Mike Judge’s film “Idiocracy” has finally broken free from its FOX-imposed limbo, and I’ve just moved it up to the top of my Netflix queue. Assuming it’s possible to hook a DVD player up to one of the TVs at the brewery, I was thinking that it might be fun to bring in a bunch of fast food and Gatorade (assuming Rene and Matt will let us) and watch it there. If anyone’s interested, let me know and I’ll look into it…. Here, in the meantime, is a brief synopsis from the UK’s “Guardian“:
…The plot: in the future, the educated and intelligent will be massively out-bred by moronic A-type prison-fodder and Nascar idiots, to the point that all knowledge of engineering, agriculture, medicine and literature will be lost to misty memory. Luke Wilson plays ordinary Joe Bowers, chosen to be frozen by the military in 2005, who accidentally wakes up in 2505 to find a broken-down, thuggish America where language has become a patois of football chants, hip-hop slang and grunts denoting rage, pleasure and priapic longing, where citizens are obese, violent, ever-horny and narcotised by consumerism, TV and fast food. Everything’s branded, and people have names such as BMW, Mountain Dew and Frito. TV features the Violence Channel (its signature show: “Ow, My Balls!”) and the Masturbation Channel (“Keepin’ America ‘batin’ for 300 years!”). The President’s a Smackdown champ and porno superstar, and there’s a mulleted wrestler on the billion-dollar bill. And everyone in the future thinks that Joe Bowers, suddenly the smartest man on earth, “talks like a fag”.
There is venomous anti-corporate satire throughout the movie, remarkable mainly because Judge names real corporations. I was astounded – and invigorated – by the sheer vitriol Judge directs at these companies, who surely now regret permitting the use of their licensed trademarks. Like fast-food giant Carl’s Jr, which in 2006 sells 6,000-calorie burgers the size of dictionaries under the slogan, “Don’t Bother Me, I’m Eating”. In Idiocracy, this has devolved into “Fuck You! I’m Eating!” And every commercial transaction has been sexualised: at Starbucks you can get coffee plus a handjob (or a “full body” latte)…
The “Washington Post,” citing the “scathing humor and the barely concealed rage,” calls it, “Borat’s dark twin.” I think it sounds incredible.
[This post was brought to you by “Armed and Famous,” premiering Wednesday night on CBS.]
15 Comments
The “full body latte” thing is great, isn’t it?
…And my point in including the “Armed and Famous” thing, in case it wasn’t clear, was to suggest that Mr. Judge was perhaps being a bit generous when he set the film 500 years in the future. From the looks of things, it’s right around the corner.
That’s my main comment about this film. It’s not REALLY the future. It’s now or maybe even a few years ago.
It’s great, though. I saw it twice when it played here in Austin. (One of the, like, 2 cities where it was actually screened.) I don’t know if it will be as big a cult hit as Office Space, but it will be big, I think.
When you screen it, let us know so we can talk about it!
Why does Mike Judge hate freedom? Wasn’t it enough to promote a radical homosexual communist agenda with King Of The Hill? I’ll bet he’s behind the new watered down Mark Trail too.
I don’t know about the Gatorade but the idea of a movie night at the Brewery sounds great. I can’t wait to see this and it’s winging it’s way to me right now from Netflix.
I can’t wait to see LaToya Jackson kill a man.
Must.
See.
NOW.
I’d be happy to come to a viewing – but I’ll also skip the Gatorade, thanks.
Sign me up!
I’m watching “Armed and Famous” right now, and I’d love to know the story of how this got made. It’s unbelievable to me that this got made with the cooperation of the Muncie police department. I hope they got one hell of a lot of money…
And, as for “Idiocracy,” I’ll send Matt and Rene a note later tonight asking if it would be alright. (And we can drink Coke instead of Gatorade.)
Mike Judge has now made me sob twice (Office Space and King of the Hill, Episode 37). Schedule permitting, and if I can get over my fear of public weaping, I’ll be there.
It’s the Kool-Aid that Reverend Mark serves that you have to watch out for!
Awesome and thanks for the heads up. It’s in my queue as well now, although if it pops up at the DVD place I shop I may just buy it.
Through some freak of chance, tonight we discovered a local store that actually carries DVDs for rent! You can totally walk in with a few bucks and walk out with a movie.
So, my wife and I just watched Idiocracy.
I’m many things: a curmudgeon, a coward, a cad. But, I’m not a spoiler. My tongue is bleeding, but I will bite. All I’ll say is:
What Office Space was to Fight Club,
Idiocracy is to Deliverance.
I’ll hold back my … until you netfolks have had a chance to catch up.
Just watched it myself…. Though I’m afraid the Idiocracy has more than a few “feetholdz” in and around nearby Ecorse Rd. (shudder!) Bow down and worship St. Dale, Ya’heer? (that’s the “3” car to all you none-believers) An item for the coming Idiocracy: When working out on the roads during the summer my road crew employs a points-values system on things that strike them as a little too much of a hillbilly, or trailerpark nature. The perceived offenders get labeled with a “banjo” (up to four). The record, however, is held by a truck driver who used to drive for us. He was actually given an honorary 7 banjos– one each for the number of different women he had begat offspring from (10 litl’uns altogether), he was, at the time, yet to turn 30…. I guess it wouldn’t have been so bad if No.3 (4?) wasn’t a first cousin of his…. Yeah, a um…
OK, it looks like it’s a done deal. The DVD should be on its way from Netflix tomorrow, and I’ve booked one of the TVs at the brewery for Friday at 8:00.