Using Satire to Communicate a Big Idea: Lessons From The Barbie Movie

I am writing about Barbie the movie. I didn't think I would.

Don't get me wrong. I loved the movie and its intent. I read interviews from Great Gerwig before the movie's launch so I knew what to expect.

Why am I writing about it? Because I notice many people don't get the satirical world that was built.

Wait, Kathy, it's satire? Yes. AND....satire is a powerful communication device. And also, yes, it can be misunderstood. As a trained sketch comedian, improviser and stand-up as well as woman who led comms, marketing and story teams in tech for years, I have some thoughts here.

Yes, it's Satire

Yes, the movie builds a world that is flipping the status quo. It's said that satire is the comedy of outrage...meaning when we want to draw attention to what's broken, we often use a role reversal to flip that world. Why? Because it is an effective device for showing the cracks in our world.

It's a solid, effective comedic device for big ideas. I know some people missed it. It's ok. They took it too seriously as if the movie was saying women should run everything.

That was not the point.

The point was to show people how silly and busted the real world is when things are so lacking in equity. Feel uncomfortable with the Barbie world? Good. Lock that in.

It's how many WOMEN feel. That was really the point - to show extremes because that is what the status quo has often been.

How it works as a communication device

Contrary to how some folks think, the movie is not advocating a "this is how it should be" (women running everything) lens. It's not prescriptive or saying how the world SHOULD be.

Satire flips the status quo, what we call a role or status reversal, to show people or, rather, make them FEEL differently, by reimagining a world where the opposite is true: in Barbie's World, what if women ran everything? How would men feel? Many men got the message.

The flipping of the status quo is only a comedic way to heighten and demonstrate how out of balance the current status quo is with men running everything.

ONE KEY to effective satire: Showing the busted status quo by flipping it.

In other words, Greta Gerwig isn't saying women SHOULD run everything. Rather, it's a device to get people to understand and have empathy for what women deal with everyday...

It's a "what if women ran the world, how would men feel?"

ANOTHER key to effective satire: heighten it so it's more clear that we're emphasizing how out of proportion everything with the status quo by making the opposite world over the top, too...

THAT was the point and that patriarchy hurts all people, regardless of gender. And using Barbie - the 'picture perfect' image - to show how imperfect and hard it is was perfect because it showed us how expectations were so out of whack. The moral: we need a world that is more balanced.

Finally, with satire that works especially in advocating a better way...it needs to be clear that the status quo is busted and that there is a better way FORWARD that is not at extremes. By the end of the movie, we see that a world where one gender dominates is out of proportion and we need balance and equity.

Not all satire does this. The Onion, for example, doesn't resolve it because it's The Onion and we know it's satire. So if you are using satire in business to show an opposite world that also lacks perfection, you may need to sew that up for your audience so they get that opposite is not necessarily idea either - though it's a device for showing how out of whack the status quo is.

Ending on a note of harmony and balance IS a powerful statement and that's the balance that using satire for business can and should achieve.

Because otherwise, we risk that people won't understand satire as a comedic device for highlighting a broken status quo.

I have heard from many friends - especially men - how that opposite world made them feel AND also how they FINALLY began to understand how women feel every day. AND that kind of empathy is the point to any effective role reversal. The opposite extreme as heightening is equally not ideal. And the movie was NOT saying this is ideal either. It was ONLY trying to show people how out of whack the status quo is.

LEARNING: Imagine an opposite world for your status quo. It's probably also an extreme - and that is the point. It's a great comedic device for highlighting what's wrong with any status quo. It's NOT prescriptive.

LEARNING: ultimately, your goal is to build empathy with an opposite world and then, resolve it to show a better, balanced way forward.

Q: What do you think? How can you use satire in your communications?