Madeline
Don’t Look Up is the end of the world movie on Netflix everyone is talking about. It takes a dark subject that could actually happen, but probably won’t, and puts it into context of the external factors that influence decisions made in politics, media, and corporations and how these decisions shape the world we live in. The movie then goes through a series of events to decide what to do about this comet.
The Premise of Don’t Look Up
It starts with Kate, played by Jennifer Lawrence, a student at Michigan State spotting a comet heading straight for earth. Her and her professor, Professor Mindy played by Leonardo DiCaprio, trying to convince the world to do something about it and understand that the end of the world is coming. But everything around them, including the public, cannot decide what to do to serve their own agendas.
The Politics
The one of the first people Kate and Professor Mindy attempt to convince to make a plan is the president of the United States, played by Meryl Streep. Because it is an election year, she is concerned that bringing the comet to light would hurt her numbers. For this reason she decides to “sit tight.” All decisions she makes from this point on is based on her political agenda.
The Media
The media is little help as well. Although it is their job to tell the public the news. But for them, the best solution of getting the word out is to make light of it. They make a villain of Kate and a hero of Professor Mindy as he is good for ratings. He becomes the celebrity that gets ratings and he becomes wrapped in that world and removed from his agenda to do something about the comet. They are more interested in talking about the newest celebrity drama rather than the end of the world.
The Corporations
The corporations are pretty quiet on the subject until they discover the comet has valuable resources that would make technology cheaper. The decision is then to mine the comet as it is coming towards earth. The decisions made and supported by the President are to get these valuable resources from the comet to use to manufacture devices.
Final Thoughts
Although the story is very fictional, the controversy is not. In real life, political decisions are made to generate votes. Media decisions are made for ratings and therefore cover non important topics. And corporations make decisions, not for the benefit of the greater good, but to benefit themselves and make money. It is a comedy that is unlike other comedy movies.
