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If a group of scientists and experts suddenly warns us about an upcoming catastrophic disaster with a 100% chance it will happen really soon, what will you do? As a non-expert, we can cross-check this information with other credible sources and eventually help them to raise awareness about the disaster, if we believe it’s true. Or we can mock them and make some memes if we think that their claims are too dramatic and filled with nonsense. As a policymaker or the government, we can consider this as an emergency and quickly plan steps to annihilate it. Or maybe we can sit tight and assess. The movie titled “Don’t Look Up” tried to describe this scenario in a fascinating way. Actually, it is more than that.
“Don’t Look Up”, a Netflix original movie directed by Adam McKay, is a comedy movie (I guess) that tells the story about two astronomers, played by Leonardo DiCaprio and Jennifer Lawrence, that warns the governments and the public about a comet that’s heading directly towards Earth which will cause a catastrophic disaster. You will witness the struggle in them while convincing people, let alone the government itself, to make a move to avoid this disaster. This movie does not only entertain people, but it also conveys a message. And that’s the best thing that it has.
The story is actually a metaphor for the current situation. Replace those “comets” with “climate change” and Bingo! This movie perfectly portrays how humans handle climate change. Even though experts have been warning us about the catastrophic disasters that may happen due to climate change, policymakers, governments, and officials acted so slowly. Conspiracies were spread. People couldn’t care less. And now, when the awareness of climate change is rising rapidly, there are people that are exploiting this issue for their own benefit, such as companies with their green-washing products or even politicians with their lip services to gain political advantage.
There are a couple of bizarre emotions that I felt when I was watching “Don’t Look Up”. The first quarter left me quite impressed since it is packed with a good number of humor while still conveying the sense of crisis due to the discovery of the upcoming disaster. As the movie progresses, we will witness how hard it is for those astronomers to convince everyone to do something before the danger arrives. The challenge to send the message through the media, the backlash that they receive. We will see how harsh the society is and how annoying the government treats them. It made me feel bad and made me think, “Is this really how we treat the experts and scientists on climate change issues?” Probably, yes. And damn, humanity is cruel.
If you just want entertainment, this movie is entertaining. But hey, it comes with a bonus: maybe you will want to reflect on what we’re doing on the climate change issues, how we’re progressing, and how this will end if we keep doing what we’re doing now. Honestly, I want to change. I want us to change, so we will not end up like what happened in "Don't Look Up". Let's hear what the experts say, raise awareness, and work together as one - as humans to battle climate change. We will not have or deserve a good ending if we don’t quickly do everything we can to avoid this danger. There’s no more time to sit tight and assess.
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