Idiocracy

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Idiocracy

Promotional poster for Idiocracy
Directed by Mike Judge
Produced by Mike Judge
Elysa Koplovitz
Michael Nelson
Written by Mike Judge
Etan Cohen
Narrated by Earl Mann
Starring Luke Wilson
Maya Rudolph
Dax Shepard
Music by Theodore Shapiro
Cinematography Tim Suhrstedt
Editing by David Rennie
Distributed by 20th Century Fox
Release date(s) September 3, 2006
Running time 84 minutes
Country United States
Language English
Budget $25 Million-35 Million
Gross revenue US$444,000 (Domestic)
Allmovie profile
IMDb profile

Idiocracy is a 2006 American dark comedy directed by Mike Judge, and starring Luke Wilson and Maya Rudolph. The two main characters sign up for a military hibernation experiment that goes awry, and they awaken 500 years in the future. They discover that the world has devolved into a dystopia where marketing, commercialism, and cultural anti-intellectualism run rampant and dysgenic pressure has resulted in a uniformly stupid human society. Despite its lack of a major theatrical release, the film has achieved something of a cult following because of its anti-corporate message and satire of the mass media. Mike Judge's previous success with Office Space helped fuel the film's popularity for a DVD video release.

Contents

[edit] Synopsis

The movie begins with an introduction, accompanied by a voiceover, that explains the concept of unintelligent people enthusiastically outbreeding competent people, creating a future society which is irreversibly less functional. Demographic superiority now favours those least likely to advance the interests of society.[1] Consequently, the children of educated elites become overwhelmed in a sea of promiscuous, illiterate, beer-swilling, jet ski-crashing peers.

In 2005, Army librarian Joe Bauers (Luke Wilson), the military's "most average" soldier, and Rita (Maya Rudolph), a prostitute who is terrified of her pimp, Upgrayedd (pronounced up•grade, the two D's are for a "double-dose of his pimping"), are selected as guinea pigs for a year-long secret military hibernation project. The two are sealed into hibernation chambers to be awakened one year later, but the experiment is forgotten when the officer in charge (Michael McCafferty) is arrested on prostitution charges. The military base is later demolished, and a Fuddruckers (eventually devolving into Buttfuckers in the future) is built on the site.

Five hundred years into the future, Joe's and Rita's containers are jarred open in the 'Great Garbage Avalanche of 2505', reviving both of them. Joe crashes into the apartment of an idiotic citizen named Frito Pendejo (Dax Shepard). Frito is a typical citizen in this future, with an apartment full of junk food and a prominently-placed giant television covered in ads; even his name is a haphazard combination of a product mascot (Frito Bandito) and a derogatory slang word. Joe is somewhat disoriented after a brief conversation with Frito, who insults Joe's more advanced manner of speech, and visits the hospital, where Dr. Lexus (Justin Long) diagnoses him as simply "'tarded" and "fucked up". Lexus erupts into panic when he discovers Joe has no barcode tattoo on his wrist and cannot be scanned for payment, and Joe finally learns that 500 years have elapsed since the Army placed him into stasis. He is disturbed by the sight of the world falling apart outside a nearby window and flees the hospital, only to be arrested at a Carl's Jr. vending booth for failing to pay his hospital bill and not having a standard-issue tattoo.

Joe's defense lawyer at trial is none other than Frito, who stupidly helps to convict him instead of providing a defense. Joe is sent to prison, where a poorly designed I.D. machine mistakenly records Joe's name as "Not Sure" and barcodes him as such. During a mandatory (and very simple) I.Q. test, Joe realises just how stupid humanity has become. Easily escaping his dim-witted captors, Joe returns to Frito's apartment and asks if a time machine exists to help him return to the past. Frito claims that there is, but he agrees to help only after Joe promises him billions of dollars in interest on a bank account that Joe will open in the past.

