Director Adam McKay’s climate satire don’t look up is not subtle. Hair is big, the parody is clear, aiming plentiful in the form of its star-studded cast—and the planet is about to explode. The whole enterprise is a monument to desperation, which may explain why environmental scientists have warmed to the film more than film critics. Whether through the missteps of the protagonist or the filmmaker, it also provides a lesson on the real challenge of spreading the word about the need for urgent global action against climate change.
The story of this Netflix dark comedy is simple: a PhD student (Jennifer Lawrence) and a timid astronomy professor (Leonardo DiCaprio) spot a giant comet that’s about to hit Earth in less than six months. Everyone will die. Still, they can’t convince anyone, least of all the populist American president, played by Meryl Streep, to take the right action. The media is very distracted and [business] One just wants to make money once the rare clay and minerals are found in the rock.
The film fixes a few things. It captures the difficulty of conveying a message so overwhelming to our imaginations that it often triggers not action, but indifference or despair—like it does onscreen. So much rush in film is a daily reality for those working in climate policy. People really only hear what they want to hear, like when Streep’s president hangs up on the news that the comet’s certainty is less than 100% — “call it 70% and move on” — sitting across the room. Ignoring the scientists. The film portrays the siren call of unproven ‘win-win’ techniques and the toxicity of both sides. As in real life, the battle between researchers and political and economic interests is asymmetrical.
There’s also a lot to criticize in a film that spends so much time getting angry. For one, the metaphor is very simple. Global warming isn’t a lone, driverless comet hitting us all. The threat of global warming is widespread, and there is concern for its very unpredictability; Also, entire industries are accelerating it. Climate disaster is also not an equal opportunity killer.
When it comes to climate messaging, heroes fall into a lot of traps. At one point, the film suggests that the failure of scientists to light-hearted chat shows is evidence of society’s ignorance – but it is as much a question of understanding audiences and human biases. No one fails to accept climate change because they are more concerned about celebrity breakups, as pictured. We struggle to understand climate realities that feel distant in time or space, or that are impossible to imagine. Overcoming that cognitive barrier doesn’t mean following DiCaprio’s advice to the scientist—”not too much math”—but it means making the message relevant, delivering it through a credible voice, and delivering it in local words. I have to prepare. We know it’s important to localize communication, and there’s ample evidence that familiar messengers, whether it’s community leaders or meteorologists linking extreme weather to global warming, can change minds, but this movie Those trying to convey the message in me do nothing.
The film never grants the general population—and even other countries—the agency. People respond better to events they can expect to affect, and if solutions are available. When it comes to global warming, that means outlining the problem, but then telling your audience that they have a role – as consumers, for example, and, most importantly, as voters. This is what turns awareness into action.
Mackey’s Don’t Look Up won’t convince anyone on the fence, in the least not because of his lack of empathy. With its black-and-white villains, the story treats cynics and skeptics condescendingly, whether it’s a public distracted by social media, journalists chasing net clicks, or Lawrence’s parents in Michigan, who say that They’re for “the jobs that comet will produce”, but don’t get sympathy when it comes to changing minds as hectoring is rarely effective.
But that was not really the case. There is certainly something ridiculous about the public’s response to global warming. People are connecting to the film as a result, and that matters, as Tom Brooks at the Global Strategic Communications Council, a network of public relations experts focused on climate, told me. This may only touch those who are already concerned, but as he said, that is now the overwhelming majority of the world’s population—and a vast and diverse group in need of galvanizing.
There is far better climate fiction. There’s better satire and better comedy, some of which are directed by McKay himself. But Do Not Look Up has millions of people talking about our climate and is now the most-watched Netflix movie in dozens of countries. Can A-listers be reliable messengers and bridge the gap between awareness and action? This is another question entirely.
Clara Ferreira Marx is a Bloomberg Opinion columnist covering commodities and environmental, social and governance issues.
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