Fox refused to release the movie for a year after its completion and then showed it in only a handful of theaters nationally (125). It is not hard to see why: The film savagely indicts contemporary capitalism as the key force destroying civilization. I believe some reviews have suggested the movie is an exercise in eugenic sneering -- a mere lament that the world's dolts are far out-reproducing Mensa candidates. Not so. Judge's real target is corpocracy, with its relentless need to dominate and debase humanity.
"Idiocracy" is the story of a very average 21st-century guy who awakens 500 years in the future to find society buried in both literal and cultural garbage -- a place populated entirely by Beavises and Butt-Heads, where he is quickly recognized as the most brilliant person in the world. It is a society of high-tech decay where the only reliable operations involve surveillance and payment systems. The ubiquitous branding, commodified services and cultivation of vulgarity that already characterize the business world have reached their apotheosis in the society of "Idiocracy." E.g. in the year 2505:
* Restaurant chain Fuddruckers has become Buttfuckers.
* The slogan of the fast-food chain Carl's Jr. has evolved from "Don't Bother Me...I'm Eating" to "Fuck You! I'm Eating!"
* Starbucks now serves handjobs instead of coffee.
* Everyone, including professionals (one of the key characters is a lawyer who is a graduate of the Costco School of Law), considers grammatical language pompous and "faggy."
Worst of all, the world faces starvation because of widespread crop failures. It turns out that years before some mega-beverage manufacturer had bought the US Food and Drug Administration and mandated that the firm's proprietary sports drink be substituted for all uses previously requiring water, including agriculture; ultimately, salts in the beverage caused accumulations that ruined soil productivity. However, when the visitor from the 21st century suggests watering crops with actual water again, the initial agricultural success is more than offset by the mass unemployment and share-price collapse that he causes at the sports drink manufacturer, and he gets tried for treason.
Enough spoilers. There are many brilliant touches in "Idiocracy." I highly recommend seeing it.
Carl
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