En route to the time machine, Joe and Frito find Rita. She doesn't realise she's been asleep for 500 years until Joe tells her so, but even so, she thinks Upgrayedd will find her. Frito leads them to a city-sized Costco, where Joe is arrested again after his barcode is accidentally scanned. Instead of going to jail, Joe is taken to the White House. President Dwayne Elizondo Mountain Dew Herbert Camacho (Terry Crews) has seen Joe's I.Q. test (which shows him to be the most intelligent man in the world) and recruits him as Secretary of the Interior to correct the world's food shortages, crippled economy, mountains of garbage, and related issues. Joe learns that water has been replaced by Brawndo: The Thirst Mutilator, a drink advertised as rich in electrolytes, for virtually every purpose, including crop irrigation. Water is only used in toilets. Over time, the electrolytes in the Brawndo had accumulated in the soil, killing the crops and causing the food shortage.

After Joe reintroduces the use of water for crops, the giant Brawndo Corporation's stock plummets, causing massive unemployment without visibly improving the crop situation. The angry population subsequently riots, and Joe is sentenced to a Running Man/Mad Max/demolition derby style "rehabilitation". Meanwhile, Rita discovers that Joe's reintroduction of water to the soil has finally made vegetation sprout in the fields. To save Joe (and with Frito in tow), she bribes a TV cameraman to show the thriving crops to the world. Before they reach the crop field, they are distracted by a sale at Starbucks, now a brothel chain. It is only after Frito gets into an argument with the cameraman that he remembers his duty, and picks up the camera. The President sees the thriving new plants on the stadium's big screen televisions and grants Joe a pardon just as he is about to be incinerated by a flame thrower.

At the celebration, Joe decides to stay to help fix civilization, where President Camacho names him Vice President. He also learns that the "Time Masheen" is just a bad amusement park history ride where Charlie Chaplin is depicted as leader of the Nazi party who used dinosaurs to wage war on the world, and the U.N. is called the "Un", having "Un-Nazied the world forever." Joe serves a short term as Vice President, then is elected President at the end of Camacho's term. Joe and Rita eventually marry and have three of the world's smartest children, while Frito also marries several wives, and fathers thirty-two of the world's stupidest children, echoing the film's introduction.

After the credits, a third hibernation capsule is shown opening, releasing a snappily dressed Upgrayedd into the world, intent on tracking down Rita.

[edit] Cast

According to a radio interview with Mike Judge, he originally offered the cameo role of the Brawndo CEO to Office Space star Ron Livingston, but instead cast Thomas Haden Church because of scheduling conflicts.[citation needed]

[edit] Production

Early working titles included The United States of Uhh-merica[2] and 3001. Filming took place during 2004 in and around the cities of Austin, San Marcos, Pflugerville, and Round Rock, Texas.[3] Test screenings around March 2005 produced unofficial reports of poor audience reactions. After some re-shooting in the summer of 2005, a UK test screening in August produced a report of a positive impression.[4]

[edit] Release issues

As of February 2005 the film's scheduled release date was August 5, 2005, according to Mike Judge.[5] In April 2006, a release date was set for September 1, 2006. In August, numerous articles[6] revealed that release was to be put on hold indefinitely. Idiocracy was released as scheduled but only in seven cities (Los Angeles, Atlanta, Toronto, Chicago, Dallas, Houston and Mike Judge's hometown, Austin), and expanded to only 125 theaters, not the usual wide release of 2500-3000 theaters. According to the Austin American-Statesman[7], 20th Century Fox, the film's distributor, did nothing to promote the movie — while posters were released to theatres, no movie trailers, television ads, or press kits for media outlets were provided. The film was not screened for critics.[8] Lack of concrete information from 20th Century Fox led to speculation that Fox may have actively tried to keep the film from being seen by a large audience, while fulfilling a contractual obligation for theatrical release ahead of a DVD release, according to Ryan Pearson of AP.[9] In the New York Times Dan Mitchell argued that Fox might be shying away from a cautionary tale about low-intelligence dysgenics.[10] John Patterson of The Guardian suggests it is a result of the film's anti-corporate message, noting that in the film Starbucks now delivers handjobs, and the motto of Carl's Jr. has devolved from "Don't Bother Me. I'm Eating." to "Fuck You! I'm Eating!"[11] Also in the film, a Carl's Jr. vending machine cheats a customer, Fuddruckers' name gradually morphs into "Buttfuckers", the fictional Brawndo corporation buys the F.D.A. and the F.C.C, and the Fox News Channel is depicted in unflattering newscasts (20th Century Fox, which distributed the film, and the Fox News Channel are both owned by the Rupert Murdoch-controlled News Corporation).

