Spoilers
Most of you probably know there’s been a rise of people who claim that “Idiocracy” is actually coming true, and how that movie feels more like a documentary now. And it often turns into a political argument/debate. For example, right-wing/conservative fans of the movie will probably link it to SJWs and identity politics, liberal or left-wing fans may claim that the movie predicted Trump’s presidency, his supporters and Qanon, and so on.
Here are two videos about “Idiocracy”, one from right-wing and the other frok liberal/progressive perspective. Neither are particularly intelligent nor insightful.
The Dave Cullen Show - Dystopian Futures: Idiocracy Review
Cracked.com - Why Idiocracy Would Actually Be A Utopia
In the first video, the reviewer completely misses the movie’s very obvious criticism of consumerism and unregulated capitalism, and turns the whole argument into a socialist strawman. In the end, his whole argument ends up being against the “wellfare state”, something that wasn’t even mentioned in the movie.
As for the Cracked.com video, the host claims that the world of “Idiocracy” would arguably be better than what we have today, because racism and sexism seemingly do not exist. However, he seems to be forgetting that racism or sexism in itself isn’t the only thing that’s bad, but rather actions that come from those prejudices (violence, crime). And all those things (violence, hate, destruction) obviously still exist in the world of “Idiocracy”, even more so than in the modern-day US, they are just not racially motivated. Systemic issues like police brutality, megacorporations, nepotism etc. still exist too, just without a racial component. Regardless if somebody beats you up or kills you because of your race, religion, gender, or because you “talk like a f*g”, or because you told them to drink water instead of Brawndo, it’s still loss of life or limb over something stupid.
But ultimately, such interpretations seem to be looking for something that isn’t there. There is some politics in the movie, sure, since Joe has to work with the president/government in order to stop the starvation, and eventually even becomes the president himself. But it is politics in the most basic form. All the other political issues (racial politics, higher and lower taxes, gun laws, immigration, abortion, global warming/energy bills, free speech etc.) are not even mentioned in the movie.
The movie satirizes/parodies American popular culture (at the time), and hyper-consumerism. I think that is pretty obvious, with the whole Brando stuff, but some people don’t seem to see the forest from the trees and end up going in a completely different direction.
Let’s take a look at the time “Idiocracy” was made: 2005/2006. In the early to mid 2000s, entertainment/“reality” shows like “Punk!d”, “Jackass” and “Survivor” were very popular. Notoriously unfunny Carlos Mencia was also seemingly everywhere, even having his own show, “Mind of Mencia”, on Comedy Central from 2005 to 2008. Also, as ridiculous as that may sound, the rise of pop-stars like Britney Spears and Avril Lavigne was criticized by many at the time as the downfall/decline of music industry/art. That trend then contonued in late 2000s/early 2010s, with the criticism shifting to artists/performers like Justin Bieber, Katy Perry, One Direction and others.
It’s interesting to compare comments on songs/lyrics from 15-20+ years ago, to the more recent ones:
But the most obvious example in the movie is “The Masturbation Network”/“Go away, baitin’!” scene. It combines three of America’s favorite unhealthy indulgences/obsessions: pornography, trashy late-night TV and unhealhy food. The program literally shows a model cutting a stake with her feet. (My only complaint is that the stake was not big and greasy enough. It should have been a large T-bone steak, with French fries, fried onions and ketchup or mayonnaise as a side-dish… or mashed potatoes and green beans!)
Interesting enough, many negative stereotypes about Americans being overweight, uneducated, ignorant etc. seemed to come about in the late 90s and early 2000s. Before that, most of western European countries seemed to have a favorable opinion of the US and Americans, thanks in part to their joined goals and efforts during the Cold war.
It was also around that time that the whole “Americans have no culture” and “LOL America is less than 300 years old” attitude started becoming more and more common. Before that, most people would see such complaints as ridiculous, because a) every country has to start sometime/somewhere, b) the US was formed as a result of mistreatment by the British, c) Americans alive today have nothing to do woth how or when the US was formed and d) the US constitution called for free speech, secularism, gun rights etc. over a decade prior to the French revolution.
