It deserves respect as a provocative film about our inability to deal with the threat of climate change.
The targets are all the forces opposing action: deceptive political leaders more concerned about the upcoming election than an extinction event; their cynical and selfish staff and officials; those media organizations that are more interested in easy entertainment than in the truth; and the social media moguls who only feign interest in the common good.
Do not seek is fueled by fury over the long-term lack of decisive action and contempt for science. Change the accents and there are equivalent characters – with the possible exception of the selfish tech billionaire – much closer to you.
“Speaking as a climatologist doing all I can to wake people up and prevent destruction of the planet, this is (…) in The Guardian. “The scientists [in the movie] are essentially alone with this knowledge, ignored and brought to light by society. The panic and despair they feel reflects the panic and despair that many climate scientists feel. “
Kalmus details the grim political response in the United States: “We live in a society in which, despite an extraordinarily clear, present and worsening climate danger, more than half of Republican members of Congress still say that climate change is a hoax and many others wish to block action, and in which the official platform of the Democratic Party still devotes massive subsidies to the fossil fuel industry.
In the face of all this, what perhaps matters is to bring rage to the page, to throw stars and to make a large comedy – urgent and scary – that shakes the cage. Make people talk.
And in the midst of a pandemic that has seen politicians routinely dismiss the views of scientists and health officials, it’s satire that seems almost too close to reality.
“McKay’s work with DiCaprio is particularly memorable, in part because Dr. Mindy’s trajectory – from an honest and concerned scientist to a flippant, star-studded celebrity – reinforces the film’s heartbreaking and unspeakable truth: human narcissism and all that. that he caused, including the destruction of nature, to finally be our downfall, ”writes Manohla Dargis in The New York Times. “At the end of the day, McKay doesn’t do much more in this movie than yell at us, but we deserve it.”
Ignore Science: Jonah Hill, Leonardo DiCaprio as Professor of Astronomy and Jennifer Lawrence as PhD Student with Meryl Streep as President of the United States and Jonah Hill as Son and Chief of Staff of Don’t Look Up.Credit:Netflix
Can a film change the world?
In 1983, The next day confronted a record television audience with the terrible consequences of nuclear war. US President Ronald Reagan wrote in his diary that he had changed his mind about nuclear policy. Four years later, he signed a treaty with Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev to reduce their nuclear arsenals.
After the frustrations of the Glasgow climate change conference last year, it’s too much to ask that Do not seek will have a similar impact on this generation of leaders. But you have to admire a Hollywood filmmaker who thinks it’s worth it.
