Things are "Looking Up"

If you stepped in the depths of this paper you would barely get your feet wet.

    I recently was watching a movie on Netflix called “Don’t Look Up.” The movie stars Leonardo DiCaprio and Jenifer Lawrence as two astronomers that discover a comet that will hit and destroy the Earth. It is a satire about who and what our priorities are in American society.  The astronomers try to do the right thing and tell the proper authorities. Some of them are incompetent or do not take the threat seriously. The President a true politician in that she is in office to get elected again, is played by Meryl Streep. Her plan is to hold off on the news until it can better help her politically. The media hands the astronomers to the morning talk shows that trivialize the news because that is what keeps their audience watching, one of the astronomers buys into their own hype and rides the catastrophe for fame instead of informing the public.

    While I was incredibly entertained and enjoyed the movie completely, it did flip my cynic switch. Everybody, no matter what consciously or subconsciously has their own agenda, In the case of “Don’t Look Up”, you would think that a cataclysmic, extinction level threat to humanity would have us working together, altruistically for a solution.  Not so in the movie, like everyone else, one of three things motivate the characters. Fear, Greed, or Pleasure. Anything you do comes down to at least one of those three things. This does not always mean that these are bad things. If you do something out fear that feeds someone else’s greed and pleasure than that could be considered a good thing.  Taking a deep dive into the movie there will be spoilers.

    Two astronomers discover the comet, and when they realize that this very large object is going to hit the Earth, they decide to report it to the proper authorities. They do this because they do not want to die and do not have the resources to stop it themselves. The head of NASA does not believe them and does not understand the science behind the report. The head of planetary defense does believe them and stands behind them because he does not want to die either. The President is motivated by greed and pleasure holds on to the news for a better time and dismisses the report as something less than what it is because she does not respect the credentials of the source. When the time comes to deal with the problem it is politicized and used for political capital. The resolution is to send up nuclear warheads to divert the path of the comet. They hold rallies to generate political support and prop up a hero that is unnecessary because the safest way to do the job is remotely.  On the day of the launch, after all the fanfare up to that point. The mission is aborted just after launch because the primary provider of campaign funds tells the president to cancel because he wants to mine the comet for minerals. Because of his money and resources, anyone that examines his plan to carefully, or points out that there will still be disaster level death and destruction are blackballed from their industries or mysteriously disappear. His plans go awry of course.

    This is a great satire that exposes many of the weaknesses in our society. It magnifies the motivations of those in power. The effect of social media on our culture.  The lack of respect that our society has on science. The effects of the gaps in wealth and class. I recommend watching it and discussing the subjects it brings up. I also recommend watching it past the credits for a piece of satisfying karma.  One last thing, Every disaster movie starts with those in authority not listening to those in science.