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Are We Idiocracy Yet?

idiocracy.wtf

301–310 of 582 posts

Re: Are We Idiocracy Yet?

#301

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> They all identified with the "idiots" and were indignant insulted, and angry. That is sort of the point of the movie. It is a satire, but it is also a documentary packaged as a satire and the wrapping paper isn't all that thick.

Eh. I don't really see anything wrong with that. Every industry flubs things because the people creating the product aren't the same demographics consuming it. No big deal IMO. I think it's just a product of your typical Hollywood filter bubble. The Average American(TM) isn't so stupid as to not see the glaring "left to it's own devices middle america would turn the whole country into white trash, also with literal t…

You intentionally or unintentionally described the plot of Wall-E

Re: Are We Idiocracy Yet?

#302
post #282
post #33

Idiocracy hit a lot of superficial/thematic nails on the head with its silliness. "Don't Look Up" captures a lot more of the actual dynamics. Instead of anti-eugenics making brains feeble, the people are just normal humans made stupid by their cultural environment, incentives and suchlike.

DLU captured the decisions better, but Idiocracy explained how we got there.

Eugenics, you mean? Letting the stupid people breed?

Haven't watched it so I wouldn't know, but from what I hear of it that sounds like a pretty serious strike against it.

Re: Are We Idiocracy Yet?

#303

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There's a scene where Rita, in the future, tries to call Upgraydd, but there are 9726 listings for people called Upgraydd at that point.

Fun movie trivia: Maya Rudolph (Rita) is the daughter of Minnie Ripperton.

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Re: Are We Idiocracy Yet?

#304
post #233

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think people don't like Onion stories because they're not funny, they're just pretentious and political. For instance, their famous 'No Way to Prevent This,' Says Only Nation Where This Regularly Happens article they post all over their page whenever there is some high profile gun related crime. It's all over their page and no doubt they get a bump in traffic from smug people who feel it's clever. It's just so exha…

I'm not in the USA, but I think the issue is not so much the joke getting tiresome, but the repeat school shootings. Maybe if there was work done to stop the shootings, then the joke wouldn't keep getting repeated.

First and foremost you should attempt to be funny or original. This is neither. It's political.

I would love headlines like:

> Illegal Immigrant Finally Caught After 20 Years of Successfully Contributing to Society

but instead you get non joke headlines like:

> ICE Agents Hurl Pregnant Immigrant Over Mexican Border To Prevent Birth On U.S. Soil

It's just cringe.

Re: Are We Idiocracy Yet?

#305

I attended an audience testing screener for Idiocracy before the film's final edit. I could not believe my eyes and ears, I loved it unlike anything I'd seen before, it was the hardest US culture satire I'd seen up to that point. Then the lights came up and the audience started giving their reviews, in an open mike fashion. They all identified with the "idiots" and were indignant insulted, and angry. I remember makin…

Satire really breaks when the target doesn't recognize itself as the target

The Boys is a modern example of this.

Re: Are We Idiocracy Yet?

#306
post #233

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think people don't like Onion stories because they're not funny, they're just pretentious and political. For instance, their famous 'No Way to Prevent This,' Says Only Nation Where This Regularly Happens article they post all over their page whenever there is some high profile gun related crime. It's all over their page and no doubt they get a bump in traffic from smug people who feel it's clever. It's just so exha…

I'm not in the USA, but I think the issue is not so much the joke getting tiresome, but the repeat school shootings. Maybe if there was work done to stop the shootings, then the joke wouldn't keep getting repeated.

> Maybe if there was work done to stop the shootings

It's odd that you seem to believe no work has been done. Lots of work has been done. Lots more work is blocked by people who steadfastly refuse to punish criminals - claiming instead that it's not their fault that they're violent.

I'd love to hear any additional ideas you have other than violating the rights of citizens.

Re: Are We Idiocracy Yet?

#307

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'd be curious to know the average IQ of, say, climate deniers. I suspect it's still a perfect 100. I don't think it's about general intelligence. In some ways just the opposite: very smart people have a talent for convincing themselves that they are right. Unfortunately I fear it's more like EQ than IQ. The driver is more about the people. They do not like the kind of people who are trying to prevent climate change,…

100 is not a perfect score on an IQ test! 100 is the mean score. It's not a percentage.

I don't think that's what the GP was going for... rather, implying that flat-eartherness is uncorrelated to IQ and, thus, the average IQ of flat-earthers is the same as that of the general population.

Re: Are We Idiocracy Yet?

#308
Unpopular framing: it's less about "dumb masses" than incentive systems that make spectacle cheaper than competence—and we keep mistaking engagement metrics for neutral feedback.

Re: Are We Idiocracy Yet?

#309
post #233
post #123

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It breaks my heart when I hear people outraged about Onion stories, not because that they fall for them, but because they know they have a hard time telling truth from fiction.

I think people don't like Onion stories because they're not funny, they're just pretentious and political. For instance, their famous 'No Way to Prevent This,' Says Only Nation Where This Regularly Happens article they post all over their page whenever there is some high profile gun related crime. It's all over their page and no doubt they get a bump in traffic from smug people who feel it's clever. It's just so exha…

II know, right? If you let "activism" into comedy, you might stop thinking Joe Rogan is funny. Tragic.

Re: Are We Idiocracy Yet?

#310
post #50
post #22

I watched this movie really late. Let's say within the past 2 years or so. After watching it, all I could think was, "This isn't a comedy, it's a tragedy." It felt way too close to home.

Yeah, same. I also felt like this when watching Office Space and Sillicon Valley. Hits too close to home. I know that through comedy you are supposed to get a sense of catharsis and a sort of relief, but to me it was just frustratingly sad. I guess I just take life too seriously.

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