It’s been one week since Smart Girls at the Party released their science video series starring comedian Megan Amram, and I’ve been trying to figure out why I felt so appalled by it. You can watch the episode below:
David Kroll from Forbes quoted my initial reaction to the piece:
For a site that’s empowering girls in STEM, this video is just plain awful. It isn’t funny, it’s not satire, and it’s reinforcing every bad stereotype about women. As a Caltech graduate, I’ve seen firsthand that Beverley McKeon is a world class mind, and to have her on in this capacity is insulting to her and to the girls you’re trying to reach.
Ultimately, the video was trying to do too much in too little time. Is it supposed to be a commentary on the state of society, or an educational video inspiring girls to love science? Because of that, here’s where I think it went wrong.
1. It wasn’t funny. The Stephen Colbert-esque humor works when you’re exposing the hypocrisy of the interviewee, or when you’re showing the “idiocy” of the interviewer. It’s a fine line to walk, and it took me a few viewings to see what they were trying to do. If your audience is aimed at girls and young women, then that nuanced message is going to be lost in the chaos of constantly being interrupted to talk about nail polish and biological clocks. (See what I mean?)
Side note: If you want to see how satire can be done right, watch Amy Schumer’s Last F**kable Day starring Tina Fey, Patricia Arquette, and Julia Louis-Dreyfus. (Caution, it’s slightly NSFW.)
2. It wasn’t teaching us anything. Smart Girls has at their disposal a captive audience of women and girls (and also boys) who already love science and want to be part of a supportive, empowering community. Capitalize on that! Actually show us how to build a potato clock, instead of just providing instructions in the text. This could be a great way to educate and inspire. I grew up watching Bill Nye the Science Guy. How great would it be to have world class female scientists and engineers come on to explain how to build a bottle rocket?
The episode’s first guest, Beverley McKeon, was one of my professors during graduate school. She is incredible. This was a missed opportunity to learn from someone at the top of their field.
3. Can we stop making fun of Harvard? Not in general, because there’s a lot to make fun of, but maybe when we’re encouraging girls to be the best, let’s not knock down the idea that going to a top-tier school makes you elitist and annoying. [Or, maybe we just stick to making fun of a more deserving school. Like Yale.]
Don’t get me wrong. Megan Amram is great, and I love Smart Girls at the Party. What they do is incredible, and the only reason I had such a negative reaction is that I had such high hopes for this series.
Crossing my fingers that the second installment will be much less cringe-worthy.
Party on.