“We’re trying to tell you that the whole planet is about to be destroyed,” Ph.D student Kate Dibiasky (Jennifer Lawrence) tells morning TV presenters in the film “Don’t Look Up.” When one of the hosts, played by Cate Blanchett, retorts that they “keep the bad news light,” the scientist who has identified a comet headed for earth yells “we are all gonna fng die!”
Meanwhile, populist politicians and social media influencers are telling the world: “Don’t look up.”
The disaster comedy is a thinly disguised parable about the climate crisis, government failure to act, and the disaster comedy is Second-most viewedOriginal Netflix film, the most watched in a single week.
The film has divided critics, as well as public opinion. But it has inspired. broad discussionThis is not only about climate crisis, but also the best way for communicating urgency as the 2030 deadline to reduce emissions nears.
Jennifer Lawrence, Leonardo DiCaprio, and Rob Morgan play scientists in the Oval Office. They try vainly to convince the US President that the end is near.
A climate film that doesn’t focus on climate
For George Marshall, founder of UK-based climate communications think tank Climate Outreach, the star-studded satire raises climate crisis consciousness with a unique analogy that transcends our preconceptions on the issue.
He said, “It’s a movie that is clearly about Climate Change that isn’t about Climate Change.” “We know from a lot of research that talking about climate change will not trigger people’s preconceived notions and prejudices. [then]It is possible to deal with it.”
He describes a “moral complexity” around climate change and who is responsible for it that limits public engagement with the issue a phenomenon Marshall refers to as “collective silence” in his book, “Don’t Even Think About It: Why Our Brains Are Wired to Ignore Climate Change.”
This reticence also relates to the rise of climate denial and more polarized opinions on the issue, which one Study argues can be traced, in part, to social identity.
But the satirical, overblown metaphor of a comet heading to earth “gives it a clarity,” said Marshall of the challenge of communicating the growing scientific consensus on global heating. It’s a very clever vehicle.
Climate scientists can relate
Leonardo DiCaprio is the film’s more reserved astronaut and is one Hollywood’s most vocal climate advocates. But until now, he had never found the right big screen vehicle to advocate about his climate concerns.
He said, “I think we all saw this as an incredibly rare gift.” about the film written and directed by Adam McKay, who also helmed the “The Big Short,” a film about the events that led to the 2008 global economic crisis.
“We had been trying to get the message across about the climate crisis, and Adam really cracked that code with creating this narrative,” said he.
DiCaprio also wanted scientists as the central characters of the film. He said, “I wanted to give a tip of my hat to people who dedicate their lives to this topic, who know what it’s about.”
Climate scientist Peter Kalmus has been vocal in the media about his appreciation of the film, WritingIt “captures all the madness I see every morning.” Kalmus, who works with NASA, had been “screaming in the void for 15+ years and being largely ignored.” He felt “like I’d been seen” by the film.
The end of the world is a joke
But key to focusing attention on science was not the presentation of voluminous climate research but an outrageous comedic scenario.
George Marshall says that climate science reports or factual climate documentaries have often failed to excite the public imagination apart perhaps from Al Gore’s 2006 Oscar-winning climate film, “An Inconvenient Truth.”
He said, “It doesn’t work to hit people over their heads with scientific data.” This is evidenced by the increasing anti-science disinformation that is feeding climate denial, even at a time of growing academic consensus on the issue.
Ayana Elizabeth Johnson, a marine biologist and co-creator of the “How to Save a Planet” podcast, tweeted that “we just need WAY MORE entertaining climate content from Hollywood that helps us frame the problem and see the solutions. We need more humor and climate-related media.
Indeed, research shows that when late night show hosts use comedy to talk about climate it can help increase public engagement on the issue.
Michael E. Mann is a climatologist and author “The New Climate War.” Comparable the comedic approach of “Don’t Look Up” to Charlie Chaplin’s absurdist anti-fascist films like “The Dictator”, which changed perceptions of the threat from Hitler.
“McKay’s film succeeds not because it’s funny and entertaining; it’s serious sociopolitical commentary posing as comedy,” Mann wrote. “That’s what makes the medicine go down.
How to harness rising climate alarm
“Don’t look up” is also a touching message in a time of increasing anxiety and climate crisis alarm.
According to a September 20,21 StudyConcerning climate change views in the US, 33% respondents expressed alarm over the climate in the past year. This is a sharp rise that also indicates growing support for climate action. Recent UK pollingAlso, there are near-record levels concern about the climate.
Edward Maibach, co-author of the US study and director of George Mason University’s Center for Climate Change Communication in Washington DC, describes related research that suggests that “lots of people are willing to engage in civil disobedience to protect the climate.” He said that “few actually do” as suggested by the film “Don’t Look Up”.
It is possible to bridge the gap through mass entertainment, particularly comedy.
Maibach stated, “I hope Hollywood will make movies that feature relatable characters who engage civil disobedience in defense of the climate.” “The climate stories that inspire and teach people to take climate advocacy to the next level are the ones we most need,” Maibach said.
A metaphor for improving an imperfect climate
According to George Marshall, one problem with “Don’t Look Now’s” critique of climate politics is a heavy-handed parody of Donald Trump-like, science-denying populist politicians.
The president played by Meryl Streep and her chief of staff and son Jason Orlean (Jonah Hill) reject the immediate comet threat before manipulating it to their own political ends and those of an eccentric big tech donor who wants not to deflect the asteroid from its collision course, but to mine it for rare earth materials.
Meryl Streep plays Janie Orlean as president. “Don’t Look up,” she tells voters, who are becoming concerned about a possible comet hitting the earth.
But when Hollywood liberals like Streep and DiCaprio are seen to mock the conservative response to climate change, it alienates some and “misrepresents” the complexity of the problem, said Marshall.
He believes that a president “much more like Obama” would have shown there is inaction across the political spectrum.
Trump’s successor, Joe Biden (avowedly proclimate Democrat), has resumed his duties. Oil and gas drilling permits being issued in his first year of office including on the eve of the UN climate conference in Glasgow.
The film’s depiction of mass action as futile, especially at its dark end, may be a hindrance to its ability to inspire climate activism.
Climate communicator Edward Maibach wants instead to see empowering climate films. He said, “I hope for movies that show positive future results, and how they are created.”
Edited by Jennifer Collins
