“The trick is to not take it personal…”
Why it's great
It calls the hardest kind of self-control a mere trick, which is why it sounds true.
Register
Informal
Use it yourself
The trick is to not take it personal and move on.
00:00 / 04:02
00:00 / 04:02
Kate Becomes a Meme, Explained
Don't Look Up · 2021
Chapter 10 of 25 · 4'02"
Kate has just gone on national TV to warn about a world-ending comet, and the meeting that follows is all about her ratings. Her outburst got "some nice traffic" and an "immediate backlash" that became a meme. "Why aren't people terrified?" she asks, and the room has no answer — only a toast to a "pleasant end of times."
Key moments
Start here, then watch the full scene- 0:34–1:54
❝ Monologue · 4 lines The Comet Gets Rated by Its Traffic
79s
Kate Becomes a Meme, explained
What happens
After their appearance on The Daily Rip, Kate and Dr. Mindy sit through a data review: Kate's cursing spiked traffic, then turned into a meme and a backlash, while Mindy's favorables are high. The warning itself got less attention than weather and traffic stories. NASA's head calls it "more near-miss hysteria," and the meeting ends with a toast to a "pleasant end of times." Kate breaks down.
What's really going on
The cruel joke of the scene is that the science is no longer the subject — attention is. The team measures a doomsday warning the way it measures any segment, and by that metric Kate is a failure and Mindy is a hit: her "immediate backlash" became a meme, his "very high favorables" come from being called hunky. Kate's plea, "Why aren't people terrified?", is not naive; it is the correct question in a system that has already converted the apocalypse into content. The institutional answer arrives right after: NASA's head, a former anesthesiologist and a major donor to the president, dismisses it as "more near-miss hysteria," and the paper that ran the story is left with egg on its face. The meeting dissolves into a sarcastic toast to a "pleasant end of times," and Kate is left crying over a comet nobody will look up at.
Key lines & what they mean
- “The trick is to not take it personal…”
- The advice to Kate after the mockery: the only way through the online abuse is to refuse to let it feel aimed at you.
- “There's absolutely no… Why aren't people terrified?”
- Kate's disbelief that a planet-killing comet barely registers: there is no reaction at all, so she asks why no one is afraid.
- “Ladies, gentlemen, I wish you a very pleasant end of times.”
- A sarcastic toast that says the quiet part out loud: the meeting ends not with a plan but with a wish that everyone enjoys the apocalypse.
- “It's not a goddamn story, okay?”
- Kate's refusal to let the comet be treated as content: this is not a story to be packaged and rated, it is a fact about the end of the world.
- “Only I'm not on a diet. I'm just crying five times a day.”
- Her way of admitting despair under a joke: the impact date is hidden inside a diet app, but she is not dieting, just crying five times a day.
- “Everyone should be panicking right now, okay?”
- The warning she cannot get people to follow: instead of calm, everyone ought to be in a state of panic.
Theme
- Satire — The data team grades a comet warning by traffic, memes, and how it compares to weather stories.
- Corruption — The NASA chief who calls the threat hysteria is also a major donor to the president.
What this chapter teaches
Teaching points
Review right after watchingMy level1/8
A1–C2 is the CEFR scale. Cards above the level you pick fade, and playback will not auto-pause on them.
Language points
Click a card to jump to its moment in the videoGolden lines
A great line in its own right — why and how to use it“There's absolutely no… Why aren't people terrified?”
Why it's great
The sentence breaks off, and the unfinished question carries all her isolation.
Register
Neutral
Use it yourself
Why aren't people worried about the layoffs?
“Ladies, gentlemen, I wish you a very pleasant end of times.”
Why it's great
Good manners are stapled onto the apocalypse, and the politeness itself is the chill.
Register
Formal
Use it yourself
I wish you a very pleasant rest of your day.
“It's not a goddamn story, okay?”
Why it's great
One swear names the real problem: this is not content, it is survival.
Register
Informal
Use it yourself
It's not a news story, it's someone's life.
“Only I'm not on a diet. I'm just crying five times a day.”
Why it's great
Doomsday logged in a diet app, then flipped into crying five times a day; the joke draws blood.
Register
Informal
Use it yourself
Only I'm not busy, I'm just avoiding everyone.
“Everyone should be panicking right now, okay?”
Why it's great
It treats panic as the only sane reaction, which is both funny and honest.
Register
Informal
Use it yourself
Everyone should be worried right now, not next month.
Monologue
One character carrying the scene — shadow the whole passage❝ Kate's breaking question
I don't… I don't understand. I don't understand. There's no response. There's absolutely no… Why aren't people terrified? What do we have to say? What do we have to do?
It climbs from stutter to shout, turning helplessness into an accusation.
Up next · 11take the hitThe scene: Mindy Arrested, Orlean ApologizesTakeaways
What you walk away with- The ratings meeting measures a catastrophe in clicks.
- Kate's rage becomes a meme, which is the cruelest joke.
- Even the paper that broke the story now looks foolish.
- Her breakup is delivered as a flat final beat.
People also search
Questions, then the linesWhy does everyone focus on Kate's swearing instead of the comet?
Because the numbers say so. The data team shows that Kate's outburst spiked traffic and then turned into a meme, while the actual warning got less attention than weather and traffic stories, which is exactly her complaint.
Why is Dr. Calder dismissing the comet?
The NASA head calls it "more near-miss hysteria." She is also described as a former anesthesiologist and a major donor to President Orlean, so the scientists read her dismissal as political rather than scientific.
What does 'egg on its face' mean?
It means being embarrassed after a mistake. The line about the Herald having egg on its face suggests the paper looks foolish for how it handled the story.
Why does Kate break down at the end of the scene?
No one is reacting the way she expected: the public treats the comet as a joke, the NASA chief denies it, and her boyfriend has just broken up with her, so she says she is crying five times a day.
Does anyone in the newsroom take the comet seriously?
Not really. The data team treats the warning as a ratings item, and the meeting ends with a sarcastic toast wishing everyone a pleasant end of times rather than any plan to act.