zorg wrote: Mon Apr 28, 2025 11:45 am It also occurs to me, but isn't Wall-e this same story...all the way down to forgetting how to grow food?

Yeah, there are parallels between the two movies, the biggest one being that humanity has lost the ability to effectively deal with garbage.

I think Idiocracy is funnier, but Wall-E works better as a film.

Krev wrote: Mon Apr 28, 2025 12:02 pm I really think OS was a satire of corporate culture and the vacuous nature of "knowledge work." I don't see any connection to MAGA, The Nuge, etc.

I agree, that is all I remembered as well...but watching it now, there is a bit about of how satisfying gutting a fish is...he literally throws the fish guts on top of the unfinished TPS reports, and the aforementioned transition to manual labor being his salvation. Additionally his mulleted neighbor plays a sage-like role. I don't think there is any culture war stuff going on in actuality (it predates that), it's just the odd tip of the hat to "good ol' fashioned honest living". If it came out today, I think people would notice it more. Or at least I did.

Movies certainly romanticize honest-workin’ blue-collar jobs, but for what it’s worth, I know one guy who left his corporate/finance job 25 years ago to become a contractor and is much happier. Then again, I also know (of) one woman who left her job in nursing to become a banker. So . . .

The fish-gutting thing is different, though, because that’s not about work.

penningtron wrote:

pet fever detector wrote: Sat Apr 26, 2025 7:54 pm I loved OS and B&B and SV but Mike Judge Is Libertarian trash.

I know nothing about his politics but I've not detected that from his work at all (unlike, say, South Park). If there's any theme that connects all of his work it's a cynicism of corporations (down to the fuckin' MegaLo Mart in King of the Hill) that nearly prevented Idiocracy from being released at all.

he qualifies for sure

andyman wrote: I think it's worth pointing out that just because dumb/maga idiots breeding may be the cause in Idiocracy it's not necessarily saying that eugenics is the solution. It's clear it's a lack of education that's the problem, not bad genetics.
If anything, like with Judge's aforementioned disdain for corporations, it's taking aim at capitalism and consumerism and their effect on society.

I mean, at the end of the day, I don't think that Judge is going for a super cohesive, all encompassing display of his own world view. Taking comical elements of society and then playing a "what if" game to tell a story isn't a manifesto - it's a comedy movie.

And I also think that you're right in this assessment - acknowledging that over half the population is mathematically dumber than the other half and then kind of running from there with an idea.....not exactly a call to arms here in my view.

Frankie99 wrote: Tue Apr 29, 2025 10:04 am I mean, at the end of the day, I don't think that Judge is going for a super cohesive, all encompassing display of his own world view. Taking comical elements of society and then playing a "what if" game to tell a story isn't a manifesto - it's a comedy movie.

This tracks.

Those who look at Idiocracy as a definitive, urtext summation of where everything went wrong (or would/will go wrong) might be off the mark a bit.

Regardless, I think it's always easy for one to flatter himself by thinking he's not ever an idiot. Even someone who doesn't exhibit obvious signs like those depicted in the movie. In real life, circa 2025, just because someone doesn't fall for QAnon bullshit or didn't pull the lever for Trump or isn't anti-vaxx or a flat Earther or something, it doesn't mean their daily life is free from stupidity, some of which might be self-imposed. Maybe it's just because I'm an American, but as I approach fifty I'm more aware of how stupidity and tackiness--like boredom and feeling disaffected--are things I'll never be able to fully outrun. Not on a personal level. If a movie like Idiocracy feels like a nightmare vision, albeit a humorous one for the viewer, it's because in the society depicted in the film's future, there's no mode of concealing this even for a bit. There's no higher ground, no "spirituality," no respite, no actual unity or good vibes. Everyone is swimming in the same lame entropic soup, the logical endpoint of a society that has grown hostile to pragmatism, intellectual curiosity, "individualism," good taste, and (if you will) some kind of demure or quasi-respectable mindset/comportment. It's a world where even the myriad forms of escapism don't really offer a reprieve. It's a kind of hell/dystopia played for laughs at all of the characters' expense. The movie isn't perfect, but it's worth seeing at least once.

hbiden@onlyfans.com wrote: Mon Apr 28, 2025 9:56 pm

penningtron wrote:

pet fever detector wrote: Sat Apr 26, 2025 7:54 pm I loved OS and B&B and SV but Mike Judge Is Libertarian trash.

I know nothing about his politics but I've not detected that from his work at all (unlike, say, South Park). If there's any theme that connects all of his work it's a cynicism of corporations (down to the fuckin' MegaLo Mart in King of the Hill) that nearly prevented Idiocracy from being released at all.

he qualifies for sure

I'm pretty sure Penn Jillette has disavowed libertarianism.

Krev wrote: Tue Apr 29, 2025 4:41 pm

hbiden@onlyfans.com wrote: Mon Apr 28, 2025 9:56 pm

penningtron wrote: I know nothing about his politics but I've not detected that from his work at all (unlike, say, South Park). If there's any theme that connects all of his work it's a cynicism of corporations (down to the fuckin' MegaLo Mart in King of the Hill) that nearly prevented Idiocracy from being released at all.

he qualifies for sure

I'm pretty sure Penn Jillette has disavowed libertarianism.

that would explain the old haircut then.
Woody Harrelson maybe?

I think Stephen Root's judge is a pretty accurate depiction of the conservative SC justices. What a fucking joke.