I watched Don't Look Up on Christmas, and I thought it was a great movie. To clarify, it wasn't because of any particular acting performance. Rather...it was an allegory of what it is like to live in modern America. It was painful and enraging, because all of what the filmmakers are saying about Americans is completely true. If there was a comet that was going to strike the Earth and kill every human alive, we all know that the comet deniers and the capitalists would eventually win and we'd all go extinct. This is the tragedy of our species, and the show resonated with me so much because of that fact. It was hard to watch, and ultimately satisfying. However, I never thought it was going to be nominated for the Academy Awards or for Best Picture. But...here we are.
Directed by Adam McKay, Don't Look Up has an all-star cast. There's Leonardo DiCaprio and Jennifer Lawrence at the center of the story, acting as modern-day Cassandra's, trying to get anyone to listen to their message of doom and trying to get the government of the United States to do something... anything... to prevent global extinction. Meryl Streep plays a female President Trump, so wrapped up in her own narcissism that she's oblivious to the messaging that comes from scientists, instead turning to the head of a mega corporation (who also is a huge campaign donor) to find a solution to their problems. The biggest kick in the pants probably comes from a bunch of comet deniers in the movie, who are on board with allowing the comet to strike the earth because (after the initial destruction), there will be so many jobs for people because of the rich mineral resources that the comet contains. It's a perfect allegorical tale mirroring the selfishness, greed, and stupidity of a modern America.
Many who have seen Don't Look Up, say that the comet is an allegory for climate change. Scientists and other people who believe in their work have (for decades) advocated and engaged literally everyone else who will listen. However, half the people stick fingers in their ears and yell, "What about global cooling?" They blame windmills, obstruct progress out of concern for the coal lobby and the jobs that Nantucket whalers could lose if we try to transition to solar energy, and the list goes on and on. The fact of the matter is...the "raising awareness" part of climate change has already passed us by. The message has been beat into the ground. Those who got the message still get it today. They're the ones watching Don't Look Up. They congratulate each other on how smart they are, and this is how it probably got upvoted into the Best Picture nominees. Those who don't want to get the message aren't watching it, and they probably downvote the movie. This is why it's not going to win in that category at all. And meanwhile, not one thing changes regarding inevitable climate change.
Ultimately, Don't Look Up is about people who are optimistic, accomplishing things that seem like they should mark a turn-around, but they never do. This is how it is in our nation today. We elect the right people only for them to be ultimately powerless. We support local candidates only to find that they're outnumbered. We occupy three arms of government and nothing happens. We occupy two of the three arms of government now, and nothing's happening. Everything is stonewalled by one or two people. We look at all these big, terrible events that are clearly caused by climate change, and people shrug and either ignore it, deny it, or "whaddyagonnado?" it. So, nothing ever happens.
Don't Look Up is the Idiocracy of our generation. So here's a toast to the movie that got nominated for things at the Academy Awards that I never thought it should have been nominated for. And by extension, I also don't think it's going to win anything at all (and it doesn't really deserve to either). Why? Every behavior in the movie is far too close to our reality now that there are no surprises. It's not even funny, because the jokes are too real. It's unoriginal, because it is just a mirror of the actual "fun-house mirror" that our daily lives are in the United States. Congratulations, Netflix. You nailed us to the wall on this one, for all the fun that ended up being.
Personally, Don't Look Up does deserve to win in the category of Best Documentary. But what do I know?
It sounds like one of those Onion articles that's supposed to be satire but sadly is really true to life.
ReplyDeleteI'm so tired of being angry. I think that's why I can't see this movie. It's just too on the nose.
ReplyDeleteHave you read any of the big reviews for this movie? They were full of comments about how it's okay to "tell the truth," but you should make it entertaining for the viewer when you do and not scream and hit them in the face with it. Seriously, the reviews made me laugh in pain harder than the movie.
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