On a gentle winter night, between Christmas and New Year’s, my partner and I hunkered down for a quiet movie night. We’d heard some buzz about a new Leonardo DiCaprio movie that was new to Netflix so we decide to check it out. This is the tale of how the media lost its collective mind over a too-on-the nose- satire called Don’t Look Up.

In case you have been, rightfully so, avoiding social media or the news recently let me tell you, this little flick has generated an enormous amount of disdain. The critics have panned it and the media has taken the premise personally. Some seem to have forgotten that it’s meant to be a work of fiction, a satire, a piece of entertainment which might be understandable considering how timely it is.

The movie is about two scientists who discover an asteroid that is on a collision course with earth. Kate Dibiasky (Jennifer Lawrence) and Randall Mindy (DiCaprio), upon spotting the asteroid on the Subaru Telescope, alert the NASA and the White House to the impending disaster. Instead of immediately jumping into action, the White House denies the validity of the finding and begins a massive campaign to keep the public from finding out about the asteroid.

When the asteroid becomes visible in the earth’s sky, and can no longer be denied, the Trump-esque president holds rallies claiming the scientists are fear mongers and encouraging a distrust of science in general. The media goes along with the White House view and those who believe in science become the minority – right up to the end of the earth.

The movie is full of dark humor and snapshots of a frenzied public that is not too different than the mobs that attend rallies and protests in red hats, waving Old Glory flags while screaming about civil liberties. The White House administration in Don’t Look Up is reminiscent of the former administration, complete with vanity, arrogance and nepotism. But I think the thing that has caught the ire of the media is the portrayal of the media.

Throughout the film, the media is depicted as more concerned with ratings than fact, obsessed with earnings, biased and out of touch with the reality of the situation. There are snippets of FOX-like interviews, full of mockery of science and ridiculous claims of attacks on freedoms that look eerily like the news we’ve seen unfold over the last two years of this pandemic.

While some critics of the film have attacked the science behind the film while others have picked apart the writing, directing, and acting. Some have criticized the charcutiers that make up the administration and others have cited the portrayal of the media as completely unbelievable.

But as a watcher of the film and an observer of the media, I’d say the movie got this pretty spot on. The media’s biggest beef with Don’t Look Up is that they don’t like looking in this particular mirror. Throughout this film the media has been both the witless protagonist and the maniacal antagonist. It is the leading role in the melodrama and it’s character is based on a real life model.

But don’t take my word for it. Watch the film, read the reviews and then judge for yourself. The fallout from this film could mirror the aftermath of the asteroid – at least as far as the media is concerned.