David O'Connell
Idiocracy
February 9th 2007 03:26
It's a fairly bizarre story - a soldier in the army, who strives to be so-very-average, participates in an army experiment that places him, Joe, in cryogenic sleep. There's some mishandling of the research, and he's left in hibernation for over 500 years, in a terrifying future.
Judge's future is a harrowing 'What if?' scenario.... if evolution favours those who are most successful at reproducing, then the future American would be a gangsta/hillbilly mix, uneducated and profane.
Idiocracy is Judge's look at that world, where all the intelligent people have self-selected themselves out of the gene pool by being too intelligent to just mate for the fun of it. It's a terrible, discordant world, filled with garbage, fast-food and mega corporations.
Costco is the size of a small city, and graduates lawyers. Starbucks gives handjobs, and the most popular sports drink, Brawndo, has replaced water in drinking fountains and irrigation.
'It's got electrolytes!' intones one of the future idiots.
'What?' replies Joe irritatedly, 'what ARE electrolytes? What do they do?'
There's an awkward pause.
'It's what Brawndo's got!' they answer, while someone else says 'I like money!'
YouTube links to more clips from the movie!
Idiocracy is not the best movie of the year. It doesn't have an incredibly moving story, nightmarish visual textures or even sympathetic characters. It looks a little low budget at times, and the gags are over-the-top.
That's not why you're watching it, though. Idiocracy serves as a very vital reminder of why we should be vigilant against the spread and popularity of stupidity. It's everywhere in our culture, from smart kids getting picked on in school, to the President happily butchering the English language. And while Idiocracy is pretty far-fetched, some of it is so close to the truth that it's shocking to see in a fictional film.
And now, a special feature:
Similarities between Idiocracy and the real US of A
1)In the future: Idiocracy's president is a hyper-excitable former wrestling star that speaks some vile English
Today: We've got Arnie and Jessie Ventura as governors, and GW Bush is certainly taking Presidential English down a couple of notches.
2)In the future: Soldiers speak in pseudo-formal idiot-talk, where they use big words that don't make any sense together.
Today: Watch clips of infantry soldiers in Iraq and you'll get the same appalling effect.
3)In the future: The most popular movie is called 'Ass' and the most popular TV show is 'Ow! My balls!'
Today: Movies like 'Epic Movie' and shows like 'Jackass' still draw huge audiences.
4)In the future: Costco is massive, like it's own city.
Today: Take a major American freeway and visit one of the Wal-Marts... they're intimidating. You almost expect them to transform into a huge robot and fight Godzilla.
You won't see it on the big screen, so buy it on DVD!
* this image is from the IMDb page on Idiocracy
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Comment by MelissaA
Fun Facts
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Comment by Adrian
Philosophy Blog
Well, shucks. Them's fighting words.
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Comment by Anonymous
WELL YOU TALK LIKE IT IS ONLY LIKE AMERICA....
BUT THINGS A PRETTY MUCH THE SAME IN AUSTRALIA!