Link for context:
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Don%27t_Look_Up
Don’t Look Up has been referenced a lot lately. Just the phrase too. Specifically I saw a Fox News Pundit say not to look up at the people saying the sky is falling around the tariffs.
The film Don’t Look Up is a commentary on climate change but when it came out around the pandemic it was hard not to make comparisons.
Biggest change I’d make is that towards the end the political movement that says “Don’t Look Up” looks up and sees the comet that is going to destroy the Earth. They all Talley against their Trump coded politicians when they realize the comet is real. But after COVID I feel like the reality would be people not admitting that it’ll hit us
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The following is a copy of the original post to record the post as it was originally written.
Link for context:
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Don%27t_Look_Up
Don’t Look Up has been referenced a lot lately. Just the phrase too. Specifically I saw a Fox News Pundit say not to look up at the people saying the sky is falling around the tariffs.
The film Don’t Look Up is a commentary on climate change but when it came out around the pandemic it was hard not to make comparisons.
Biggest change I’d make is that towards the end the political movement that says “Don’t Look Up” looks up and sees the comet that is going to destroy the Earth. They all Talley against their Trump coded politicians when they realize the comet is real. But after COVID I feel like the reality would be people not admitting that it’ll hit us
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Collapse won’t be a singular event.
What’s coming our way will be more “Children of Men” than “Don’t Look Up”: a slow, progressive, loss of various things we took for granted.
I actually wouldn’t change anything about the movie. I think it’s pretty highly effective at telling the message that it set out to tell. The fact that people refuse to look up all the way the end is what makes the story so tragic.
I am not someone skilled enough to do this, but I think the movie would have benefited either from a lot from a little more subtlety, or leaning harder into the absurdity. To me it existed in this kind of weird middle ground that was worse than going in either direction. (Something like planet of the Apes would be an example of the first and Crank would be an example of the second).
I didn’t think it was funny, but “be funny” isn’t a change to the plot. I guess 3 changes I would make are:
Not really a plot change, just some additional coverage. There would be a point in the movie – possibly late into the film – where they show a few of the more sensible or educated people (like the two talk show hosts who were basically mocking the scientist guest, trying to bleed the subject matter for entertainment value) sitting at the foot of their bed, watching the news before bed, or, standing there a few moments before walking out on stage, and they have this epiphany: a stone-cold, terrified look dons their face when they experience a moment of conscience and truth; that this is real…. and that they are proponents of the problem, and are paid circus clowns, sacrificing their dignity for the almighty dollar, and that it all may actually no longer matter, given the gravity of the circumstances they’re coming to grips with. It’s a moment of truth.
But then they frustratingly put their game face on, swallow their pride (again), literally swallow (nervous gulp), wipe away a tear that began to form in their eye, take a deep breath, tuck that self-loathing down at the bottom of their soul, and proceed to proudly go out [to their stage, desk, podium, etc.] and parrot & act out the same bullshit as normal with a big smile. /end scene
I think more people than we’re aware of actually know or realized at some point what’s going on clearly… yet repeatedly put their game face on for whatever reasons and interests, and proceed to play their role in the “game” anyway. Some have guilty consciences they stuff down, and it turns into explosive anger, while others let it become implosive anger, exacerbating the problems… while others have no conscience at all.
I hated that movie. Peak “Le Reddit” pseudo-intellectualism.
It spent most of its time shitting on celebrities and pop culture around celebrities. Look at the actual time distribution of the movie, it spent way more time on the celebrity stuff than on anything else. How did celebrities, and in particular the female celebrity played by Ariana Grande, become the scapegoats for climate change? “People aren’t focusing on climate change because they’re too busy with celebrity drama” is not a valid statement. It’s “Le masses are busy with le bread and circuses unlike me” pseudo-intellectualism. Republicans are the reason we’re not doing more against climate change. It has nothing to do with… preoccupation with celebrities?
When that movie came out, tons of conservatives especially on Reddit saw the female president as a stand-in for Hillary Clinton, not Trump. Many people saw her as “a mix of Hillary and Trump.” Yes I know the president made a few right-coded remarks, still not good enough.
The movie implicitly promoted “both sides bad” enlightened centrism. In real life, Democrats do take climate change seriously and Biden made the largest climate action investment in history. Only one side denies anthropogenic climate change and refuses to act against it. So where was the half of the government that took the asteroid seriously, believed the scientists, and wanted to act appropriately? Their absence implies they don’t exist in the movie’s universe. It’s no wonder centrists and Republicans were able to enjoy this movie when it came out, when all this movie does is vaguely criticize “Da gubbermint” and “Muh coreperations.” It’s enlightened centrist garbage.
This movie was absolute garbage and had no message beyond “Government is corrupt/incompetent” and “Young female celebrity bad/stupid.” They didn’t dare grow a pair and call out by name the people who hold all of the responsibility for the lack of climate action, the Republican Party. That would have “alienated half the viewers.” Maybe those viewers do deserve to be alienated and scolded by a film that’s supposed to denigrate opponents of climate action? Nah let’s all join hands and relentlessly mock the real bad guys here, stupid people with who are interested in celebrity drama.