‘Don’t look up’

There has been a war going on between the scientific community and the movie critics regarding caliber of the movie

The title is plagiarised from the latest Netflix movie starring Leonardo DiCaprio and Jennifer Lawrence. Spoiler Alert: If you haven’t watched the movie yet then skip to the second paragraph of this article right now. The movie is about scientists finding a comet far away in space, which is hurtling toward earth bringing mass extinction.

There has been a war going on between the scientific community and the movie critics regarding the caliber of the movie. The critics have pointed to the mediocrity of the comedy and other aspects of the movie despite it being star-studded. The scientists, however, are saying that the entertainment value is a no-brainer to evaluate this movie. The most intellectually convincing comment came from Neil DeGrasse Tyson who said that the portrayal of the media, talk shows, and politics in Don’t Look Up makes it rather a documentary.

Let me delineate at the outset that I am neither a scientist nor a movie critic or analyst. And I find the movie exhilarating. Here is why: the movie does not talk much about climate change. It starts with a comet and ends with a comet. It is rather like an Apple ad from Steve Jobs days in that without showing the product it sells, it convinces the people of the idea behind the product.

The comet is a hint at climate change because climate change can bring the same mass extinction on earth that a comet or asteroid brought to dinosaurs. It is called the 5^th extinction. Climate change is not only hurtling toward us, its tentacles are very much here already. And just like in the movie where the scientists give a specific time period before which the world must act to deflect or destroy the comet if saving the planet was the goal, fighting climate change also must be done before that shrinking window shuts down forever. It is the 6^th extinction that we must prevent

The movie has beautifully touched upon not only the threat coming our way but also the denial campaign launched by many in power. There was a massive spin campaign in the media ridiculing the arguments of the scientists turning them into laughingstock for the wider audience, thereby discrediting their word. We can relate to that in real life. It has happened before and is happening right now.

There is the impeccable depiction of the politicians laser focused on approval ratings and the urgent shenanigans required for staying in power. For them, climate change is an unnecessary and unwanted issue, which yields them no benefit. Rather denying it provides benefits not only from the powerful and wealthy business elites but also from the misinformed public. Don’t Look Up becomes the slogan of those who are fooled by their politicians into not believing what they can view with the naked eye.

Speaking of the elite, someone has rightly compared the rich business entrepreneur in the movie to Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos and Mark Zuckerberg. It is an ironic example of the entrepreneurial truism that entrepreneurs must see opportunity in every threat or that true entrepreneurs are those who convert a threat into an opportunity. The entrepreneur in the movie also sees an opportunity to make more money from the comet. The names mentioned above and many others are trying to cash in on the climate change gold rush by investing in startups that claim to solve the climate problem by sucking carbon out of the air, burying the carbon deep underground, and so forth. The reason they are part of the problem rather than the solution is that their rhetoric helps delay action against the use of fossil fuel.

Lastly, the depiction of social media run amok was quite accurate too. We live in a world where humanity has evolved from reading words to watching pictures and enjoying memes. What’s worse is believing the lies and nonsense. Climate change is as real as the greed that caused it.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 2^nd, 2022.

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