It’s the end of the world. Crazy, right? The insane part is that no one believes you. You silently scream to get people to listen, only to receive nothing. Everyone ignores your warnings just because you aren’t a political, social, or scientific influence. Worth is defined by reputation in this world, and reputation is defined by wealth and funded by bias. Now, wake up and realize, this imagination is Earth.

Don’t Look Up provides an opportunity for us to view our world from an outside perspective, a perspective usually only attainable in space. We see all the problems we as the human race have caused, including the destruction of the environment, the corrupt government system, and even the disbelief in topics as real as science. These issues are so pertinent to the world we live in today, but we have all chosen to ignore them as we feel too small to change anything. Don’t Look Up makes us look back on our choices to avoid actually helping the world, which, especially now, have come back to bite us. We must wake up and pay attention to the true meaning of this movie, to take action before destruction. It is vital to the progress of our world and the continuation of life to do this. We can no longer go with the ignorance we equip ourselves with today.

With new developments in news media violently shouting in one’s ear by pushing individual beliefs out of the other and inspiring mass chaos, the world has completely changed from what older generations of the human race have experienced. Influences such as political divides, fake news, and the power social influencers hold on the younger generation are discussed heavily within the movie and made apparent in real life. This movie is thought through extremely well, with almost every single object or person having a symbolic meaning or hidden purpose.

Though the movie title tells us not to look, we find ourselves looking up almost the entire time. Whether it was to view the incoming comet or just searching through Google to reread the lyrics to Ariana Grande and Kid Cudi’s satirical song Just Look Up, the film sugar-coated the harsh reality of the world unto us as viewers, creating a moment of realization in the shallowness our world builds itself on. The entire song is insane if not comedic, while sonically, it is a masterpiece of vocals, with the real meaning disguised underneath. Using humor to their advantage, Grande serenades the public with lyrics such as “We’re all going to die soon anyways.” The song emphasizes how we will listen to our influencers more than scientists in a way. We need the help of influencers to spread the word of something as big as an incoming comet because otherwise, we are not only blind to dangers but even deaf to the truth.

Chaos is impossible to control. Especially when political leaders have ulterior motives creating biased plans of action. From public validation of their career or the money they could profit from dangerous strategies, Don’t Look Up investigates the political injustice embedded within the U.S.. In the movie, a concrete plan was created in an effort to prevent a dangerous comet from ending all life as it was known, posing an extreme threat to not only national, but global security. But, President Orlean, portrayed by Meryl Streep, jumped ship from this idea in chase of one that could award her trillions of dollars and public support. This mirrors the corrupt political system we all acknowledge but leave be. Why have we chosen to ignore the problems within our government? Whether it be because we are afraid of consequences or feel it is impossible to change something as big as the structure of the U.S., we have let it go too far. The movie exaggerates the future of our nation. If we do not change anything about our government, the power they hold has come too far and suppressed our natural rights and voices.

Though we have always preached “united we stand,” we also glaringly uphold  “divided we fall.” Now that we are divided, our nation is beginning to fall. Pictured in the movie, we see a political divide between younger audiences who choose to look up and older audiences who don’t. The entire premise of this parallels the divide we find ourselves in the world today, with many older generations being displeased with Millennial and Gen Z tendencies to be more on the left side of the political spectrum. This exact imitation of our world today proves the divide in not only politics but people in our nation. The younger generation has attached themselves to a completely opposite belief system of the older generations. This feud continues even today to only get worse with time. At some point, we have to realize it is not even fair to address the U.S. as united.

Things heated up with this movie’s success as audiences argued what the significance of the movie was. Finally, director Adam McKay came forward and revealed the secret meaning of the movie to be global warming. As global warming continues to affect our world right underneath our noses, many choose to ignore the danger and continue with their first-world life.  Though we know for sure the movie references the actions of global warming, it can arguably be compared to the COVID-19 pandemic’s effect in its first few months.

We see overthrown grocery stores, the beginnings of human panic throughout the streets, and most importantly, the division between those who believe and those who do not in an invisible enemy and the vaccine solutions to come after. COVID-19 caused a major rift, especially when vaccines were introduced, as people began directly fighting with one another on whether or not the virus was real. Theories have been made about government chippings implemented into the vaccines, masks being less than beneficial, and COVID-19 being a scam created by another country. These all parallel the movie when no one believes the two scientists portrayed by Jennifer Lawrence and Leonardo Dicaprio. The movie’s entire organization imitates the pandemic process and how the government let the virus explode and get out of hand.

In the end, nothing is completely resolved. Characters are still at each other’s throats, people wreaking havoc throughout streets everywhere, and President Orlean even ditches her own son. But, we see our main characters, wholesomely uniting around a dinner table.

 A breath of fresh air from the stress of the movie. A reason to give us hope that the end has not actually arrived. Everything will work out. We can do this!

And then suddenly, even before a true resolution approaches, boom. Everything’s Gone. Just like where our world will end up one day.