Netflix's Don't Look Up
Story by Amelia Matheson, Photo Credit: Netflix
Wow, it is already the end of 2021. This past year felt long at times and like a blur during other moments. I’m sure we all remember the events that rocked this nation all the way back in January. Those of us who graduated in May will most likely never forget Graduation day. Other events? Completely forgotten. I often find myself trying to remember if a particular event took place in 2021 or 2020. Everything sort of blurs together and time seems to lose its linearity. But, sadly, at least one thing is for sure. For the millions of people around the world that lost a family member during 2021, they will be entering 2022 without the laugh or smile of a cherished loved one.
Two weeks ago, my father, grandmother, and I took a trip to Jamaica to spend some time with family members I haven’t met or seen in over eight years. One night, we all sat down to enjoy a movie and decided on Netflix’s Don’t Look Up. The star-studded film directed by Adam McKay came out on December 5. I picked up on McKay’s message quickly: there is a very real, imminent threat that the public should act upon, but the rich and powerful work tirelessly to turn attention away from the threat and refuse to rally support and/or resources in efforts to combat it. Sound familiar? In the film, the threat that the entire planet should be concerned about is a gigantic comet hurtling through space on a direct collision course to Earth. Soon enough, a billionaire (Mark Rylance) finds that this comet could actually be very profitable if we let it fall to earth… in smaller pieces, of course. This comet could inject trillions of dollars into the world economy! So, the president, who is played by Meryl Streep, makes a complete 180 on her message and begins a rallying tour telling the American people to simply “don’t look up”. If you don’t look up, you don’t see the comet and, therefore, the comet doesn’t exist. This is all happening as the two astronomers who discovered the comet (Jennifer Lawerence and Leonardo DiCaprio) desperately try to convince the world of the urgency of the planet-destroying comet that will collide with our home in just a few months. Could we possibly apply this plot line to a non-fiction predicament afflicting the global society today?
The answer is yes! Climate change is STILL an imminent threat to the human race and the other 8.7 million species of flora and fauna on this planet we call home. Back in November, the leaders and delegates of about 45 nations got together for COP26 to again negotiate a pact to slow down climate change. Honestly, it feels like all we do is “discuss” and “negotiate” and call out the other guy for not doing enough while most parties involved still insist on “slowly integrating renewable energy”. Why? Because fossil fuels are just too profitable to give up. Sure, deforestation, oil spills, and pollution are bad, but what is that when the largest energy companies are making billions, if not trillions of dollars per year? And we all know that governments tend to support the wellbeing of corporations over the wellbeing of individuals especially when said corporations make sizable contributions to election bids. Scientists are always playing catch-up against the capitalist nature of today’s political climate as they frantically alert us to the emergency that is increased global temperatures. We saw historic flooding in Germany during which more than 230 people died, Hurricane Ida that killed 91 Americans, a 4.2 magnitude earthquake that killed 2,248 people in Haiti, landslides that killed 300+ people in China, Typhoon Rae just this month in the Philippines where nearly 400 people lost their lives. And so many other devastating natural disasters that took place in 2021 amidst all of our “talks”. We need to do better.
I pray that as we all move forward into 2022, we finally decide to do more than talk and sign fancy contracts with fancy pens claiming that we are going to hold each other accountable for our carbon emissions. We simply do not have time for that. It is time for more wind and solar farms. It is time for us to make electric vehicles more accessible to everyday people. It is time for us to create innovative batteries to store and provide power during disaster situations. It is time for us to make significantly less plastic and conscientiously recycle what already exists. And, yes, it is time to drastically reduce each nation’s carbon emissions. We can’t wait for the younger generations to sort it out later. We, young and old, need to sort it out now. It’s 2022. Time is ticking.
