As a graduate student studying climate change, I was genuinely thrilled for the cathartic release that the trailer for the satirical saga Don’t Look Up might give me. The movie is about a cataclysmic event that doesn’t garner the attention it deserves - it could easily be about climate change or even COVID, but it’s not. And, I was looking forward to the distance and levity this movie might bring.
Written and directed by Adam McKay (who was behind two other movies I deeply enjoyed, The Big Short and Step Brothers), the movie follows PhD Candidate Kate Dibiasky (Jennifer Lawrence) and Professor Randall Mindy (Leanardo DiCaprio) and their consistently failing attempts to raise awareness about a comet that could wipe out all life on earth in six months’ time. Despite support from a level-headed administrator from NASA’s Planetary Defense Coordination Office (Rob Morgan), their interactions with the media (Himesh Patel, Tyler Perry, Cate Blanchett), the White House (Meryl Streep, Jonah Hill), and a tech executive (Mark Rylance) do not result in effective action from these parties governed by their own interests.
Where The Parallels Lie
Scientists Not Being Taken Seriously
The first part of the movie deals with Dibiasky and Mindy trying to inform the president about the inevitable comet collision (the president decides to “sit tight” until the Ivy League-trained scientists on staff can “assess” the situation), and then the public via a morning talkshow (during which the hosts downplay the severity of the situation). In fact, Dibiasky is eventually relegated to an alarmist meme, while Mindy is elevated to National Science Advisor and is credited with discovering the comet (even though the comet bear’s Dibiasky’s name). But his position has no teeth, and his reservations are never taken seriously. During this moment, I was reminded of scientists trying to provide direction on COVID and climate change, whose efforts to steward effective policy were quashed by political motivations. Indeed, the fictional White House only changed course on deflecting the comet after it became politically convenient for them.
Reliance On Technology To Solve The Problem
There is a moment where it seems a strategy is in place to prevent the comet from colliding with earth, but the operation is aborted when Peter Isherwell (a tech executive played by Rylance that seems to be an amalgamation of Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos, Mark Zuckerburg, and Steve Jobs) believes there is a way to both demolish the comet and profit from it at the same time using untested technology. This plot point is built off the many attempts to profit from the climate crisis and COVID, be it unproven geo-engineering efforts or fake N95 masks. It was still maddening to see a fictional wealthy person choose to experiment with technology that could make them even wealthier at the expense of literally everyone on the planet. And, the movie also hints that rich/powerful people have an escape hatch if the experiment doesn’t succeed.
Waiting Until It’s Too Late To Do Something
Even though the White House was notified the moment it became clear that a comet was headed towards earth, the president chose not to take action. And, even though the scientists went to an esteemed publication and then on a popular TV show to raise awareness, their attempts were diluted by efforts to “keep things light”. Also, the slow uptake is not all that surprising — numerous studies on climate communication suggest that ‘doomerism’ is not an effective way to mobilize people. And, that is exactly what we see, both in the fictional world on the verge of collapse, and in our own. We are well past the time when we could have quashed COVID, and we are now seeing changes in quarantine guidelines for healthcare workers because the end is nowhere in sight. Additionally, there are still very few aggressive actions being taken to address the climate crisis, which is particularly disappointing given that we are in the last decade we have to curb catastrophic climate change.
Where The Catharsis Was
Kate Dibiasky
Seeing Lawrence’s Dibiasky be self-assured and have agency, while also feeling deeply emotional about the negligence of people in positions of power was perhaps my favorite aspect of this movie. Her status as a junior-level scientist (and a woman, I presume, though misogyny is never referenced) preclude her from participating in the higher-level negotiations that DiCaprio’s Mindy was privy to, despite this comet being Dibiasky’s discovery. Her character also experiences a couple of meltdowns because she is frustrated with the glib way the media treats this issue and that the solutions are motivated by self-interested parties. While the fallout from these outbursts aren’t exactly ideal, they definitely hit close to home — after all, scientists have long been deemed alarmists for suggesting that climate change could be world-altering. And doctors sharing the reality of being part of the healthcare system during this pandemic have been accused of fear-mongering.
(Part of) The Ending
While I don’t want to spoil the ending, I will say that watching characters be in community with one another was endearing. As someone who struggles with climate grief, being able to forge into the fear with others by my side fills me with relief and gratitude. And, if our lives do become more difficult, we will have to learn to rely on one another to get through. At one point, DiCaprio’s Mindy is in a commercial for a hotline that soothes callers’ concerns that is merely a political ploy to falsely assuage callers’ legitimate concerns. However, a government-funded crisis line could, in fact, be a fantastic resource for navigating climate change from both a practical and emotional perspective.
Where I Wanted More
The Players
Given that Don’t Look Up is the number one Netflix movie in every country, I was surprised that this movie was extremely U.S.-centric (with a predominantly white cast). There are brief nods to scientists in other countries and an international coalition attempting to destroy the comet without the U.S. But, for a climate change allegory, the disproportionate impacts of climate change on developing countries, poor communities, and people of color were not touched upon (other than maybe a running gag about overpriced shovels) and should be depicted. For a problem that requires collective action (be it comet or COVID or climate change), there needs to be more discussion about how to protect the most vulnerable members of the population.
The Solution
While I fully appreciate the movie’s criticisms of selfish politicians, glib media engagement, and malicious tech giants, I do wish there had been more probing of how minds can change. The role of these three groups in allowing the climate crisis to proceed have been discussed at length, and I’m not sure this movie added anything new to that conversation other than showing how they synergistically exacerbate the situation.
Fundamentally, I am disappointed that there were no consequences for the bad actors that the people victimized by their negligence could witness. And, I don’t like that there is room for some people to walk away with the idea that tech companies may provide a way out without cleaning up a mess that they are responsible for.
On Twitter, McKay reminded people that there are obvious solutions to climate change, something the movie’s characters didn’t have access to. But, what is still disheartening — and what the movie didn’t give me respite from — is that there were no efforts to right the wrongs. Again, I believe there are merits to the path the movie took, but I would appreciate a peek at what a truly just transition looks like, where the wrong-doers are held fully accountable and our trajectory is reversed while acknowledging that there will still be suffering.
#News | https://sciencespies.com/news/how-this-climate-scientist-felt-after-watching-dont-look-up/
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