Idiocracy
If an acid-infused Vonnegut writing as his science fiction-savoring alter ego Kilgore Trout were to comment on the state of our media culture by projecting it 500 years into the future, he might conceive of the world portrayed in Idiocracy. Close enough, we have Mike Judge, the creator of Office Space and Beavis and Butthead, showing that he has his own knack for creating colorful science fiction scenarios coupled with crafty commentary on the varied nuances of our media-based hegemony. Idiocracy depicts the raging, predominant mass media influence that already shows signs of dumbing down our current culture (just ask Europe-loving Gwyneth Paltrow) five centuries to come with a fantastically frightening portrayal of what will happen to us if we continue down this path of mass media mania and rampant breeding among the non-thinkers in society.
Average Joe (Luke Wilson) is the archetype of the typical, male American. Graphs indicate that he is completely common in every single way imaginable and, so this Army electrician is chosen to be a cryogenically contained guinea pig for a year in Project Hibernation. Unfortunately for him and his frozen female counterpart, Rita (Maya Rudolph), the secret project is abandoned within the year and they are forgotten in their self-contained coffins until The Great Garbage Avalanche of 2505 thrusts them from the mountainous landfills attributed to a society that no longer has the mental capacity to tend to such problems.
In this hypothetical future, Joe is discovered to have the highest IQ among those in the sea of stupidity. Slowly but surely the world has been dumbed down to a non-thinking collective where law degrees are attained at Costco, the president of the United States is a popular gladiator-type sports figure, ongoing keggers are thrown on the White House lawn, water sport enthusiasts frolic in the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool and congressional meetings are run in a Jerry Springer-like fashion with lots of bellowing and disjointed babbling void of the seemingly necessary verbs and adjectives that we are accustomed to. The most popular television programs of the day include "Ow! My Balls!" in which its hero is continuously injured in the groin region in every way imaginable and another popular program in which viewers are treated to ongoing clips of flatulent buttocks. Humankind is too stupid to see any of these peculiarities as odd, but they at least have the sense to recognize that they have allowed for many problems that need to be treated. Joe, as the world's smartest person, is soon selected to use his wits to clean up the many messes made by masses who just aren't bright enough to figure out an out to conundrums like what to feed the crops to make them grow. (Without Joe's help they might just keep feeding them the Gatorade-like product that has taken the place of water thanks to a pandemic of product placement.)
Fox Film Corporation released this film in only seven cities and with virtually no advertising. This apparently was not commentary on the subject of Idiocracy (mass media inundation) but a simple unwillingness on Fox's part to support the film that was actually completed in 2004 but remained untouched and polished. Ironically, this lack of attention may be one of the main reasons why Idiocracy is so unique. Yet, it is also obvious that the film is sorely lacking in a real completed feel thanks to the idiotic higher-ups at Fox. An entertaining and thought-provoking film, nonetheless, it makes one wonder what it could have been had it the support that lesser films take for granted.
Grades
Overall: A-
Story: A-
Acting: C+
Visuals: A-
Originality/Innovation: A-
Enjoyability: A-
DVD/Extras: B+
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