This post is not going to be movie critique or a review. Thus it will have all the spoilers about the movie, Don't Look Up. I have watched it twice. First one was for fun, the second was to take notes. The movie is awesome. There are lots of small details i have realized and there are lots of lessons to learn from the script. So in this post, first i want to write my thoughts about the movie. Then for the real part, i want to look at our world and choices and consequences through the messages in this movie. I would strongly suggest you to watch it first (on Netflix) and then sit tight and read this post :)
The movie is basically an end of the world apocalyptic comedy. Some people may not find it much amusing but the plot goes like this: Two scientists discover a big comet racing towards the earth and realize it will literally be the end of the human civilization. As usual they check the data with colleague and after assuring that the data checks outs, they go to president and press and the story begins. Nobody takes them seriously and then politics gets involved and a big enterprise company owner billionare interferes to extract the valuable material from the comet and that plan goes all wrong and the comet hits the earth despite all the effort of the two scientists. Remember this chain of events, we'll get back to this. The real message here is the process of all these events. It has a very humouristic approach to politics, political agendas and politicians.
The cast is huge. It has Leo DiCaprio and Jennifer Lawrence as the scientists, Meryl Streep as the president, Cate Blanchett and Tyler Perry as the media and even Ariana Grande as the popular singer, which is the hot topic of the day. Meryl Streep is doing an awesome job portraying the carefree president who is only concerned about her own career, literally more than the end of the world. The part about the media is spot on, the click rate is everything these days. The content doesn't get clicks, the clicks make the content. The rich entrepreneur walks in at the only time that people are taking the necessary steps. More reality causes more denial and bold blindness. Eventually, it all goes wrong and everybody loses, except a few selected.
To summarize, it says that the rich and powerful rule, rich and powerful screw it up, rich and powerful walk away. This much is enough to describe today's world but i'll come to that. Now it is time to see my small notes.
Of course you can find trivia about this movie on IMDB or Youtube. I have read some of the dialogs in the movie is improvisation and the director Adam Mckay liked it that way. You can see presidents book on the shelves in the oval office. In real life, there is really some sort of protocol to give these kinds of news to the president and to the public in USA. These are the ones i remember. But the list below is my points about the movie, some of them could even be unintentional or irrelevant.
The movie also has around 10 seconds of Sarah Silverman and i wish it was more :) I remember Seeking a Friend for the End of the World, which is another end of the world movie but not political. Coincidentally, Melanie Lynskey plays there too. Now let's digest the real messages in the movie.
Although the movie is fictional and comedic, it is emphasizing real threats and real problems. The oblivious politicians in the movie exist today. The media is not trying to reflect the truths. The people are not even trying to find the truth. We can't hear or listen to each other and it is all about the clicks these days. There are fake or fabricated problems we hear about a lot, there are real problems we tend to ignore. The movie basically explains the bottom line of what's wrong with humankind.
Also, remember how the story goes in the movie. The real working and concerned people are trying a thousand times harder to do things and say things. Therefore we are watching "science vs politics + ignorance" deathmatch here. Deathmatch is a pun i guess :) The story is mostly driven by greedy capitalism. Don't you see any resemblance with our world? Of course you can talk about what's wrong with money and power duo for hours, but that is another subject. I want to ask, what is our part in all this? What is society is doing? Some of the exaggerated behaviours of the society or politicians are partially spot on. I have summarized this phenomenon like 5-6 years ago.
Benumbed people. That's what is happening in our world. The governments are numbing people with their speeches and pretentious actions. Media covers what they want and how they want as usual. Some of us are numbed by prosperity and the resulting selfishness. Some of us are blinded by arrogance or insensibility and say "away from sight, away from mind". Some of us are numbed in the disguise or motivation of serving our country or a group. Some of us are only praying and expecting God to act on things. Some of us are hoping some good people would change the world. There are all sorts of ways of numbing people almost all around the world and this reminds me couple of questions: What kind of political view can reanimate this much people? Who has enough medicine against the drug lords (the people who supply these numbing phenomena) of the world? Who can urge these numb people to question the history of the world or the developed countries? Who can stop the massacre of the sacred values of people? Who can open those eyes blinded by money or greed or revenge? I have read a very meaningful word for this: We will be questioned for our wrongdoings, alongside with the rights that we didn't. And apparently these right things will require more than a group of people or a country...
The movie talks about a comet hitting the earth and it happens like once in a million years. But according to scientists, there is a much closer and definite catastrophe will happen if we continue living like this. They have studied the earth and atmosphere and gasses and pollution and realized that our industrialized world will be irreversibly hot within 12-15 years or so. That means more unpredictable and extreme weather all around the world. You can check out the article about global warming but i'm not going to talk about it here. You don't have to believe this study on the spot. The important thing is your effort to understand it. Because the real people are trying 1000 times harder than your effort to even read it.
There is a section called Summary for policymakers, to make it easier to understand by non-scientific community. But notice it says "policymakers". This literally means it is up to politicians to fix this. This literally means we might live the same script in the movie in real life. They should also have a section for "individual responsibilities" but let me tell you our role in all this. This situation can be corrected or avoided by the laws and regulations of the politicians THAT WE CHOOSE AND SUPPORT. This situation can be corrected or avoided more efficiently with the help of rich people WHO ARE DEPENDING ON (OR EXPLOITING) OUR WORK. So the question is: Are we responsible? Definitely yes.
Sooo the title... In the movie, all they had to do to realize there is something bad going on is to look up. I have realized there is even more than that. Look back and understand the history, look forward and see the future. They are not going to do it for us. And also as the scientist in the movie says "we need to be able to talk and hear things". WE need to communicate. WE need to act. WE need to question and care for others. Otherwise, as Jennifer Lawrence says "WE are all gonna f..ing die". See you at the next post.
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