Don't look up.
NIKOTAVERNISE/NETFLIX
One of the most popular series ever, The Witcher, has been replaced by a new number one hit. Don't Look Up is a film that uses the power of actors with 50 Oscar nominations to draw in mass audiences over the holiday.
Adam McKay is a comic genius who has created a number of classics including Succession, Anchorman, and most recently Don't Look Up, which he is trying to send a message using the power of every star he has attracted to him.
I am not going to call the climate change message of Don't Look Up "political", as that's about as accurate as saying the movie's asteroid is "political", but that's kind of the main point. The story shows scientists Leonardo DiCaprio and Jennifer Lawrence growing frustrated as the government, the media and the public ignore their warnings that a giant comet is going to hit earth. That is kind of the point, I mean, I guess. Mass idiocy leads to death.
I think that calling this the Idiocracy of the modern era is too generous. Don't Look Up is more or less the same joke told over and over and over again for two hours, despite the stellar cast. Sometimes it doesn't make sense as satire.
It has been said that politicians only focus on the problem when it is politically expedient.
The tech industry is roasted as their profit-based solutions to the problem fail spectacularly.
Mark Rylance is an actor.
There is a service called Netflix.
The New York Times is dragged for not covering the issue past the bare minimum, and the media is roasted by a "Fun" news show hosted by Tyler Perry and Cate Blanchett.
Play Forbes Innovation full screen.
In the film, the public is roasted as a political message becomes "don't look up", a position that ignores science, and seems more relevant to the current Covid conspiracy.
Even the scientists are roasted as their character gets famous. If he is supposed to be Al Gore, it is a pretty brutal take down.
It is all the same joke. It is almost certainly too late to act on the unavoidable issue that will destroy the planet and kill millions, and everyone is ignoring science at their own peril. The points the film is making are correct. Climate change isn't given the attention it's due, and it is extremely late in the game to make any meaningful changes, but I feel like Idiocracy did a better job with a similar concept
The film is trying to convey a message that will fly over the heads of the people it is making fun of, which makes the whole experience a bit condescending from start to finish. It will be hard for those who are taking action, journalists or politicians who have tried to take meaningful steps on the issue, as it acts like no one is ever doing anything.
Don't look up.
There is a service called Netflix.
There are some good jokes here. The more goofier the movie gets, the more it works, but it is too long and makes the same point too many times. Dozens of times. The first meeting you see in the trailer is played on a loop for another two hours, and it only occasionally lands properly after that.
Is it worth a watch? Don't come away expecting anything much deeper, just for the star power alone. If you already know climate change is bad and science is good, you may enjoy seeing people who don't believe in it being made fun of. If you don't believe in science, you'll be mad at Hollywood liberals and they won't change your mind. You may just get through the whole thing without thinking about the allegory. Idiocracy and Ricky Gervais' The Invention of Lying remind me of the same thing, a brutal critique of organized religion that comes across as condescending and annoying even if you agree with the core message.
Follow me on social media. My weekly newsletter, God Rolls, is free to subscribe to.
Pick up my sci-fi novels.
