Sir, – The film Don’t Look Up, now streaming on Netflix, cleverly matches the frustration of scientists that their warnings are being ignored with the frustration the viewer will surely feel that this could have been a much better movie. The film undermines its message by being too obvious about delivering it. The actors ham it up when portraying villains. Too many of the scenes are overly contrived. The bombastic political rallies, the vacuous sloganeering, and the ease with which trivial stories displace serious news closely mirror events in recent history, but somehow the point doesn’t quite hit home. Perhaps the writers underestimated the difficulty in satirising what should be an easy target, forgetting that part of the reason some politicians or social influencers get away with promulgating untruths is the blatant manner in which they go about it. Satire is calibrated for exposing clandestine intrigue, not crass duplicity.
Although the film is about an asteroid on a collision course for earth, it clearly wants us to see the parallels with climate change. Science has issued warnings about climate change for years, only to be met with denials and delays from one side of the political aisle, and plans and promises that have more to do with political grandstanding than taking action from the other. It might be hoped that an immediate threat like an asteroid collision would produce a more urgent response, but it is worth remembering our own government’s response to the news of an impending global financial crisis, and our failure to act before events overtook us. – Yours, etc,
COLIN WALSH,
Templeogue,
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Dublin 6W.