Idiocracy - Review

I thought Mike Judge’s film, Idiocracy was a brilliant masterpiece. His portrayal of a futuristic America cleverly exposes the problems that face our society. The movie truly displayed and elaborated on the powerful hold corporate franchises along with mass media have on the America culture.
I’m disappointed that Fox studios down played the release of this movie and even tried to cancel production. I think the movie hasn’t received the credit it disserves and should be re-released to theaters.

every piece of this movie is pure genius, right down to the end credits music. i've seen it 15 times and its my all time favorite comedy ever made. if your trying to decide to spend 3 bucks at the video rentals, don't, go out and get the DVD, i can't think of a more worthy expenditure of 15 bucks

Just finished it off rental. Yeah, so the idea has trouble standing up and I don't see how can finish the arc of the story neatly, but I mentioned Brazil during my viewing. It's not Brazil - don't hope for that, but the topic is important. Did anyone note that Fox News is still around when everyone is sub 80 IQ?

There is SO much truth in this movie,yes,there IS a 'dumb-down' thing going on...........and fuck Fox.....................they buried it................ah,Keith Rupert Murdoch does it again..............the ppl you see when you're not carrying a shotgun..................I have seen the future,and it's name is ideocracy.................

this will, sadly, be the future....
except, with asian invaders killing off the americans.
~Wiggen

reply to "NOT SURE Says:

September 7th, 2006 at 08:41
One huge problem with this fine and funny movie is Mike Judge is about 400 years too far in the future. I think we will see these conditions and subhuman intelligence around 2095 or so. Thanks Mike."

do u realize that humans get to live over 100 years nowadays? that means that at 2095, ppl from our generation can still be alive. so i think 2505 (at least 5 generations) was an accurate date

I watched this movie and found it "just okay" until I started to notice things outside of the movie that make it almost prophetical. I think it's a frightening prelude to the way our society is headed.

This is one of the few really good comedies that has been on in a while. After watching this movie, I want to become a lawyer :D

If you look through the replys you will notice that all of the negative reviews have extreme spelling/grammar/Capitalization or just plain old net speek, confusing ways of spelling names ( or words, I'm not sure what KrkDly is ) and the inability to correctly spell the word i. To all of you who fit the description above, you are version one of what this movie predicts. For the love of god, start learning now and until you do do not reproduce.

It seems the only people who don't like it are those who....are it.

When I first heard about this film from friends I was looking forward to seeing it because there have been so many times I walked out of movies or was disgusted when flipping through TV shows because of how "low" and dumb the the entertainment, etc. was. Too bad, this movie has a lot of savage satire in it, and Luke Wilson is a good actor, but it is all animated by a very ugly and false premise.
The idea that the human race is in danger of degenerating because "stupid" people breed too much has been around since before the Nazis but they certainly championed the idea and believed in it fervently (google what's now referred to as the pseudo science of "eugenics") .
If you think that is an exaggeration or over stating things ask yourself if the premise of the movie is true, what's the solution? Mass sterilization of the "stupid" (which judging from the introduction basically means working class or lower class) and breeding programs for the "smart". That was official policy during the 1930s in Germany.
The funny thing is that Judge gets it exactly wrong as to who are the main culprits in the very real dumbing down of U.S. society and culture generally. The educated, professional looking couple with the IQ of 138 and 141 who are the "good people" in the intro to the movie are the ones cutting funding to education, cutting educational grants, cutting taxes that fund local schools, sending jobs overseas so that whole communities degenerate socially.
The "smart people" also sit in media/advertising corporate offices, conceiving, funding and creating the stupid TV programing, the dumb movies, etc. You know, the kind of people Mike Judge works with and for and who have made him rich.
Hmm, no wonder he can't seem to see who the real culprits are.

i enjoyed this film although the download audio went outta sync a bit, unfortunate but wadya gonna do, the price of a free flick ehhh!
i agree with many of the older comments, it would have been nice to see a progression of events after the over breeding& under breeding couples, i think it misses the mark when it jumps 500years ahead without much political/social explanation.
the think which interests me is that acording to Wiki out of a possible 2500+ theatres this film only ran in 125 (in 8-10 citys) around the u.s recouperated around $450,000. , the expences of this film were listed as 25-35million and i believe if it was given a countrywide release it would have surly recouped its costs
part of me sees this as a way to kill off mike juges finacial bankability and because his cites gatorade/starbucks/wrestling/monster-trucks& inane t.v i belive this movie is a threat to many interests & thus it benifits those to keep it out of circulation.
im from ireland and glad to be able to see this film, we tend to only get the bankable movies from the u's sometimes months after their release (example 'no country for old men is only out here now -late jan 08)
however thanks to this beloved internet we can decide what we want to see, praise for judge's courage to do this but i hope he is not discredited too much because the company can just say to him :-"Mike this film didnt make our costs back im sorry were not making anymore of your films,'
apparently hollywood is very serious on covering costs of films made and this hasnt done it but obviously to anyone who has seen it would know that if it got a country wide release and a release in europe it would have made loads of bucks............conflict of interest methinks!?!?
its a shame because this film has things to say but it was gagged.

