The Other Meteor… I mean Metaphor in “Don’t Look Up”
!!! This article will spoil the whole story and ending, please read only after seeing Don’t Look Up !!!
We all know the meteor is a metaphor for climate change, but was there another metaphor in Don’t Look Up?
This other one may not even have been intended, but it works really well, and it makes the movie even more meaningful.
Are you ready?
Here it is: Leonardo DiCaprio’s character (Dr. Mindy) represents the institutional left, whereas Jennifer Lawrence’s character (Kate) represents the radical left.
Let’s Break it Down
The two characters begin the film working together, but their paths diverge when they get interviewed on the morning TV show.
Dr. Mindy, despite his immense anxiety, comes off calm, cool and collected. He acknowledges the seriousness of the problem, but reassures the hosts and the show’s viewers that it can be solved through the “normal” channels (ie, by politicians). He did well on TV, but is his faith in “the system” justified?
Kate, on the other hand, shows how upset she is at the situation and at the vapid attitudes of the hosts by screaming at them. Her feelings are totally valid, but, as we soon see, her conduct only made her an easy target for mockery and ridicule. Was her approach effective or only cathartic?
Are you starting to see it?
Dr. Mindy represents the institutional left (which in the US means the Democratic Party, most progressive NGOs, most large labor unions etc.). These organizations acknowledge how bad our various crisis are, but always redirect people’s outrage back into a political system that never stops betraying us.
Kate represents the radical left (which in the US mostly means a mish-mash of leftwing student groups, countercultural scenes, small radical non-profits, tiny “revolutionary” sects, the rare effective radical community project etc.). These groups and milieus hate “the system,” but also lack either genuine commitment, a helpful analysis of power, any semblance of strategy, any ability to appeal to people outside their subcultural niche, or any combination of these. Quite often all of them are lacking.
The Culmination of a Critique
As the movie progresses, the dual metaphor seems to become even more pronounced. The political system aborts its own plan to save the day at the last minute (sound familiar?) then endorses a “private sector solution.”
Upset by this, but unable to see or let go of his biases, Dr. Mindy gets in bed with the enemy (the blonde TV host played by Cate Blanchett) and tries to “fix things from the inside.”
Also, and possibly more, upset by this, Kate goes on to… get persecuted by the FBI (sound familiar?), burn out of college and get a retail job, then lose hope and start using intoxicating substances with a bunch of crusty young skaters.
In the end, both the institutional left and the radical left fail to save the day. The comet hits, the world ends. Everybody dies, even the oligarchs.
The (unintended?) Message
In this dual metaphor, both aspects of “the left” are being justifiably roasted.
The institutional left, especially the Democratic Party and large environmental non-profits, have completely failed (for decades) to accomplish anything close to what is necessary to heal the ecosystem.
The radical / revolutionary left has, for the most part, failed (for decades) to build any mass momentum towards large systemic change / revolution.
Perhaps both have something to learn from each other.
The institutional left needs to learn that the system (capitalism and bourgeois “democracy”) is not broken: it’s fixed. It’s working as intended for the class that it’s intended to work for.
So yes, revolution is necessary.
Right now, it seems that most of the “center-left” / institutional left would rather see the ecosystem die than admit they’ve been wrong to oppose revolution.
Similarly, it seems most of the radical left would rather let the ecosystem die than try to relate to and organize people outside their tiny milieu, subculture or college campus.
Turns out we are all mostly driven by our emotions. There are important strategic lessons to be drawn from this fact, and the political right has learned them better than the rest of us.
The radical left needs to learn both technical lessons and ideological lessons. How do the moderate mass organizations continue to have mass appeal even as they fall flat on their faces over and over? How could we replicate those methods without losing our core purpose? Why don’t the poor rise up? How do you get people to agree to organize with you? Why is strategy necessary to win, and how do we make one and then execute it? Why is fetishizing violence just as bad of a move as demanding pacifism? Where are the kinks in the system that we can exploit to rip it apart? Why is centralism bound to lead away from liberation? How does an accountability process actually work? How can I teach people radical analysis without being totally pretentious and just alienating them?
And so on and so on.. (as a certain eclectic Slovenian philosopher likes to say)
