Dax Shepard, Luke Wilson, and Maya Rudolph in Idiocracy
It would likely require more science than anyone is willing to do, but it would be interesting to see if there’s any correlation between the world being a disaster and people being drawn to the 2006 comedy Idiocracy.
The movie was a flop when it came out, but it did steadily become something of a cult hit right around when the recession happened a few years later. Then, for some reason, people started talking about it again in 2016. Now, possibly for the same reason, people are talking about it again as Idiocracy has started to climb the Netflix streaming charts. Whatever the reason is for its continued relevance… it is kind of exhausting that Idiocracy continues to be so relevant. Directed by Mike Judge from a script he co-wrote with Etan Cohen , the movie is a sci-fi comedy set in an all-too-possible dystopian future where corporations and stupidity control the United States. The explanation for the dumb future is largely pinned on eugenics, which is to say stupid people with “bad genes” having children while smart people with “good genes” don’t, all of which is offensive, uncomfortable, and scientifically inaccurate, but “smart people should have children and stupid people shouldn’t” is not really the point of the movie. That’s not to say this is meant to be a turn-your-brain-off goofy comedy, though, because its sense of humor is so dark and so prophetic that it might eventually turn the corner and stop feeling like a comedy at all. Why Is ‘Idiocracy’ Still So Relevant Today? Idiocracy stars Luke Wilson as a perfectly average American who is chosen for an experiment that will leave him — and, due to a lack of suitable female candidates, a sex worker played by Maya Rudolph — in suspended animation. They wake up 500 years later in what can best be described as an “idiocracy” where society is ruled by very stupid people. Everyone is named after fast food, they spend all day watching mindless lowbrow comedies on TV , and the country is on the verge of an agricultural collapse because crops are being watered with a sports drink called Brawndo after its parent company bought the FCC and FDA. There’s also President Dwayne Elizondo Mountain Dew Herbert Camacho , who is sort of a Hulk Hogan-type and likely poking fun at the then-recent election of Arnold Schwarzenegger as the governor of California. President Camacho is the obvious point of continued relevancy for Idiocracy, because he’s more of a showman than a politician and is more interested in successful branding than solving the country’s problems. He drapes everything in the Stars and Stripes, wears a gold medallion of the presidential seal, and has a funny hairstyle. He also has no real plans or ideas beyond what would make for a good spectacle. Any of that seem relevant yet? Camacho’s saving grace, and possibly the clearest indicator that this movie is from 2006 and not 2016 or 2024, is that he’s not an evil president who desperately clings to power and crushes anyone who disagrees with him, he’s just dumb. Sure, he tries to publicly execute Wilson’s character at a monster truck rally when he suggests that plants should have water instead of Brawndo, but the country embraces Wilson’s wild ideas when it turns out that he’s right. Actually, the country rallying around a guy who actually knows how to solve problems rather than the funny showman with a big personality is more dated than anything. That’s why, despite what people will jokingly say every few years when Idiocracy becomes relevant again, it’s definitely a sci-fi comedy and not a documentary. Idiocracy 10 stars 9 stars 8 stars 7 stars 6 stars 5 stars 4 stars 3 stars 2 stars 1 star Like R Comedy Science Fiction Adventure Release Date September 1, 2006 Runtime 84 minutes Director Mike Judge Writers Etan Cohen, Mike Judge Producers Elysa Koplovitz Dutton Cast See All
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