Idiocracy by Mike Judge

“Those who forget history are doomed to forget it.”
 
If we ever get through this dark period of politics, our future reveals only a few options. Given our lack of education, society’s unshakable belief in conspiracies and total lack of respect for the sciences or the arts, our future maybe already written for us. So, as we careen through the annals of history, wantedly ignoring all warning signs, I humbly present a little gem of a film by Mike Judge called Idiocracy.
 
“Shit. I know shit's bad right now. With all that starving bullshit. And the dust storms. And we're running out of French Fries and burrito coverings. But I got a solution.” President Camacho.
 
Mike Judge is the award-winning creator of Beavis and Butthead, King of the Hill, the sleeper hit Office Space and HBO’s brilliant Silicon Valley. His humor and social commentary is consistently spot-on, but in Idiocracy, he has transcended humorous political commentary and touched upon the real pulse of a modern, truth ignoring society. While visiting Disneyland, Judge witnessed a cursing match between two mothers with infants in strollers. The verbal joust between the foul-mouthed Madonna’s stuck with him and the idea for this modern classic was born.

​“But the English language had deteriorated into a hybrid of hillbilly, valley girl, inner city slang, and various grunts”.  – Narrator
 
To say that the film is funny is an understatement. It is hilarious. It’s a shame that the main critics of the film happened to be the studio that financed it. Tired of the film’s harsh critiques of corporations, the overall politics and themes, weary executives at 20th Century Fox hoped for a quick transition to video shelves and sat on the finished film for over a year. Eventually, it was released to a very limited run, making little or no of its money back.
 
Despite the negative vibes, critics responded favorably to the film. L.A. Times reviewer Carina Chocano described Idiocracy as "spot on" satire and a "pitch-black, bleakly hilarious vision of an American future."
 
“Hey, at least it’s not another superhero movie.”
 
“Today, the film’s title doubles as a term used in news cycles as a kind of shortcut to describe the world we live in.” When Pixar’s beloved classic “WALL-E” came out in 2008, Roger Ebert pointed to “Idiocracy” as an unconscious influence on the film’s vision of a dumbed-down, consumer-driven future.

Perhaps it’s too late for a lone movie to save civilization. But as we sprint full speed deeper into the land of the ludicrous, Idiocracy by Mike Judge may just predict how this whole human race turns out. You may not like what you see, but at least the laughter may deaden the pain.
 

Next Week: Top 7 Magnificent Seven Films!