Idiocracy

Writer and director Mike Judge is a purveyor of the human condition. A very astute observer. Thing is, the bulk of his observations reveal that most of us (all of the time) and all of us (much of the time) act purely out of our own sloth, happily treading down the path of least resistance. Private Joe Bauers (Luke Wilson) is such a specimen. He happily idles the hours away in a basement library, overseeing very little, and getting paid to do it. A slacker's dream come true. In other words, a perfect candidate for a secret government trial known as the "Human Hibernation Project." Spearheaded by Officer Collins, an Army chief of rulebook geekiness (Michael McCafferty), the experiment will involve the hibernation of the "perfectly average" Bauers and the only willing female, a local prostitute, Rita (Maya Randolph) for one year. This cryogenic test will make science fiction reality! Really exceptional soldiers and other exemplary types can be stored indefinitely should this pilot test be a success!

 However, the not unrelated factors of Rita's profession and Collins' eventual arrest and military discharge cause the project to be shelved and forgotten, though after the two have begun their "sleep." As Collins and only a few others were even aware of the experiment, our subjects remain undisturbed for a lot longer than intended. Five hundred years pass. A lot happens in 500 years. The ominous narrator of IDIOCRACY informs us, during a brilliantly funny opening sequence, that natural selection, as of the early 21st century, began to favor traits other than physical strength and especially intellect. Due to the number of individuals procreating who are, less than intelligent, a proliferation of well, likewise offspring began to be prevalent, edging out in sheer number those who are gifted. "Evolution does not necessarily reward intelligence," he drones. "With no natural predators to thin the herd, it began to simply reward those who reproduced the most, and left the intelligent to become an endangered species."

In other words, all those dimwits who couldn't keep it in their pants (primarily trailer dwellers, football scholarship recipients, etc.) made exponential advancements with their fatherhood while more thoughtful, careful types (educated, ineffectual) did not. You do the math. Indeed, as our heroes are eventually awakened, in the year 2505, Joe and Rita discover the town, perhaps the entire world is populated with morons. I mean, really stupid people. Not just ignorant, or even misinformed. Just plain dumb. Not a wit among the populace to know how to dispose of garbage, hold a skyscraper together, or even grow crops (they irrigate the land with Brawndo, an energy sports drink). English has further degenerated into a series of half-mumbles and monosyllables. Everyone goes to college at Costco. The burger chain Fuddruckers is now called, um, something I'd rather not print. Corporations own everything (hmmm). There's a cable network called The Violence Channel, and a show featuring unfortunates kicked in the groin is popular. People go to the movies to watch something called ASS, which is just that-90 minutes of someone's backside, and nothing else. The film, the narrator informs us, won 8 Oscars, including Best Screenplay.

IDIOCRACY did not win any Oscars, or any respect at the box office. Fox gave this a desultory non-release in 2006, dumping it into only a handful of theaters across the U.S. The film deserved better, as it is one of the most astute (and frightening) satires I've seen. The central theme is pushed to amusing extremes, especially when showing what happens to health care, government, public utilities. The President and his Cabinet, awesomely inept. Yes, even more so than recent times have shown. After Joe takes a mandatory standardized exam, he scores so highly (the highest in history) that the President (a professional wrestler) sends for him to solve all the country's problems. In a riotously funny sequence, we hear the Cabinet explain why Brawndo is used to try to (unsuccessfully) grow the aforementioned crops. "...it's got electrolytes.." When Joe suggests water, well, why would something you use to flush the toilet be used to grow plants?! 

Over the top, but the germ of these ideas, yes, already exists. Have you sat and listened people conversing lately? Have you had conversations with people at credit card companies, the DMV? Have you observed how people don't read any more, or their alarming inability to focus on anything for more than a few minutes? Judge certainly has. While I might sound like an elitist, just watch the trends. You need not read heady journals to see that society is becoming, for all its alleged progress, increasingly lazy and infantile in nature. A society like the one depicted in IDIOCRACY is not that hard to figure. The ideas explored in this movie make for a potential bitter classic, but that does not happen, exactly. Judge, creator of Beavis & Butthead, King of the Hill, and OFFICE SPACE, has an acid pen but still loves to revel in bad taste, the crudest possible joke. He wants to have it both ways, but in doing so, you run the risk of being the very thing you are spoofing. 

NATURAL BORN KILLERS tried to offer commentary on media violence and flash, but ended up being as vile as anything it cited. Judge, with each work, provides blistering commentary on lower middle class American life, but also enjoys the earthy pleasures of a fart joke. Well, Shakespeare did offer low humor too, in Twelfth Night was it? Involving urination, to contrast with the more highbrow wit. Judge, however, allows IDIOCRACY to become, primarily, merely a silly comedy, a series of crude gags. And it is hilarious. Painfully funny (in every sense). My favorite bits: pretty much any scene involving Frito, an attorney Joe eventually allies with; the greeting everyone gets at Costco; the map Frito gives to Joe. Many of the gags here are golden, as in OFFICE SPACE (who could forget the GOODFELLAS inspired copier scene?). It's just that Judge, after playing his wicked hand early, seems contented with a parade of vulgarity, easy humor. That doesn't preclude me from recommending IDIOCRACY. Everyone should see this, then go and read a damned book, already.