Idiocracy (2006) dir: Mike Judge "And people wrote movies. Movies which had stories. Stories which made you care about whose ass it was and why it was farting." Mike Judge has made works I've adored for years. I was an avid watcher of Beavis and Butt-head when that show was first aired on MTV. I found the humor in it when somebody sued because they claimed that kids in a trailer park were imitating the show, and it was not true. I found humor in King of the Hill, the more humanistic side of laughing at stupidity. You realize that stupid people are people too. I saw Office Space during its short and unimpressive run in theaters before people found it on video and took people to watch it for free since I worked at the theater.
Now, I have to say that Mike Judge has become shrill.
There is a difference between making fun of the idiots among us and mocking a generalized world of idiots. The former is a good way of holding a microscope to what the world is. The latter is an overly aloof form of exaggeration and snarky humor. And, the latter is Idiocracy.
Idiocracy is a science fiction comedy where the most average man in the military, Joe (Luke Wilson), and a whore, Rita (Maya Rudolph), are frozen in time for 500 years to find that the world now consists only of morons. Due to the intelligent people's inability to breed prolifically and a lack of human predators, stupid people were allowed to spread the seed constantly, and eventually wiped out intelligent people. Now, Joe and Rita have to face a future which has been over corporatized and dumbed down on every level.
In this future, Costco now sprawls for miles with a tram and wildlife. Sex and violence have taken over as prime entertainment. A movie called Ass, which is 90 minutes of some persons ass on screen farting, won 8 Oscars. Water has been replaced by Brawno, a Gatorade-esquire sports drink. And, language has devolved into a mix of all the low slangs.
Unfortunately, Idiocracy is nothing but a pile of complaints and rantings coming off as no more insightful than your average teenage internet flamer on whatever newsgroup/community/message board you read. With almost no insight into what the source of the problems are, it is very aimless and rootless.
However, some things just are downright funny. It isn't all a bad movie. It has moments of pure genius, like the Carl's Jr stand which criticizes you, or the avalanche of garbage. The opening scene ranting about the birth rate of idiots versus academics is worth the price of rental alone.
But, it is kind of annoying watching a movie that say that everybody's dumb 100 times over and has no faith in humanity. On the other hand, it is just what some people need. A good swift kick in the nuts.
B-
Now, I have to say that Mike Judge has become shrill.
There is a difference between making fun of the idiots among us and mocking a generalized world of idiots. The former is a good way of holding a microscope to what the world is. The latter is an overly aloof form of exaggeration and snarky humor. And, the latter is Idiocracy.
Idiocracy is a science fiction comedy where the most average man in the military, Joe (Luke Wilson), and a whore, Rita (Maya Rudolph), are frozen in time for 500 years to find that the world now consists only of morons. Due to the intelligent people's inability to breed prolifically and a lack of human predators, stupid people were allowed to spread the seed constantly, and eventually wiped out intelligent people. Now, Joe and Rita have to face a future which has been over corporatized and dumbed down on every level.
In this future, Costco now sprawls for miles with a tram and wildlife. Sex and violence have taken over as prime entertainment. A movie called Ass, which is 90 minutes of some persons ass on screen farting, won 8 Oscars. Water has been replaced by Brawno, a Gatorade-esquire sports drink. And, language has devolved into a mix of all the low slangs.
Unfortunately, Idiocracy is nothing but a pile of complaints and rantings coming off as no more insightful than your average teenage internet flamer on whatever newsgroup/community/message board you read. With almost no insight into what the source of the problems are, it is very aimless and rootless.
However, some things just are downright funny. It isn't all a bad movie. It has moments of pure genius, like the Carl's Jr stand which criticizes you, or the avalanche of garbage. The opening scene ranting about the birth rate of idiots versus academics is worth the price of rental alone.
But, it is kind of annoying watching a movie that say that everybody's dumb 100 times over and has no faith in humanity. On the other hand, it is just what some people need. A good swift kick in the nuts.
B-