IDIOCRACY

Idiocracy was directed by Mike Judge who created the popular animated TV shows King Of The Hill and Beavis & Butthead (yes, THAT Beavis & Butthead!). The film stars Luke Wilson--brother of fellow actor Owen Wilson (yes, THAT Owen Wilson!)--as a man of average intelligence--not too dumb, not too bright--who volunteers to be cryogenically frozen as part of a military experiment. When said military experiment gets abruptly shut down, Luke's character doesn't get "reawakened" until years later and finds himself in an America SO dumbed down that it's a wonder people can walk upright! Whereas during his time Luke's character was deemed of average intelligence, everyone in the future America that he finds himself in is such a simpleton that he's actually considered a genius. This film was billed as a comedy, but, after watching it, I felt kind of depressed. Why, you might ask? Because America is about halfway there to the America depicted in the film, that's why! For instance, one of the first things Luke's character does is go see a movie called "Ass" which just shows a person's naked ass for about ninety minutes. Remember, we now live in a country where a film like "Jackass"--a flick which shows a bunch of doofuses playing pranks that the average high-schooler plays on a daily basis in this country--is a box office hit. Also, the President of the United States is a former professional wrestler. I mean, we're currently way too smart to EVER elect a mere celebrity to high office, isn't THAT right, Ronald Reagan & Arnold Schwarzenegger? In fact, this film reportedly bombed with test audiences because they couldn't "understand" the plot of the flick. I don't think there's anything more that needs to be said, do you?