Living in Los Angeles, I am lucky enough to be in one of the few places that Mike Judge's new film,
Idiocracy. This apparently low-brow comedy has struck so much fear in the heart of corporate America that 20th Century Fox, the film's releasing company, has put it out in only 150 theatres in the country with literally no marketing- no radio or TV ads, no billboards and, in some places, not even any posters.
This is despite the fact that the film is written and directed by Mike Judge who has had hits with the film, Office Space and the TV Series Beavis and Butthead and King of the Hill, despite the fact that it stars major celebrity Luke Wilson in the lead and despite the fact that it has been getting generally good reviews from critics who have seen it (75% at Rottentomatoes.com). Yet the film was made 2 years ago and shelved with threats of lawsuits and now this ignominious release. Critics were also, unusually, not allowed to view a pre-release. Why? Read on and read why you should see this film (warning, there are spoilers, but not serious ones):
The film's premise is, in itself, pretty funny. The idea is that Luke Wilson, a thoroughly average man, is frozen in an experiment and revived 500 years later when he is suddenly the smartest person in the world.
The idea is frighteningly plausible as laid out in the film- intelligent, educated people have few, if any, kids and the less-educated, less-intelligent members of society breed like crazy. Since we have no major natural predators, evolution selects for the stupid and suddenly, in 2505, the world is an Idiocracy.
Now it would not be Mike Judge without endless social satire and commentary. The inhabitants of 2505 America are amalgams of the worst of the lower-class cultures now. Everyone is sort of a Gangsta/Chulo/Redneck. Luke Wilson, because he speaks without slang and saying 'fuck' and 'shit' every two minutes is branded as, "talking like a fag." The most popular movie of the year is called 'Ass' and it's two hours of a shot of someone's ass which occasionally farts. It wins 8 Oscars.
So you can see, this is not exactly highbrow stuff in and of itself, but this is the part that the corporations hate. Mike Judge did something absolutely brilliant with this film and turned it into a huge attack on the corporatization of America and the farce of the political process:
* Everything, and I mean literally everything, from clothing to cars to wall panels on the interior of the White House, has product placement on it. There is simply nowhere you can look without seeing endless product placement.
* Consequently, everyone thinks in terms of advertising. One character says, "brought to you by Carl's Jr." at the end of each sentence because they pay him to market it. Water has been replaced by a green, sugary sports drink the world over after the company buys the FDA and the USDA.
* Starbuck's and many other companies have gone from theoretically fucking the customer to literally doing so- they are all brothels.
* Costco (sort of sorry to see it attacked because they're one of the better companies, but I'm guessing he couldn't risk Wal-Mart's lawyers) is in itself a city. One of the characters got a law degree there. There are people living inside it along with livestock, cooking fires, etc.
* The president is a champion pro-wrestler, elected through his media image and his antics. One member of his cabinet is a kid who won a 'be in the cabinet' contest.
So, as you can see, corporations do not like the way they are presented in the film. They are trying to suppress it and almost succeeding. If there is any way you can see and support this film, I highly recommend you doing so. It is very funny and it is doing something they don't want you to do.