Sometimes I Feel Like an Idiot: Mike Judge's Idiocracy

Satire is difficult, and Mike Judge certainly doesn't pull punches. Unlike in King of the Hill, subtlety isn't his style in Idiocracy. Instead, he goes all out for every gag in the book. Every nuance is there to portray society as simply stupid.

What works in the film is the premise. That's even what carries it through until the end. You probably already know what it's about: society has gotten dumber and dumber (sic) until by the year 2500, the world (or at least America) is on the brink of collapse because they can't solve any of their problems, ones that they caused in the first place. In comes an average guy from the year 2000, and he's hailed as a genius. He must now solve all of humanity's problems, from the death of crops to the overflow of garbage.

It's a good premise.

What doesn't work, though, is the way the movie becomes a series of gags: sight, sound, etc. I guess a world of really stupid people would actually be full of gags, but it really just seems like a bunch of stupid people from the year 2000, not from the year 2500. Nothing has really changed in those 500 years except that people still can't solve their own problems.

So all in all, Idiocracy is a decent film with a great premise. The genius of it is also its problem: it is couched in a faraway land (like allegory or a lot of satire) that is really available right here at home. But the truth is generally easier to take when it seems faraway.

The other thing I like about this post is how people like to think they're above the critique. Just look at some reviews for the movie. Really, though, we're all kind of that stupid, either like Luke Wilson or like the stupid people there for laughs.