“Don’t Look Up” Is Just the Beginning

By Isabelle Falkin

Do movies allow us to escape from reality or do they represent it? Some films are obvious in their intent, while others are more complex. Of the movies released this year, Adam McKays “Don’t Look Up” had a clear effect of giving us a cathartic laugh while also providing a much needed wake up call. In his story, a team of scientists discover a comet that is headed straight towards earth, yet world leaders and the public hardly share in their panic. Despite the main character’s efforts, the comet strikes Earth at the projected time. Replace “comet” with “climate change” and the audience sees threads of our own world woven into the story, as well as the disastrous end they could bring to humanity.

Major actors such as Meryl Streep and Timothee Chalamet (names that helped the movie draw a historic 152 million views in a week on Netflix) play caricatures of the near-sighted politicians, infuriated scientists, flippant reporters, and self-interested entrepreneurs that we see in the news on a daily basis. This dark satire is a refreshing take on an apocalypse movie, and it definitely won’t be the last we see of its kind.

The International Panel on Climate Change is an organization that provides all the latest international data assessing climate impacts and future hazards, as well as potential mitigation and adaptation strategies. Their 2022 report states that we have twelve years to limit warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius until the effects are irreversible. Doing so would require reducing global emissions by 45%, a monumental effort that would require reinvention of infrastructure and economies throughout the world. Motivated by this urgency, Adam McKay wants his film to serve as a “kick in the pants” that will push people into action. But is there evidence of this since the movie’s release in December? A Pew Research Survey conducted in January 2022 estimated only 11% of Republicans, 65% of Democrats, and 42% of all US adults believe dealing with climate change should be a top priority for Congress and the president this year. This is a wider gap than in January 2021, when the same study estimated 14% of Republicans and 59% of Democrats believed climate action should be a top priority.

"Don't Look Up" may not have been the massive vehicle for change that McKay hoped it would be, but that doesn’t mean it lacks merit. The film's two main characters, PhD candidate Kate Dibiasky (played by Jennifer Lawrence) and professor Randal Mindy (played by Leonardo Dicaprio) are faced with the same variations of denial that climate scientists are forced to confront in their day to day lives. Before its release, McKay held an initial screening for a crowd of scientists who shared in relief as their struggle of communicating science was given a comedic light – a part of their lives that hasn’t been reflected on such a large set before.

Climate change is an existential crisis the likes of which humanity has never seen, yet storytelling on the big screen has only scratched the surface of climate narratives that need an audience. As we enter a critical period of action, we need to see Hollywood highlighting the real problems and players of climate change. These stories can help us find hope in the enormity of this struggle, hilarity in our disbelief, and unity in our potential for collective action. Even though “Don’t Look Up” is just a movie, it is the job of all of us to ensure it doesn’t become our reality.