The “Wicked Problem” of Child Soldier Media: Toward an Activist Anthropology of Film

Abstract

While child soldiers are not new to conflict, their use worldwide has escalated at an alarming rate in the last forty years. Media creators capture images, write books and articles, draw cartoon child soldier heroes, and produce documentaries and films about these children to bring attention to this issue. Most media products of child soldiers create some awareness but more often serve as archetypes in storytelling or as a vehicle to generate an alarm or showcase their misery. This study sought to understand representations of child soldiers in film through an anthropological lens. Data for this study included two child soldier films, ethnographic interviews with the directors of those films, and a focus group in which participants watched and responded to one of the films. The qualitative analysis tool chosen was thematic analysis focusing on critical realism. The themes of the two films are largely synchronized. The films, rich in signs in the form of icons, indexes, and symbols, created a layered and complex message and were understood by the focus group. The theme of life and death of the characters, for the directors, and for the focus group were powerful indications of the importance of this issue. The set and setting in both films created tone and understanding of the situation these children find themselves in and were powerful signifiers of the problem writ large. Both directors intentionally developed their characters, whether real or fictional, in a balanced way that was understood by the focus group and highlighted the problem of child soldiers for the focus group in a way they had not previously understood. While the message sent was the message received, neither director intended a call to action directly, and the focus group did not express that they knew how to help the children except to express their dismay. The study concludes that while a film about child soldiers can have a powerful, immediate impact, it may not create action.