dont-look-up

McKay Hits Back At DON’T LOOK UP Critics… Again

Don’t Look Up told the story of two astronomers attempting to warn humanity about an approaching comet that will destroy human civilization. The movie was supposed to be an allegory for climate change, with a dose of satire of government, political, celebrity, and media reactions to events.

The reviews were mixed, with some calling it heavy-handed and not particularly clever. At the time, director Adam McKay and co-writer David Sirota were online a lot, accusing negative reviewers of not understanding the message.

dont-look-up

Last week, as Los Angeles burned in what now looks like deliberately started fires, Sirota again took to social media to say that these fires proved critics wrong about Don’t Look Up. Now McKay waded back in. In an interview with The NME (via Dark Horizons) McKay again called out critics of the movie:

“What was inspiring and energising was the popular response to that movie, not the critics and the cultural gatekeepers who hated it. The estimates of how many people saw that movie – Netflix will never say exactly – but it’s somewhere between 400 million and half a billion.

Viewers all really connected with the idea of being gaslit. Being lied to by their leaders, lied to by their big news media, and being lied to by industries. It was funny – when I realised that was the common connection point, I was like, of course! It’s happening everywhere now with this global neo-liberal economy that we’re all living in. It’s such a cancer, and everyone is feeling it.”

It is not entirely clear what side of the argument McKay is on from those comments above, as the idea of news media being untrustworthy and leaders “gaslighting” the people is a slant that sounds like it comes from a side you wouldn’t necessarily expect him to be on.

Then the same report at Dark Horizons helpfully clears this up, by reminding readers that just a few weeks ago McKay claimed that Wicked is the kind of film that could be banned under the Trump administration.

Check back every day for movie news and reviews at the Last Movie Outpost

YouTube

Exclusives

Social

Donate

Reviews

Trailers