Anyone who didn't find this movie a continues laugh riot, can "Sit your Monkey ass down"

i liked it also

I just loved it!

The movie was 86 minutes long. <~Talking of first reply.

In reality, if you look at the stats; the dumb, poor, uneducated in America are no longer having large families. They have more or less the same birthrates as the educated, fairly intelligent middle and upper classes.
America is only growing fast in population because of unusually high immigration rates in recent years.
If immigration were put back to it's normal modest level, there would only be slight population growth.
So it is a myth that the country is getting dumber. It isn't necessarily getting alot smater either. There are plenty of dumb people and entertainment, but is also alot of intelligent people and entertainment.
There are a number of very intelligent movies and tv stations on cable, as well as the stupid ones.
If you want to find intelligent books, movies, tv, cable tv, etc. you can find it.

In reality, if you look at the stats; the dumb, poor, uneducated in America are no longer having large families. They have more or less the same birthrates as the educated, fairly intelligent middle and upper classes.
America is only growing fast in population because of unusually high immigration rates in recent years.
If immigration were put back to it's normal modest level, there would only be slight population growth.
So it is a myth that the country is getting dumber. It isn't necessarily getting alot smater either. There are plenty of dumb people and entertainment, but is also alot of intelligent people and entertainment.
There are a number of very intelligent movies and tv stations on cable, as well as the stupid ones.
If you want to find intelligent books, movies, tv, cable tv, etc. you can find it.

Yes Jimbo, that is a good analysis. I agree with you that vegetarians and lawyers are bug-eyed and support fascism. I think they were also responsible for the holocaust. I heard that Hitler was a vegetarian. If he was also a lawyer then I think we can prove the case that most of the "idiots" portrayed in this movie are actually the saviors of the free world, with supplies and rations provided by the beneficence of the corporate giants who actually do love us, not just say it like in this movie. I encourage everyone to take the lead of Jimbo and I and join the band of merry Republicans. We can save the environment by not cutting down trees for books! End fascism by not knowing what it or anything else is! 9-11! WHOO! And to anyone who disagrees with my or Jimbo's posts, you are probably a eugenicist. And by fascist I mean lefty. And by lefty I mean eugenicist. And by eugenicist I mean fascist. It has come full circle.

The funniest part of the movie is the glowing reviews from liberals. They are too stupid to realize the movie entirely based on Eugenics. Eugenics suggestively means that bug-eyed skinny vegitarian lawyers have better DNA then everyone else. And you leftys laughed and laughed. I laugh with your, or am I laughing at your stupidity?

Absolutley the funniest and most awesome film that I've seen in quite a while. One of the few that I've ever had a desire to watch a second time. I watched it with my husband and a few days later with my daughter and then recommended it to my friend and mother. Pretty sure everyone should see it at least once!

This is a good film on several levels. First, big government outright runs the government. Second, yes we are going against evolution. Third, read and learn or this is our future. Fourth, look who laughs at the fart jokes. Last, that guitar band was AWESOME! What concepts of a future run by idiots. Some could argue we are ruled by idiots now.

But to recognize the smartest person and promote them goes against what the future represents for this film. Education wasn't disucussed, except that it could be purchased from Costco. This is a well maid movie - OH no, it is rubbing off on me! This can be frustrait - frustreyt - you fag!

The whole idea that Idiocracy can happen because Cleatis and Trish are bunnies and that because no predator exists anymore that their children will come to dominate our world is really a dumbing down of what actually is going on in our nation. Survival of the Fittest is just "Might makes Right" all over again. Thrasymachus must be quite proud that his thoughts live on.

Returning to the movie: While I enjoyed the movie, it made me feel slightly claustrophobic, for it seemed to be filmed on the same block repeatedly. I do think that this movie is a social commentary, it also seems a parody of a social commentary at the same time. The story and romance of Joe and Rita I found to be more of a parody of these type of films, and I didn't take it too seriously, nor did I feel was it meant to be taken seriously. Overall my impression of the movie, while it was funny, it seemed to me go so far as to make fun of itself at the same time.

To quote my roommate upon seeing the movie "It just looks like he took California and shoved it into a microcosm of itself".

What I think could have made the movie better, was it could have explained what had led the world to this point in more precise terms. There was just something missing that could have been added when the Yuppies were on the screen.

How did Americans come to value consumerism and de-evolve? By the intellectuals destroying Western Civilization. America was founded upon the principles and hopes of people who were large fans of Western Ideologies. When taken to extreme ends Western Civilization can be called racist, sexist, elitist, and all of those other offensive yet true items. Yet it also examines what it is to be a human being and inspires people to become better than what they are. However what postmodernist thinkers and PC censors are doing is just telling you to ignore the culmination of Western thought because it is sexist, racist, elitist, etc. The fact isn't that the intellectual people didn't just "stop breeding" as Idiocracy hints. Or at least it isn't as simple as what they portray. It is the fact that intellectuals are too much at war with one another, and are focused too much on a crusade to censor and explain Western Civilization away.

