THE YES MEN
The Yes Men
This movie kind of blew my mind. First in the actions of the Yes Men, and the fact that they were able to do what they did. Second, the reaction, or lack thereof, from the people who attended the events they spoke at. It the apathy and disconnect that these people had to the issues that he Yes Men were trying to shed light on, was baffling. I’m thinking of the people in the audience that saw their ridiculous presentations as ‘refreshing’. Or the people who had legitimate questions about their presentations. People who did not even realize the fact that they were being mocked.
It was also interesting to see the reaction of the Yes Men themselves to these event happening. To see them disappointed by the way that people responded to their plans, or work. This made me think the role of a designer, and how they are impacted by how their designs are received by the public. I think it is easy to really get behind an idea you think is great, and then become blind to the idea that people who view the design wont necessarily see it the way you do. It is impossible, I think, to not have some kind of expectation of how your work will be received. When you put a lot of time, energy or heart into something, you want it to go over well. I don’t think people design things that they hope people will hate. I found it thought-provoking that these guys tried multiple approaches to get their point across, but nothing they tried seemed to work the way they had hoped. They were clearly frustrated.
This is why I think that feedback and reiteration extremely important steps in the design process. Obviously, the Yes Men didn’t really have a platform for their ideas to be critiqued, tested out on people, and then refined for later use. They did have the option to do research into how people will react to a burning-hair-scented flesh candle.
The Yes Men created events that would have really affected them if they were in the viewer’s place. They failed to understand just how incredibly different their perspectives are than the people they were catering their work to. The people who witnessed their stunts were most often people who earned their livelihood because of how things currently operated, so it would (kind of) make sense that they would not see the ridiculousness of a ‘product’ being pitched. They are used to products that enable the system they are a part of.
This documentary raised two things for me, in terms of design. One is that you need to really know your audience, and your work may not be received as you would have hoped.
