Theres been a lot of talk about this film and my own thoughts have been pretty conflicted regarding how to weigh the good and bad aspects of it, and I think this critique does a good job at addressing a lot of the things ive had problems with the film, mainly its underlying liberal rhetoric and the shortcomings of its American-centric narratives. Dont get me wrong I think its a good film and all, but theres some very real limitations to its overall commentary that I think we all need to be thinking about seriously.
I liked it. I'm seeing folks dunk on it because it doesn't provide any useful call to action which is true. The protagonists just try to :vote: their way to salvation and they all die in the end. But, I think it serves as a perfect cautionary tale to radicalize folks without the film itself being too directly off-putting ideologically. I think the emotionality the actors put into the "We're fucked and that's scientific fact" could push those in the global north to take climate change more seriously. I think clips of "Don't look up" will circle youtube in the future similar to this one and ultimately serve to start paving the way towards more radicalization. Personally I think anything that says "hey, business as usual is fucked" brings folks one step closer to :back-to-me:. Imagine the potential of "Hey you know how they all die in the end? Imagine if in that one scene with the riot if they actually had overthrown the government. I wonder if they would have survived." Also, jennifer lawrence is hot and nihilist astrophysicist grad student deciding to makeout because "fuck it we're all gonna die" was a real vibe.