So while yes more people are going to college to become educated, this really just is a self defeating concept because the professors aren't interested in teaching what has inspired some of the most brilliant minds to strive to achieve a better world. They instead are interested in training those who go to college to not take Western thought seriously. They train them to read Shakespeare and only see the racism and sexism he has, instead of studying the uncanny truths of humanity Shakespeare analyzes. Instead of reading Jane Austen for the delightfully witty yet moving story, they read it and say how Jane Austen must have been a socially repressed woman who was secretly trying to fight the patriarchy (Nice try, anyone who thinks that needs to reread her Emma).

Here is a sample of some English courses being offered in American Colleges and Universities around the nation:

English 276.401 Comparative Cross-Dressing (Cary Mazer) University of Pennsylvania, Spring 2006
English 22807 32852 Race and Ethnicity in the Caribbean, University of Chicago (Rosamond King), Fall 2005
English 398 Latino/a Popular Culture (Brady, M.) Cornell University, Spring 2007
English 597 Sex Outside the City (Scott Herring), Pennsylvania State University, Spring 2007
English S3024D Topics in literary theory: reading Freud (D. Moses) Columbia University, Summer 2006
English 448b Globalization & Postcolonial Writing (Shameem Black), Yale University, Spring 2007

And these are supposed to be some the top colleges in the United States.

It seems these days Professors would rather be teaching something else besides their own subject.

They reduce history to what happens in Idiocracy via the "Time Machine" where the good guys win, and the bad guys loose, or convert to being good in the end.

The three-fifths compromise is remembered as "the founders thought slaves were just three-fifths of a person". Instead of the argument was over the issue of representation in the government: that the Southern states wanted the slaves to count as a whole person, while the Northern states didn't want them to be counted at all.

Postmodern thought teaches us that we should be what we already are, essentially. To strive for any idea of perfection or betterment is seen as borderline racist and prejudicial. Society is the best it can ever be, and to strive for an even better world is a waste of time. That is what postmodern thought teaches. It teaches that we are at the height of civilization and that we can't get any better. So therefore, we'll stop right here and go no further, thank you very much. And what do you think is happening when all of these kids go to college and hear that? It makes them go home and think that they are already the best they can possibly be, so why try and be better? Instead, let's make fun of those who think they can be better, because we all know that we can't anymore, that would hurt people's feelings, it would trample on others as well. Progress, for Progresses' sake is just laughable.

So essentially, what it boils down to, is that the intellects have stopped teaching Literature and History, the two tools which benefit society the most because they improve and culture people. Those that attend college nowadays are fast being denied the literature which has cultured and bettered many a person, and instead being offered "Multicultural Studies" instead. I say leave Multicultural studies to Anthropology, and give us back the study of Pope, Swift, Johnson, Marlowe, Shakespeare, Austen, Lewis, Twain, Faulkner, O'Conner, and such. People in the past have after all benefited from this literature. Lincoln after all learned his English reading Shakespeare by the fireplace, without anyone standing over his shoulder telling him how he should be reading it.

The one time we have a chance to improve more of our society than we have ever had before is wasted, because we've given up on the things that have made us smarter. We instead opt out for a plateau, and hope that we can keep that plateau running on forever, but as Idiocracy tells us, everything must eventually come to a decline.

So what happens when you destroy your past or try to forget about it by rewriting or censoring it? You make the same mistake twice. That is a concept as old as time itself, but is as true as ever it was.

So essentially it is the intellectuals' faults that Idiocracy can come true. They deny literature that has inspired many to strive for a better world, or teach it (because they are forced to) by telling the students to look for certain things, write an essay about how our current world is better and go home feeling satisfied that you took down a Western thinker with essentially the intellectuals' version of the phrase "That's gay".

~Salamon2

I saw a link on LinkFilter.net about this movie, so I've been looking for discussions about it. The thing that bothers me most to read in this discussion is so many people believing that stupid people are breeding out of control, and that this poses a real threat to society. This belief falls under the heading of Social Darwinism, a philosophy which has been associated with some of the biggest racists and bigots in modern history, and also thoroughly discredited.

The dumbing down of society is a serious problem, but the idea that it's being caused by "stupid" people breeding out of control is not true. To believe it is to be stupid yourself.

This movie hits on the reality, which is scary. Nowadays, we tend to watch TV a lot, movies, and other visual "easiness to the brain", if I may call it that. Reading books is minimal or non-existent, unless going to school. Yeah, we are killing brain cells everyday.

Plus the overpopulating the world with stupid people is taking place today. The 'Hugger Family’ is making this movie a reality -- they just had their 17th kid and want more, which I think is ridicules. Supposedly they are all “home schooled” – yeah right. Anyway, I am afraid of out future.

I personally loved this movie.

People are killing braincells because they sit through too many movies expecting endings that aren't realistic... What makes a "good" movie nowadays? Realism? Thought provoking ideas? Nope... It's all about the protagonist experiencing a "change," "good conquering evil," something has to happen at the end... If the movie is left to open thought, it sucks. That is the attitude of movie watchers nowadays. Who cares about storylines, the average person is ooo'ed and ahhh'ed by explosions and special effects. Even if their intellects try to persuade them of what a pointless movie that was, they'll still be convinced it wasn't a complete waste of time because at the end, the good guy won...