Idiocracy

March 26, 2008

Idiocracy is another one of those films that was fucked over by the Studio (20th Century Fox in this case), but gained a cult following once it hit DVD.

Luke Wilson plays Joe Bauers, the most average soldier in the Army. He’s put into hibernation along with Rita (a hooker) for a year as an Army experiment, but when the Officer running the experiment is arrested in a prostitution scandal (a scandal somewhat similar to what’s going on right now with Eliot Spitzer!), the experiment is forgotten. 500 years later, their pods are unearthed in a garbage avalanche and they must survive in a future that has devolved into total chaos where corporate conglomerates run the government and intelligence is derided as “gay.” (If you ask me, that pretty much sums up the 21st century as well as the 26th.)

I don’t think that Dax Shepard was acting in his role as Frito Pendejo – I think he just showed up and played himself.

Idiocracy reminded me of one of Jon Stewart’s jokes during the Oscars – “Normally when you see a black man or woman president, an asteroid is about to hit the Statue of Liberty.” Films always have a black or woman president when shit is either already all fucked up – or about to get fucked up and Idiocracy is no exception. President Camacho is an ex-wrestling champion, elected President for his ability to KICK ASS.

At first, I was totally expecting a Futurama rip-off, but other than the fact that the main character is put into stasis and awakens in a totally bizarre future, there isn’t much similarity. Idiocracy actually has more in common with Buck Rogers than Futurama – in Futurama, Fry is still stupider than everyone else, while Joe and Buck are responsible for saving future society.

I’ve got a pretty good idea of why test screenings might not have gone so well for Idiocracy – it hit too close to home. The average movie goer is NOT going to dig this film – because it’s about them. The big Studios make and market films for the real world equivalents of Clevon and his bastard children. Mouthbreathers do not want to watch movies making fun of Mouthbreathers. I suspect that some of the best satire may have been removed from the film to try to soften the blow, which explains why some of the film comes off as disjointed.

It’s not Office Space, but Idiocracy delivers some pretty good laughs. It’s not that much of a stretch to see Fuddrucker’s devolve into Buttfucker’s or to see that Starbuck’s will be offering handjobs in the future – why not, $5 coffee is already fucking us in the rear. The Costco City was eery – I already have a tendency to feel panicked and claustrophobic when I got to to Costco – I imagine it will only get worse in the future. The only joke that fell flat to me was “Ow, My Balls!” – we already have that show, it’s called America’s Funniest Videos.