Movie Review: Idiocracy

credit: Idiocracy

The social collapse seen in this movie is the type of decline that many people might think is happening with the world at this time, but, thankfully, all types of people are still reproducing. In this comedy, however, it’s seen that intelligent people start to halt their reproduction for various reasons to keep from making a mistake or otherwise, while people of lesser intelligence start to reproduce like rabbits, with multiple partners and no regard for what might happen. One might think that something would come along to offset this, but not in this world. When Joe and Rita, an Army librarian and a hooker, are selected for a particular experiment, they’re left in their stasis pods for five centuries before being released by accident and forced to deal with the beginning of the 26th century. Imagine going to sleep knowing that the world isn’t perfect but that it’s not bound to fall into the abyss at any given moment, then waking up and realizing that it missed the abyss because it was too lazy to fall in. 

credit: Idiocracy

The world is a scary place when it’s dumbed down. 

When a landslide of garbage frees Joe and Rita from their fate-imposed confinement, they awake to a world that they barely recognize as Joe finds that sounding even mildly intelligent is enough to get him ostracized and arrested since he doesn’t possess the tattoo marker that everyone receives as identification. Because of this, once he does receive it, his name is changed to Not Sure, and he’s given a bit of hope by one individual that tells him of a time machine that can get him back to his own time. As he and his new companion try their best to reach the time machine, they eventually run into Rita. The latter is less than helpful at first but does join them and ends up becoming quite helpful as she and Joe stick together to understand the world they woke into. 

In the land of the dumb, the intelligent folks are still ridiculed until they prove their worth. 

Learning the world is a severely dumbed-down version of itself is a severe shock, but learning that certain things have changed so drastically is even worse. From the streets to the presidency, the United States of America is a very different place in this movie, and as Joe makes his way through it, he becomes someone of importance, and then he becomes someone that people end up listening to. The fact that he has to face off against two monster trucks with special modifications is kind of crazy. Still, the idea that an average human being becomes president at one point is, well, kind of an exciting prospect since if such a thing were to happen in the real world, wink wink, it would be seen as kind of an oddity. But in Idiocracy, the average is the new intelligent, and what was once considered to be a limited intellect becomes a superior weapon that can be used to help the world right itself once again. 

credit: Idiocracy

As a movie, this is pretty funny. As social commentary, it’s kind of terrifying. 

It’s still a grandiose way to say that America, or the world, is getting dumber and dumber, but Idiocracy stands out as a worst-case scenario that some people are certain could come to pass at one point or another. It’s extreme, to say the least, but it’s still something that many people would claim is possible given the right conditions. And if you believe that, I have a bridge to sell you. The fact is that Idiocracy is a look into a possible future that could come to pass if intelligent people only believed in their own intelligence superficially. This movie is a fun bit of satire that speaks to the overall condition of the USA and how it would appear, to some people, that things are taking a serious downward turn when it comes to our economy, our schools, and the overall intelligence of the people that make up this great nation.

It’s a fun movie, but it glosses over a lot of points. 

That was to be expected, in all honesty, since this movie was meant to be comical, even if it was meant to be a jab at the US somehow. Many people might state that it’s just a stupid movie, and they would be right since it was one more in a long list of stupid comedies that don’t require a lot of thought. In terms of entertainment, it’s one of those that’s great to watch when there’s nothing else on, and a person just needs a cheap laugh that can help them relax. 

But for those who live for conspiracy theories, it’s a little more.