GOODBYE EARTH. Are We Dumber Than DINOSAURS? Review of Netflix’s sci-fi show

Koreans are becoming increasingly bold in the realms of science fiction and post-apocalypse, which is characteristic of countries whose global significance is growing, openly or covertly revealing imperial aspirations. This can be observed in the Korean industry and economy, which the world benefits from. The next step in expanding influence is through culture, with film today proving the easiest, next to the internet, for its dissemination. Thus, within the popular science fiction genre, a 12-episode series titled “Goodbye Earth” has appeared on Netflix. Interestingly, this production portrays society in the final days before the end of the world and how people cope with the awareness of inevitable destruction. This theme has been explored numerous times, for instance by Americans. Now it’s the Koreans’ turn to attempt it. I am curious to see which vision will captivate viewers more, especially as creators from the Far East have always had a tendency towards a perception of emotional farce unfamiliar to us, combining existential dramas with comedy.

The sometimes incomprehensible combination for viewers of seriousness with slapstick may stem from attitudes towards violence in Korean, as well as Japanese, Thai, Chinese, and generally Asian cinema. In these cultures, violence, even in mass media, is not framed with the same conventions and/or restrictions as in the West. This is an interesting phenomenon given our own history of violent traditions. We also frequently display violence on screen. However, the boundaries appear clearer, and in Korean and Japanese cinema, if violence is intense, it is portrayed uncompromisingly. Hence, the masking of its severity with humor – to diminish the impact, so the audience is aware that all these radical acts are fictional and should be treated as entertainment. In “Goodbye Earth,” there may not be violence as controversial as in “Brother of the Sun,” but generally, the creators focused on psychological drama without blending it with humor. This approach resulted in a much better reception without narrative dissonance.

The series is not straightforward or single-threaded, despite the dominant revenge plot of teacher Se-kyung Jin against the murderers of the children she taught in middle school. Paradoxically, their lives were not directly taken by the asteroid hurtling towards Earth, but by people – criminals who escaped from prison as a consequence of civil war. The war broke out in Korea when authorities announced that the asteroid could not be diverted from its course and unfortunately would strike the Korean Peninsula. Therefore, everyone there will likely perish. As for the rest of the world, no one can predict exactly how much of it will be affected by the shockwave, tsunami, dust clouds, and other consequences of impact. There are 300 days left. A ruthless fight for survival begins for some, elevating personal interests, which people want to fulfill before escaping. Seizing power, murder, theft, abandoning any laws when there’s less than a year to live seems entirely permissible and necessary for people to mentally endure this accelerated death. But what if they survive after all? What if the asteroid’s approach is a lie, created to destroy Korea or reduce the global population on an overcrowded Earth? Maybe it was God’s decision, not aliens, or a political conspiracy? Generally, religious movements during this period of awaiting disaster are depicted authentically, with an emphasis on Christianity, which is an interesting approach for a Korean film. However, considering the religious structure of the state, over half the population does not declare any religious affiliation or identifies as atheists or religiously indifferent. Even Buddhism has not succeeded here. Among the non-religious, Protestants take second place, not Lutherans, but those Protestant sects that are more authoritarian and closed, even apocalyptic. There’s a cultural foundation for envisioning the end of the world – for some, God won’t bring solace because they don’t believe in Him, and others will devise peculiar visions of divine vengeance on a corrupt, flawed world. The series predominantly focuses on Catholics, who, true to their origins, are very calm, passive, and loving. Indeed, for the tormented people facing the end of the world, religious faith may ease the final days.

In Korean, the series did not shy away from sentimentality and specific, hyper-emotional acting, which is characteristic of these actors. There are plenty of special effects, including the visualization of dinosaur extinction, which symbolically appears often in the film, much like the Christian cross. It seems as though humanity has been deemed an ultimately doomed species, and a prolonged apocalypse has been decided upon. Whether it’s religious or biological-cosmic is secondary. What matters is that we won’t survive, and why we shouldn’t is demonstrated during the wait for annihilation. Could someone much wiser than us grant us redemption, only for us to fail that test as well? Generally speaking, globally, we’ve received a slap in the face, and as a species, we are as ugly and unnecessary for the Earth’s ecosystem as a toilet in one of Krakow’s Kauflands, which I regularly test for usability – although hope still eludes me. However, individually, according to the series, we passed that test. Korea fell into ruins, but amidst those ashes, during those few hundred days, people managed to build some civilizational pillar to lean on, and the main character could evaluate the cost of embarking on the path of revenge. Despite everything, the finale of “Goodbye Earth” surprised me, so give it a chance, even if you might feel bored around the sixth episode. Ultimately, we proved to be wiser than dinosaurs and won’t perish, unwittingly ruining every ideal we’ve built, in more or less deceitful ways, over these few thousand years of civilization. We’ve succeeded in many ways, but particularly, respecting the planet’s life. It’s time to wrap up and give revolutionary, cosmic evolution a chance. I’m not expecting a second season.