Don't Look Up

Do you want to watch an end-of-the-world comedy satirizing the handling of the coronavirus in the United States while having gigantic words thrown at you? Then "Don't Look Up" from Netflix might be the movie for you. Then again, most people I know are so tired of the pandemic, so they probably wouldn't enjoy this movie. I suppose I was also a little tired of it, myself, but after having followed the pandemic like crazy this was required watching.

Warning: mild spoilers follow, but it's not like you don't already know what's going to happen.

A team of scientists discover a gigantic comet heading straight toward Earth. When they try to tell the world about it, they are largely ignored. Even the president is skeptical and slow to adapt their plan to divert its path. Already, this may sound strangely familiar -- how many in the US remained particularly skeptical about the coronavirus, and if you watch, you're likely to also recognize several parallels.

Overall it was somewhat enjoyable, but I thought it was a little too much over the top, soaking in its own self-righteousness. It hits some items directly on the mark, but then I got the sense that this movie really represents what liberals *think* of how conservatives handled the pandemic rather than the actual truth. It also conveniently omits some of the (smaller) roles liberals played in exacerbating the pandemic. Well -- except for a couple of scenes where the protagonists lose their cools and go psycho, losing their audience -- possibly intentionally capturing the strident overreactions of many on the left.

The music was somewhat fun to listen to, with some hints of Philip Glass.

Where the movie hits 

When the comet gets closer, people can see it in the sky. At first, people recognize it as a real threat and start taking it seriously. So, the "good guys" say, "All you have to do is Look Up." Immediately, the President (Meryl Streep) counters with a "Don't Look Up" campaign. 

This is of course parallel to the coronavirus data, of which when people see, they can see beyond a shadow of a doubt that the vaccines are working remarkably. But then others come along and obfuscate the data with errant numbers and saying, "Don't believe data from the source. It's all doctored by liberals for the sole purpose of taking political control." 

In a brief collage, we get to see several such conspiracy theories about the comet -- clearly paralleling the several common coronavirus conspiracy theories floating around today.

And my favorite: one guy is being interviewed. He's wearing a button with both Up and Down arrows. And he says, "Look Up, or Don't Look Up. We're all free to believe what we want, but why can't we just get along?" Don't you just hate those guys? I mean -- I'm all for mutual respect and having discussions, but if there's a planet-killer rock on its way, it's not going to care whether people look up or not.

Where the movie misses

They really get Republicans wrong. I suppose Meryl Streep is supposed to be Trump, but she said things I've never heard Republicans say -- such as "God thanks you" or invoking "Jesus Christ" rather than the generic "God." I do not believe I've heard a sitting president wish blessings only on people from their own party. I also do not believe in the lack of caring. Even Trump had concern and sadness as the pandemic progressed, and even today he is trying to persuade his followers to be vaccinated. I have also never heard anyone in any office give thanks to the White Man. (Of course I'm always open to examples of this in real life -- please send these examples my way if you come across any.)

And -- did the movie really need to have all the obscenities and nude scenes? The plot is PG-13 at most. I mainly mention this because this movie will have near zero power convincing conservative audiences. But then again, I don't think that was the purpose of this movie -- rather, it really is a self-righteous (yet mostly justified) "let's make fun of the Republicans" indulgence. 

BTW, this movie is covered by Vid Angel, the company that distributes "The Chosen." If you'd like to watch this movie with obscenities and nude scenes filtered out, then check it out.

I suppose many liberals would eat this stuff up, but no one is really learning anything from this movie. I hope this doesn't get some kind of misguided "Best Movie of the Year" award. It's technically a 2021 movie, so we may see shortly if it gets anything. It had its good moments, but it really wasn't that great of a movie on the whole.

There were some funny parts, and some successful gimmicks. And I personally thought the closing line was hilarious -- my kind of humor. If you survived my review, then give it a try.