was so much at stake. The younger generation had the energy and a sense of reckless abandon to gamble everything that they hold dear in order to fight against oppression. It was this kind of theme that captured the imagination of young audiences all over the world. It is also part of the reason why the documentary is considered an example of youth media.
Human Rights Issues
The overwhelming success of the documentary is easy to understand from the perspective of youth media. Therefore, young people all over the world saw it as a compelling story that has to be shared with friends and loved ones. Although it appealed to the youth of this generation, the warm response to the documentary is also due in large part to the major themes explored in the film. The audience all over the world saw a gripping story of how a tyrant terrorized Egyptians and how protesters overcame insurmountable odds to compel Mubarak to step down as president.
The filmmaker, the producer of the documentary, and the actors that were involved in creating The Square succeeded in using the documentary as a significant vehicle to enlighten the world regarding their struggle against an oppressive regime. The documentary trained the spotlight on the youth so that the world will know who were the heroes of the revolution. But more importantly, the film highlighted their desire to expose the continuing human rights violations in the country. To a certain extent, they were able to succeed in terms of accomplishing their human rights goals. The group behind the documentary achieved minimal success because they were able to tell their story about human rights issues in their country. On the other hand, they are far from accomplishing significant goals. At the end of the film, the signs of real democracy and freedom are not yet existent (Quataert 61). The country seems to be under martial law. Nevertheless, the group that created the documentary succeeded in awakening the conscience of the people and its leaders.
Conclusion
The documentary is an example of youth media that tells the story of courageous young people in the midst of a revolution. They created the film in order to provide a compelling narrative regarding Egypt’s struggle to achieve freedom and dignity. To a certain extent, they were successful in convincing ordinary people to listen to their clamor for freedom, justice, and dignity of life. At the end of the film, the main character verbalized the intended message of the film, and it was to awaken the conscience of leaders and ordinary people. Thus, they have accomplished what they intended to do.
Works Cited
Donnelly, Jack. Universal Human Rights in Theory and Practice. New York: Cornell University Press, 2013. Print.
Ghonim, Wael. Revolution 2.0: The Power of the People is Greater than the People in Power. New York: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company, 2012. Print.
Khalil, Ashraf. Liberation Square: Inside the Egyptian Revolution and the Rebirth of a Nation. New York: St. Martin’s Press, 2011. Print.
Noguera, Pedro. Beyond Resistance! Youth Activism and Community Change. New York: Taylor & Francis, 2006. Print.
Nunns, Alex & Nadia Idle. Tweets from Tahrir. New York: OR Books, 2011. Print.
Quataert, Jean. Advocating Dignity: Human Rights Mobilization in Global Politics. PA: University of Pennsylvania Press, 2009. Print.
Ruddock, Andy. Youth and Media. CA: Sage Publications, 2013. Print.
Yamauchi, Marina. New Media and Technology. New Jersey: Wiley & Sons, 2011. Print.