Don’t Look Up: Changing The Perception of Scientists & Righteous Anger

When it comes to making commentary on the perception of science in the media and by the general public, one could say that Adam McKay’s Don’t Look Up has a rather bleak outlook. Taking the climate crisis and amping it up to eleven to make it about a comet that is going to hit the Earth and no one is willing to just listen and do something about it is about as on the nose as you can get. McKay has never been one for subtly, and this movie isn’t any different. That doesn’t mean that he isn’t trying to change the way we look at these issues, and during the virtual press conference, star Leonardo DiCaprio was asked about how this movie could help change the perception of scientists.

“Well, obviously that they’re heard,” DiCaprio explained. “You know, Adam created this film, which was about the climate crisis, but he created a sense of urgency with it by making it about a comet that’s gonna hit Earth within six months’ time and how science has become politicized. It’s the alternative facts. And I was just thankful to play a character who is solely based on so many of the people that I’ve met from the scientific community, and in particular, climate scientists who’ve been trying to communicate the urgency of this issue and feeling like they’re, subjected to the last page on the newspaper.

“There are too many other things that we’re inundated with,” DiCaprio continued. “And, I love the way he portrayed these two different characters. One that is incredibly outspoken, like a Greta Thunberg type of character in Jennifer’s [Lawrence], and mine that is trying to play within the system, but I also love the way he was just incredibly truthful about how we’re so immensely distracted from the truth nowadays. And then, of course, COVID hit, and there was a whole new scientific argument going on there. And it’s just such an important film to be a part of at this particular time.”

For Dipcario and McKay, the need to make Don’t Look Up mean something also extended to the dialogue. In the latter part of the movie, Mindy, played by DiCaprio, basically loses his mind on everyone for not listening. He explained that moderator Dr. Amy Mainzer, astronomer, and planetary scientist, helped them really tap into the anger and frustration needed for that scene to make it work.

“Very much so,” DiCaprio said. Like, I just have to articulate again that climate isn’t your [Mainzer] field of expertise, but I spoke to you as if you were a climate scientist through the lens of an astronomer. And you were so incredibly helpful in the convergence of these two worlds, which is what Adam was trying to do in creating this character and this entire movie. So, we worked on that speech probably 50 times together. And what I really wanted to do was to try to articulate the frustration of the scientific community, how one is sitting there on a pulpit speaking the truth. And Adam wrote so brilliantly, all these other noises sort of drowning out the main message.

“So we worked a lot together on trying to understand the frustration of the scientific community and how one would be in a situation like that of ultimate frustration realizing the world is falling apart,” DiCaprio continued. “And how do you take off this sort of professional jacket to cut straight to the chase about the truth of this issue. So again, I wanted to thank you for all the great conversations we had. Cause you were really the convergence of those two things for me.”

Critically, Don’t Look Up is a mixed back of extremes. Some people seem to really like it, like us, and some people really seem to hate it, which is fair. It’s not exactly the heartwarming movie you would sit down with the family to watch for Christmas, but it’s on Netflix if it sounds like your cup of tea.

Kate Dibiasky (Jennifer Lawrence), an astronomy grad student, and her professor Dr. Randall Mindy (Leonardo DiCaprio) make an astounding discovery of a comet orbiting within the solar system. The problem — it’s on a direct collision course with Earth. The other problem? No one really seems to care. Turns out warning mankind about a planet-killer the size of Mount Everest is an inconvenient fact to navigate. With the help of Dr. Oglethorpe (Rob Morgan), Kate and Randall embark on a media tour that takes them from the office of an indifferent President Orlean (Meryl Streep) and her sycophantic son and Chief of Staff, Jason (Jonah Hill), to the airwaves of The Daily Rip, an upbeat morning show hosted by Brie (Cate Blanchett) and Jack (Tyler Perry). With only six months until the comet makes impact, managing the 24-hour news cycle and gaining the attention of the social media-obsessed public before it’s too late proves shockingly comical — what will it take to get the world to just look up?!

Don’t Look Up is written and directed by Academy Award winner Adam McKay (The Big Short) and also stars Mark Rylance, Ron Perlman, Timothée Chalamet, Ariana Grande, Scott Mescudi (aka Kid Cudi), Himesh Patel, Melanie Lynskey, Michael Chiklis, and Tomer Sisley. It will be released in select theaters on December 10th and streaming to Netflix now.