Symbolism in “Don’t Look Up”

A comet hits the Earth, we all die, and a tech guy and the United States president is responsible for it. This could easily be real.

With it’s star studded cast, this new Netflix production was one of the most anticipated movies of 2021. The movie was fiction, but at times it felt like watching a documentary. Here’s a quick look at the symbols and references to real life that you might have caught on while watching.

The Comet: Satirical Take on Global Warming

There isn’t an actual comet that is going to hit our planet (at least for now), but we have been living with a threat, just as terrifying as the comet called global warming for decades now. Just like the movie, this issue is swept under the rug by world leaders and conglomerates, even though scientists have been relentlessly stressing the urgency of this international issue.

The comet is a representative of our sad reality—people will always refuse to look up. For instance, while having the resources/technology to stop a comet from hitting Earth, the opportunity to mine valuable minerals from it will be more important than trying to prevent mass extinction. In 2022, the biggest technology, automative and fashion companies are continuing to demolish ecosystems, the wildlife, and allow global warming to slowly kill our planet. And no one is alarmed in the slightest bit, because they haven’t actually seen global warming in action. For people to fully acknowledge the reality of the climate crisis, they have to watch the planet go up in flames. After all, if it’s not a ‘me’ problem, then it’s never a ‘we’ problem.

Kate Dibiasky: Greta Thunberg?

Researchers, activists, individuals, and scientists are never taken seriously. Kate Dibiasky has the same problem. In the film, PhD student Dibiasky discovers a comet that is 99.78 percent going to hit the Earth in 6 months. You would expect government officials to be extremely terrified and alarmed by this development. Unfortunately, they couldn’t care less. “Okay, so it’s not a hundred percent.. Call it seventy percent, and let’s just, let’s just move on.” they say. Even the head of NASA says: “Well, let’s not be dramatic here.”

The reality of not being taken seriously and told by the president of the United States to “sit and assess” truly traumatizes Kate to the point where she has to scream “We are all going to f**king die!”

However, this backfires and results in the media portraying her as an erratic and deranged woman and turning her into the next viral meme. Some might call this dystopic but it actually happened a few years ago. Like Greta Thunberg, Dibiasky deeply cares about the world and isn’t afraid to speak her mind.

When Thunberg made her famous speech at the UN Summit she said: “How dare you. You have stolen my dreams, and my childhood with your empty words” These exact lines were severely criticized. Instead of trying to understand where her righteous anger came from, world leaders mocked her, the internet made fun of her disabilities, age and gender. That’s as far as you can get while trying to fight for your truth in this age.

Peter Isherwell: Tech Giants

There are only a few people controlling the world and pulling the strings. Petrol companies like Exxon Mobil, Saudi Aramco or food companies like Nestle and Pepsico. These are the companies that worsen climate change. However, in the past decades there has been a major shift in the field that is the most dominant out of all: Tech companies. Amazon, Apple, and Tesla for example. Getting stronger and richer everday, they have the world wrapped around their fingers. They know, see and hear everything. Very much like the “Big Brother” I might have to say.

Unlike any other corporations, tech companies are the representatives of the future. Always developing, innovating and elevating. But what happens when innovation goes wrong? The answer to this question would be ‘billionaires in space’

Jeff Bezos was the first billionaire to go to space. Elon Musk has revolutionized space technology with Space X, with hundreds of launches over the last 12 years. This shows that we have reached a new level of capitalism where tech giants have become so powerful that they are becoming more autonomous than national space programs. If a comet actually hits Earth one day, the billionaires will be the ones deciding what to do with it or how to run away from it.

That’s exactly what happened in the movie.

Peter Isherwell, the founder of BASH technologies was a successful tech giant who sold people dreams and ‘the ideal’ He gained popular interest with this artificial intelligence technology from the public because of his ‘innovation’ and ‘creativity’ He also gained the interest of President Orlean when he showed her the perfect plan on how to deal with comet Dibiasky.

He presents a hologram of the asteroid dismantling robots in which everything works exactly as intended and backs up his work by name-dropping accomplished scientists. Moreover, he promotes his ‘megali idea’ by talking about the valuable minerals that they are able to mine with his technology. With his calm and carefree tone, he always tells you what you want to hear. And that is what the president likes to hear.

Not surprisingly, his master plan fails to break up the comet as imagined. This isn’t a problem for Isherwell, because he decides that he won’t stay to deal with the consequences. He’s off to a new adventure, a colony ship to escape to the stars. Spoiler alert, doesn’t turn out as intended.

The biggest takeaway from Isherwell’s character is that if one day people like Bezos or Musk have to run away from the mess they have created on Earth, they have the technology to save themselves, leave us all behind and go to Mars. You won’t even notice this, because for years they have been glamorizing you with their space launches or fast cars while they have been planning your fate.

Before finishing this blog post, I want to share my favorite quote from the movie, “What’s up, y’all? I’m the last man on Earth. S**t’s all f**ked up. Don’t forget to like and subscribe. We out here.”

Jokes aside, I have one final question to ask. Are humans only capable of understanding the danger of climate change if it’s only something as physical and obvious as a comet?

Also, how are humans expected to solve this issue while industrial corporations are behind global warming? Will our efforts be worthwhile compared to the mass destructions that are being created or should we just accept the fact that billionaires have already won?

I would give this movie a 7 out of 10, how would you rate it?