Climate activist and filmmaker Adam McKay discusses the LA fires and climate change in an interview with NME as he reflects on his satirical comedy Don't look up.

When asked about the film’s impact as one of the most-watched movies on Netflix more than three years after its release, McKay said, “A movie seems very small and ridiculous in the face of these dramatic disasters that are happening all the time. But what was encouraging and energizing was the public response to the film, rather than the critics and cultural gatekeepers who hated it," he continued. "It ended up being around 85. It ranks No. 1 in several countries, including Pakistan, Vietnam, the United States and Uruguay, which is extremely rare for a comedy that is usually limited by its cultural regional reference points."

The 2021 film stars Leonardo DiCaprio, Jennifer Lawrence, Timothée Chalamet, Tyler Perry, Jonah Hill, Cate Blanchett and more Starring, it received mixed reviews upon its release, with many critics panning it, although Don't look up It became the second most watched movie on Netflix. The film revolves around two astronomers desperately trying to alert humanity to an Earth-ending comet, a metaphor for climate change and a satire of the media and political response to the climate crisis.

"Netflix will never reveal exactly how many people have seen the film, but estimates range from 400 million to 1.5 billion," McKay told NME. "Viewers are all very interested in the idea of ​​gaslighting. Being lied to by their leaders, being lied to by their big news media, being lied to by the industry. It's interesting - and when I realized that was the common connection point, I thought , of course! It’s a cancer that’s everywhere in the global neoliberal economy we live in.”

when speaking before rolling stones Regarding climate activism, McKay talked about the idea of ​​using disturbing art to drive public opinion. “Both approaches are, in a sense, human, muscular approaches to emotion. I think the truths cited have been taken away from us in the past—indeed, since the rise of neoliberalism over the last 40 years— It's been sold, arbitrated and parsed so much that we need to take this hard-line feel," he said. "That's why I decided to let Don't look up A big slapstick comedy, because I realized you can't fake a laugh. "