Film Paper

Film Reaction

Idiocracy

Watching this film was entertaining. I’ve seen it before on Comedy Central and thought it was funny to see how the U.S. was like hundreds of years later. I was excited to know that this film was on the list for doing this paper because I have seen it. This movie was right up my alley because the writer and director of the film is none other than Mike Judge. Of course, I’m a fan of his shows, especially
“Beavis and Butt­Head”. Anyway, the movie was about two main characters, Joe and Rita whom volunteered to be a part of an experiment that was supposed to last for one year. Though the person who was in charge of the experiment had gotten arrested and eventually the entire thing was forgotten until many, many years later.
When both have awoken again, it’s been five hundred years. Lots of things have changed, like the average IQ has dropped dramatically. Everyone in the world was stupid. Even the president. The
U.S. was not the same anymore because of everyone lacking intelligence. Throughout most of the film it’s Joe trying to find a time machine to return to the year 2005, with a guy he met named Frito.
Eventually they do find Rita, the other being that was in the experiment with Joe. Although later in the film, Joe has been proved to be the smartest man alive thanks to an IQ test taken in the White House.
Because of this, the current president, which looking at him made me realize why he was elected president (burly, macho man, lacking intelligence, havin Mountain Dew in the middle of his name, etc.) decided to make Joe in charge of fixing the nation’s food shortage, crippled economy, and dust bowls in a week. Upon giving this assignment, Joe discovered that there was not water within in these crops he was supposed to fix. Finding out instead, there was some sort of Gatorade like sports drink called
“Brawndo”. Which they had bought the US Federal Food and Drug Administration and Federal

Kelly Gonzalez Gonzalez 2
Prof. O’Hara
PSC 260
Film Reaction
December 9, 2013
Communications Commissions, virtually replacing water with this drink instead. Joe knew this wasn’t right and changed it all by bringing water back to the crops. Though because of this, Brawndo loses money resulting in their stocks dropping to zero, and crashing half the population, which caused a mass riot, of course. Joe was sentenced to death in a demolition derby. The only thing that saved him was his friends being able to show everyone else that the crops were growing because of him switching the soil to water. Making Joe free and appointing him to vice president. In the end Joe became president after the retirement of the current president, Camacho. In his speech he talked about how the past accomplished so many civilizing things, like the Seven Wonders of the World, astronomy, and other things. He went on to say that everyone can accomplish these things if they improve everything about them and to stop ostracizing those who read and such. The ending also went on to show became all of them. That was a quick summary of the movie, at least the parts that mostly stuck out to me when I watched it. It was mostly humorous so trying to find some connection with the book that we use for class, wasn’t too hard in a way. Well for the most part everyone was stupid in the movie and like I said, even the president. Though I’m trying to remember how the U.S got like that in the year 2505 from what the movie said, I think it can have to do with what the U.S is now. Now what I’m about to say isn’t from the book, but I know this has happened for sure. Example, our last U.S. president, George
W. Bush. Honestly, I do not think he was the smartest president we ever had. Yes he went to one of those most top and elite school, but it doesn’t explain what a terrible job he did. Let alone it shows that anyone can go to a very fancy and expensive school, not learn a thing, and become president of the
United States. Looking in the book, I think there is a connection with almost everyone of the chapters

Kelly Gonzalez Gonzalez 3
Prof. O’Hara
PSC 260
Film Reaction
December 9, 2013 or just some of them.
As I said before with using Bush as an example, any person can become president. It’s like that in politics, I believe. Most of them (politicians) don’t know what they’re talking about yet they keep going with it, driving their points across and influencing other people because of it, while criticizing the other half of people that are against it. Connecting with the movie is a little challenge for me because as I said earlier before, it was mostly a comedy movie for me and when it’s a movie I enjoy I don’t keep anything in the back of my mind as to write a paper to compare it to the book, like I am for this assignment. The only connection I see is the stupid stuff that goes on in D.C. To think what could have happened to make the U.S. turn into the dumbest place on earth, is beyond me. But as stated, I think that reason could be from politics. We all know politics is a dirty game to be in and adding people that think they know what they’re doing is a plan for disaster. Then there are the people that want to do good and clean up what people have done in the name of politics so it’s not view as what it is now.
Though I feel like that rarely happens because the bad guys always win. So if we have the bad guys running a country with whatever they like, they can turn the U.S. into the same thing like in the movie.
Another thing I would like to point out is, I’ve read this from a book in my English class. Now I know this assignment says no other outside resources is necessary, I believe what I’m about to say ties in with what I’m talking about in this paper. In my English 110 class, we read a section on Michael
Moore’s “Idiot Nation”. Where throughout the reading, Michael Moore talked about the poor education on U.S. schools, blaming everything on the politicians. It’s their fault why schools are failing to educate children. While they’re blaming teachers for it, it’s in fact them that are the cause. There is one thing that stuck out to me while I was reading where he called out a certain politician, whom was

Kelly Gonzalez Gonzalez 4
Prof. O’Hara
PSC 260
Film Reaction
December 9, 2013 blaming teachers that they’re not teaching their students right and that they should know what this certain book is about. Michael took to action and called him up, asking what the entire book he talked about.
Not surprisingly, the man didn’t know the answer. So why is he telling teachers and/or other educators how to teach their students right or what to teach them, if he himself doesn’t know what he’s talking about? Also there is the poor conditions that some schools are in, like some of them not having updated textbooks or even a library. Why? Because all the money used for something like that gets distributed to another thing. It seems like education isn’t important to the big shots down in D.C. Perhaps that is the point of the movie, “Idiocracy”; to show that lacking education and having morons work the government can turn the U.S. into something like it. I may be wrong, but that is how I view it.
Before, I said I couldn’t see some type of connection to the book, but thinking about it now I can see a small one. Like with the public’s opinion in chapter five. Looking at it in a different angle, maybe the public got tired of hearing the same stuff that politicians say or do, making them want to have someone else is in charge because they believe their opinions matter for how they live day to day, with paying taxes and other things like it. Rhetorically speaking, someone decided enough was enough and took charge, overthrowing the government and running things their way, but being in charge of heavy things like running a nation, can be a lot of pressure so they collapse under it, thus making everything free game for anyone who wants to be the next in charge. That might have made no sense at all, but I think it can happen. All in all, I’m not very good with politics because it’s my least favorite thing but I do enjoy movies that are comedy based like this one and try to tie it with the book as I have tried just now.