Idiocracy (2005)

Director and Writer: Mike Judge

Starring Luke Wilson, Maya Rudolf, and Michael McCafferty

For a hibernation project the military chooses Joe Bauers (Luke Wilson), a U.S. Army Librarian, as the male subject.  The experimenters choose him for his across the board averageness and lack of immediate family or anyone who might miss him.  Joe’s female counterpart could not be found in the military so they paid off a pimp, from the private sector, named Upgrayedd (Brad “Scarface” Jordan) to provide them with a prostitute, named Rita (Maya Rudolph), who could meet the conditions they needed.  In 2005, the two become sealed in hibernation chambers that are scheduled for opening in a year.  However, the director of the experiment, Colonel Collins (Michael McCafferty) became obsessed with the pimp lifestyle when acquiring permission to use Rita.  He began a prostitution ring that got busted and the project was forgotten.

In the Great Garbage Avalanche of 2505, the hibernation pods open and Joe and Rita emerge from them alive.  Due to the breeding patterns of humans whereby the lack of predators for humans causes the exponential increase of stupid people because of their predilection for impregnating each other surpasses the reproductive habits of smart people.  Joe finds himself in a world that doesn’t know how to properly dispose of garbage or grow their crops.  Joe is proscecuted because his speaking manner lacks the urban street slang crossed with hillbilly style that people normally speak.  So, to the Americans of 2505, he sounds pompous.  Not knowing what to do Joe goes to the hospital.  There he discovers what has happened and becomes a fugitive because he lacks a tattoo with a barcode for I.D.  However, when he’s captured it’s soon discovered that he’s the smartest man in the world and the President of the U.S., President Camacho (Terry Alan Crews) wants to speak to him.

Mike Judge creates a world that anyone who watches Jerry Springer, Judge Judy, or the local news may seem like it could come with Idiocracy.  This concept creates quite a canvas for scathing satire, especially commentary on American culture and media.  Parody TV shows like “Ow My Balls”, ad campaigns like Carl’s Jr.’s slogan “Fuck You, I’m eating,” and the ability for one to get a law degree from Costco are examples of the hysterically funny satire throughout the film.  The media saturation of advertisments for crappy products naturally becomes a part of the dismal landscape created for the film.  Judge proves quite skilled at creating a new world for his premise that is consistent down to people’s manner of speaking.

Joe’s averageness works quite well as a contrast to the stupid people who run the world.  He is not too smart to lose the actual audience’s interest but he’s smart enough to have strength of character that can appeal to the audience.  He can relate to those of us who know our trips to Wal-Mart would go much quicker if the clientelle could be just a little smarter.  However, the dumb people aren’t completely despicable either.  President Camacho really wants to help the people.  Joe’s lawyer Frito Pendajo (Dax Shepard) did get Joe busted but he kind of grows on you after a while.

The visual and character concepts really work well for this film and makes for some very fun watching.  I also like the pro-intelligence theme, even though the film is a comedy it conveys a message about how we think of the intelligent in our society and how we treat them and that maybe being smart can be cool.