[edit] Reception

Idiocracy was not screened for critics. Its much-delayed release received no publicity and the film was initially distributed to only 130 screens.

Despite these troubles, the film received generally favorable reviews by critics. It received a 70% "fresh" rating on Rotten Tomatoes[12] (from 37 reviews). Praise focused on concept, casting, and humour; the worst of the criticism was directed at the film's release issues, and some special effects and pacing problems.

Box office receipts totaled $444,093 in 135 theaters in the U.S.[13]

[edit] Releases

The movie was released on DVD on January 9, 2007 with fullframe and widescreen aspect ratios, deleted scenes, English and Spanish spoken language tracks, and subtitles in English, Spanish, and French. So far it has earned $9 million on DVD rentals, over 20 times the limited theatrical release. [14] On September 1, 2007 the film opened for cable and satellite viewers on the Cinemax premium channel, and started airing on HBO networks in January 2008.

[edit] Cult following

Despite the small release and lack of promotion, Idiocracy has grown to have a strong following. In 2007, Omni Consumer Products [15] (named after the fictitious RoboCop corporation) and Redux Beverages introduced a real Brawndo energy drink.[16] It is marketed online with a tongue-in-cheek YouTube advertisement featuring the voice of comedian Mark Little, inspired by one of his sketches called "Powerthirst."[17]

[edit] See also

[edit] References

  1. ^ "Cognoscenti of the world, procreate" Neo-Cognoscenti: Global Affairs and Culture, "Cognoscenti of the world, procreate," September 14, 2007.
  2. ^ So What Idiot Kept This Movie Out of Theaters? NPR. Thomas Pierce, January 11, 2007. Retrieved February 9, 2007.
  3. ^ Texas Film Commission Filmography (2000-2006) Office of the Governor. Retrieved 2007-04-27.
  4. ^ Mike Judge's Idiocracy Tests! (etc.) aintitcoolnews.com Eric Vespe for anonymous contributor, August 22, 2005. Retrieved 2007-02-09.
  5. ^ Mike Judge Still Not In "3001" Dark Horizons. Garth Franklin, February 28, 2005. Retrieved 2007-02-09.
  6. ^ MTV Movie File MTV.com. Larry Carroll, August 30, 2006. Retrieved 2007-02-09.
  7. ^ Was 'Idiocracy' treated idiotically? Austin American-Statesman. Chris Garcia, August 30, 2006. Retrieved 2007-02-09.
  8. ^ Idiocracy (review) The Onion A.V. Club. Nathan Rabin, September 6, 2006. Retrieved 2007-02-08.
  9. ^ The mystery of 'Idiocracy'. Associated Press. Ryan Pearson, September 8, 2006. Retrieved 2006-11-25.
  10. ^ Shying away from Degeneracy. New York Times. Dan Mitchell, September 9, 2006. Retrieved 2006-11-25.
  11. ^ Stupid Fox. Guardian UK. John Patterson. September 8, 2006. Retrieved 2006-11-25.
  12. ^ Idiocracy Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved 2007-09-26.
  13. ^ Idiocracy Box Office Mojo. Retrieved 2007-02-02.
  14. ^ Idiocracy - DVD / Home Video Box Office Mojo. Retrieved 2007-06-03.
  15. ^ Omni Consumer Products website
  16. ^ Makers of Cocaine energy drink back with Brawndo, The Press-Enterprise, 2007-11-28
  17. ^ "One Step Closer to Idiocracy: Brawndo to be a Real Drink." posted by Todd Jackson December 3, 2007, accessed December 30, 2007

[edit] External links

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to:
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Mike Judge

Films directed: Beavis and Butt-Head Do America • Office Space • Idiocracy
Television series created: Office Space (Milton/SNL shorts) • Beavis and Butt-head • King of the Hill