An American 'Idiocracy' -- dumbed down and vulgar

Can you imagine a future America where the masses are ignorant, where profanity is rampant – even in advertising – and commercialism and crassness rule the day?

No, I’m not talking about 2008.

Over the weekend I finally caught Mike Judge’s 2006 film “Idiocracy,” which was basically cut off at the knees by its studio, 20th Century Fox, for reasons that are still unclear. If you believe in what Judge is trying to say, the country is headed for hell in a handbasket because we are growing stupider by the day.

Judge is the creator of the widely successful “Beavis & Butthead” cartoon that aired on MTV, as well as the long-running sitcom “King of the Hill.” He was also responsible for the cult classic “Office Space,” which lampooned the ridiculousness of life in the cube farms.

His work has long explored the theme of intelligence – or lack of it. Beavis and Butthead, for example, were morons raised on television, with no parental oversight whatsoever. Hank Hill is a Texas everyman, a guy who gets by on hard work, plain values and the lessons of his own life experiences. He’s not smart by conventional means, but he’s often more wise than those around him.

Judge’s track record in creating smart, pointed commentary made a lot of folks eager to see “Idiocracy.” Unfortunately, Fox had other plans and the movie was basically leaked out with no fanfare to a limited number of theaters, where it quietly died.


You can't say that

For Fox, the major themes of the movie may have just been too controversial.

“Idiocracy” is a dystopian tale of two Americans who are put to sleep for one year in an Army experiment. The plan goes awry, however, and the duo wake up 500 years in the future, in an America that is, well, basically stupid.

What our heroes find is that over the centuries, careful family planning by high IQ Americans has been offset by rampant breeding among the not-so-bright set, leading to a future world in which pretty much everyone is a vulgar doofus.

That makes our dynamic duo the smartest folks on the planet, even though back in the day they were nothing more than a regular Army joe and a prostitute.


Not what we believe, right?

That idea, of course, goes against everything we like to believe in modern-day, politically correct America – where everyone is “above average” and capable of becoming a nuclear physicist, if only we spent more money on public education. So it’s no wonder that Judge’s film caused a few raised eyebrows at Fox. Studio execs were no doubt worried about the backlash that might follow given the movie’s themes of class and intelligence and the impact of dysgenics on society.

Add to that the unspoken but obviously related topics of unchecked immigration, high inner-city drop-out rates and the creation of a permanent underclass and you have a PC nightmare.

Not to mention that “Idiocracy” savagely punctures society’s obsession with consumer brands and the power that corporations have over everyday life, themes that might not have resonated well with Fox’s television executives.

Unfortunately, those interesting points of view killed a movie that has an underlying message we probably all ought to see.

Before we’re all too stupid to understand it.