Don’t Look Up: A Satirical Take On Climate Apocalypse
It is no laughing matter when it comes to the apocalypse of the world, and we have had so many movies on apocalyptic battles. Don’t Look Up is a savagely made satire on one such battle, but here it isn’t with the aliens, but is with a group of illogically enhanced and agenda-driven individuals who believe that the end of the world is indeed a laughing matter.
With the social and political commentary on the current state of administrative decision making, and the ignorance of the people on the very things that need our immediate attention to, Adam McKay hits the nail on its head with an appalling accuracy, yet it is scary to admit that all that’s shown in the movie could happen or is being happening to us, and we are not doing anything about it.
The movie has a funny take on the inability of people at the highest order to comprehend and act upon an Earth-killing global catastrophe, and there is no way a mere group of scientists could deflect it to a nearby planet. The scientists are being considered as just “math guys” and aren’t being taken too seriously just because they do not have media training to handle press conferences and interviews. The media trained people always seem to deliver “real” stories to the audience, how it’s always breaking news but the news isn’t always groundbreaking. There is a sugarcoated delivery of every news that makes things seem less serious and more fun. And, the entrepreneurs who are technologically and financially rich are the ones that are given utmost importance, but at the end of the day, they do have a personal agenda, don’t they?
The administrators are very well aware of how gullible people are, and how short-lived people’s memory is just like how short-lived your laugh (or your happiness) is when you see “funny” viral memes, comments or cat videos. We, by default, make ourselves stay out of the loop regarding any earth-shattering information because they know that we don’t really care enough, just not yet. And when we do care, it would be too late for us to realise that we are the only ones at the receiving end.
The comet here in the movie metaphorically points towards Climate Change, and how the world is being ignorant about it. Not to blame the people alone, but the Government behaves as if the danger isn’t imminent, hence there isn’t an immediate response needed for it. Little do they know, that Climate Change is affecting us all little by little, and it will eventually be big enough for us to realise that it’s already too late.
More I think about “Don’t Look Up” to comment on the cast and the performance, it’s becoming more and more difficult for me to see it as just a movie. It’s more than just a movie, it’s the harsh reality that is happening right now, if not would eventually happen to us once the “comet” is visibly close to our eyes. The scientists have already seen the comet, it’s just a matter of time that we see it too.
However, to comment on the cast and performance for the sake of completeness, with such an ensemble cast of Leonardo DiCaprio, Jennifer Lawrence, Meryl Streep, Cate Blanchett (and there’s more), do you expect anything less than a masterpiece at all? Leonardo DiCaprio and Jennifer Lawrence as scientists are realistically terrific, and so are Meryl Streep and Jonah Hill as agenda driven US President and Chief of Staff respectively. Cate Blanchett as TV News Anchor is cunningly brilliant as well.
Don’t Look Up is creatively brilliant and funny, weirdly terrifying and frightening at the same time, a scary depiction of the current state of affairs in the world on an imminent danger that is frowned upon and less talked about.
Don’t Look Up is streaming on Netflix. Watch it before the Comet hits the Earth.
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