I watched this movie last night with my husband and we really enjoyed it. From the start, it was captivating, oddly funny, funny in a human, relatable way and thought provoking. The premise of the movie is that two American scientists go about warning the world about an up and coming comet. It’s going to be roughly six months until this hits planet earth and destroys human civilisation.
Hardly anyone takes the scientists seriously. As reviews have suggested this echoes the Covid pandemic and the delay in our reaction in coming to terms with a relatively novel situation.
The American president is played by a youthful looking Meryl Streep (great cosmetic surgeon, if you know what I mean) and she behaves rather frivolously also. Her office is littered with framed photos of her with pop stars and celebrities. Her son is a juvenile Nepo baby played by Jonah Hill and gets on the nerves of the scientists. These are played by Leonardo DiCaprio and Jennifer Lawrence, both on stunning form.
In my opinion, DiCaprio should win an Oscar just for being cute. Not necessarily physically these days but he brings such a charisma to his roles. No wonder the young models are after him (couldn’t resist..never gets old..). His scientist, Dr Mindi, pretty much gets his platform because a horny news anchor (played wonderfully by Cate Blanchett, channeling a Megyn Kelly look) is interested in what he can do for her and her viewing figures. So, he speaks to the whole of America and beyond, about the seriousness of the comet situation. Meanwhile, fellow scientist, Kate Dibiasky (played by Jennifer Lawrence) is labelled as hysterical. Some reviewers have said that this points at sexism in the media and in scientific circles. I have a slightly different take.
So, Dr Mindi is called the hot scientist in the movie. He’s on magazine covers and becomes a celebrity. In my opinion this reflects reality, as even during and perhaps especially during testing times, people find comfort and happiness in indulging in their baser instincts. Like watching attractive people, as I’ve observed from comments on YouTube podcasts. It’s like a projection of people’s fantasies. With male podcast hosts and particularly high profile ones like Jordan Peterson or the younger Alex O Connor, their ideas and words are important and valuable but they also present a package. One that people like; smartly dressed, articulate, charismatic, intelligent which speaks to fellow men and women.
It reminds me of what my friends and I used to joke about at school and university. None of us ever embarked on even so much as a flirtation with the teacher. We were much too shy and it definitely worked out for the best as there are many issues like the age and power difference. However, we talked about it. The teacher/Professor-student storyline is a popular one in romantic fiction also, particularly when the student is in their twenties and older. Women are attracted to power and an intelligent man is a powerful one.
In Don’t Look Up, DiCaprio plays a rather geeky scientist but he’s also intelligent and is trying to protect the planet by warning people about the comet. So, he encapsulates the commanding and powerful authority figure. Kate Dibiasky (Jennifer Lawrence) is gorgeous but she’s not quite cool enough for the news anchors and the majority of the audience.
In a way it is kind of sexist that she’s been relegated to the side kick role next to Dr Mindi’s sort of face of the “pandemic.” However, it’s also down to preference and the package she presents. That’s kind of my red pilled - evolutionary psychology take on this.
I think Don’t Look Up is good at conveying realities of human nature though it does so in an exaggerated way, to make essentially a horrible premise (comet hitting the earth) oddly funny to watch. In some ways I was reminded of another movie with a similar premise but a different take, called Melancholia (directed by Lars Von Trier).
Finally, I’ll leave you with wiser words below.
“Some of the responses to the movie could have appeared in the movie itself."[69] Slavoj Žižek, writing in Compact, said "critics were displeased by the light tone of Don't Look Up!, claiming it trivializes the ultimate apocalypse. What really bothered these critics is the exact opposite: The film highlights trivialization that permeates not only the establishment, but even the protesters."[70]”
One thing to add which really I should have put in my main post, is the idea that this movie is really about global warming and climate change. Perhaps and I’m certainly aware of DiCaprio’s passion on this topic. Personally though, my husband included, we just enjoyed this movie as satire.