Don’t Look Up, the hilarious and sobering star-studded movie about two scientists trying in vain to warn humankind of a huge comet hurtling towards Earth, takes political satire into new territory: climate change. The asteroid is an obvious metaphor for runaway anthropogenic global warming, and the astronomers’ failure to convince the world to take decisive action has clear parallels with the scientific community’s struggles against climate denialism. But the film irks for several reasons.
Don’t Look Up is highly entertaining. The combination of existential fear with meme-era humour (plus some stellar A-list performances) makes for compelling viewing. The film skewers the polarisation, superficiality, vanity and cynicism that pollute the collective discourse.
Blockbuster comedies are not supposed to be taken too seriously. But Don’t Look Up is a comedic vessel for a serious message: that we have lost the ability to talk coherently about climate change, which is undermining a coherent re…
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