In her column, Gülseren Onanç, the Founding Chair of the SES Equality and Solidarity Association, writes that the struggle against the mentality captured in the motto “Don’t Look Up” in Netflix’s most-watched movie resembles the voice of those who are resisting against indifference in many parts of the world.
Gülseren Onanç
Do you find yourself in a scenario that is difficult to accept? We are going through difficult times with the increasing cases of infection with the latest variant of the coronavirus, Omicron. We are monitoring in pity how our governments broke away from science and reality, and the media became their spokespersons. This combination puts the world and our countries into an economic crisis and a crisis of democracy.
Does the performance of the politicians and the media you follow disappoint you? Do you feel yourself in an absurd state, where you don’t know whether to laugh or cry? Do you feel helpless while watching the world get dragged in the direction of anti-scientific, anti-intellectual, dishonest, fake news, without knowing how to get out of it?
You are not alone. There are millions like you.
Don’t Look Up, one of the most-watched movies on Netflix of recent days, is a must-see. It tells us that our experiences are not unique. One of the things that stroke me was that the American president’s (Meryl Streep) son (Jonah Hill) was sceptical of the scientists because they were not from the country’s elite private schools. Surprisingly, Michigan State University, is the university I graduated from too. The movie portrayed multiple criticisms to the current order. One of the criticisms in the film was towards the university education system, which has become an industry in the US that maintains itself through student debt. Along with dozens of sociological messages, the film basically makes fun of politicians who are becoming increasingly apolitical. The media (traditional and social media) chooses to deliver funny and good news instead of chasing reality.
Oscar-winning artists such as Jennifer Lawrence, Meryl Streep, Leonardo DiCaprio and Rob Morgan have emphatically used all their talents to convey the main message on the politics and the media to demonstrate that they are insensitive to the climate crisis, and are dragging the world into disaster.
“If I hadn’t lost myself, I would have thought there was something wrong with me”
“All the anger and frustration and desperation I’ve felt over the years boiled over” environmental activist, journalist and author George Monbiot wrote in The Guardian. Monbiot himself participated in a television show, just as the astronomer in the movie did, and stated that he couldn’t hold back his tears like Mindy (Leonardo DiCaprio). He says he is still very ashamed of it. Seeing the indifference of those in power, who are aware of what we are facing, I realized that there is something wrong with me if I didn’t lose myself,” he says.
We must take action against the disease of indifference
Monbiot’s writings describe the helplessness of an individual who thinks and questions the universal “disease of indifference”. The fact that the emotions we feel in our homeland are felt to varying degrees in various parts of the world reminds us that we are not alone.
More importantly, this state of not being alone urges us to do something together. We must take action against the disease of indifference, which is leading the world to disaster.
Overcoming indifference and poverty with solidarity
Stating that “2022 will be the Year of Solidarity,” in her latest article, Hacer Foggo defined solidarity as follows:
“Solidarity does not mean reaching a spiritual peace, but taking steps against injustice, to be the voice that the oppressed cannot raise.”
To overcome apathy, we can start with strengthening solidarity.
Street movements and resistances against indifference
The voice of those who are resisting on the streets against indifference in many parts of the world is rising. Thousands of young women working at an iPhone assembly plant in Tamil Nadu, India, demanded better working and living conditions by closing the highway against employers who were indifferent to worker problems. Apple and local manufacturer Foxconn could not remain indifferent to this activism and took action to improve the living spaces of working women and the factory.
Protests against the price hikes in Kazakhstan spread throughout the country, resulting in the government’s resignation and the reduction of gas prices. Protesters demand democracy in Kazakhstan, where there is no effective opposition.
Young people from Boğaziçi University say ‘We will not look down’
In the second year of the resistance of Boğaziçi University against trustee rectors, we received the good news that students Berke Gök and Perit Özen, who had been imprisoned since October 6, 2021, won the fight and were released.
Against those who say Don’t Look Up, we will fight against the disease of indifference, just as the youth of the Boğaziçi University, coined the encouraging slogan of the Boğaziçi Resistance, “We will not look down”.