Because it seems that the basic premise of the plot is one big love letter to it, creator denials notwithstanding.
Do those who approvingly cite the movie in comparison to real world trends and events really believe in eugenics (majority, I mean)? Do they not realize the implications? Or am I (and, to be fair, others) simply incorrect about what you can take out of the movie (again, disregarding creator intent, at least in this case, since this is about viewers “taking lessons” from the film and directly applying them to real life)?
I don’t know who does or does like the movie. I don’t know why they do or don’t like it. What I do know is that it’s blatantly wrong about one prediction. In so far as it’s possible to measure intelligence, it’s increasing on average in most of the world:
The problem with eugenics is not that it can’t work, it’s that its morally reprehensible. If for several generations we killed off everyone who didn’t have red hair then we would see a change in the gene pool.
You seem to be under the impression that Idiocracy is about the future. It’s not. Like most science fiction, it’s set in the future, but it’s about the present.
I do mind the people who seem to think it was a documentary sent back from the future. Who do seem to think that uneducated people getting married are going to produce an even more uneducated child through the magic of genetics.
Eugenics gets a stain with Hitler and such, but many eugenicists had wanted certain people to breed and make “superior” children, without putting people into camps or killing or sterilizing them. People can even do eugenics privately. At that point, it’s not morally reprehensible at all. But maybe probably a bit creepy. It may be because of Bioshock influence, but I feel that libertarians/Objectivists would get their kicks from that shit.
It’s one of my favorite comedies. But I too hate when people say it’s almost a documentary, or that “it could happen.” That said, intelligence is highly heritable. Education is not, at least directly, of course.
Shit. I know shit’s bad right now, with all that starving bullshit, and the dust storms, and we are running out of french fries and burrito coverings. But I got a solution.
I believe in Idiocracy the way I believe in the Darwin Awards which is to say not at all but it’s fun to think about. With respect to the Darwin awards, it’s fun to think that people make the world better by being stupid and with respect to Idiocracy, I get to imagine I’m evolutionarily better than some hick.
