Science as a Discourse of Power in Apocalyptic Times in the Film Don’t Look Up

Apocalyptic narratives of environmental collapse have become increasingly visible in contemporary media and art. Films, as important cultural texts, help us understand how society imagines and responds to ecological crises. Primarily, this article examines the cinematic narrative of Adam McKay’s Don’t Look Up (2021). It discusses the film’s portrayal of humanity’s response to an impending environmental apocalypse predicted and warned of by science. The analysis attempts to examine whether the film depicts human indifference to science surrounding the apocalypse or reasserts science itself as a masked exercise of power that shapes what counts as knowledge through discourse. Seemingly, the film illustrates a contemporary society that is driven by short-term gains fostering a mass culture of scientific negligence, and sidelining crucial warnings of self-destruction. However, bearing on Michel Foucault’s discourse theory and other ecocritical perspectives surrounding uncertainty and the apocalypse, this article advocates for expanding the discussion on the particular representation of science and scientists in film. Arguably, Don’t Look Up appears to champion science as the watchdog and panacea in times of imminent events of destruction. This suggests a subtle exercise of power that discourages skepticism and promotes unquestioned trust in scientific discourses about environmental apocalypse. In this light, this article explores how political incompetence, propaganda distribution, and societal ignorance mask science as a discourse of power in the film.