It's fascinating that neither the reporter nor any commenters apparently noticed that Mike Judge is right of center politically, as "King of the Hill" ought to have made obvious.
6
I voted for Sanders and Stein but ironically, I think it's the lack of "old money" that is particularly responsible for the decline in cultural standards. Nobody is born with an innate regard for "high culture" or respect for education in the liberal, classical sense; it must be inculcated and a family can take several generations to accomplish it. It takes, at the very least, some sense of stability. Where culture used to flow from "high' to "low", now the direction has reversed, because at the top, there is a vacuum.
A recent article in the Times noted that few of the Silicon Valley Ubermenschen are interested in fine art, much less in owning it - even, crassly, as an investment; it just has no meaning to their blunted sensibilities. Advanced degrees aside, they are really little different than Judge's howling audience of JD's, just better cars.
A recent article in the Times noted that few of the Silicon Valley Ubermenschen are interested in fine art, much less in owning it - even, crassly, as an investment; it just has no meaning to their blunted sensibilities. Advanced degrees aside, they are really little different than Judge's howling audience of JD's, just better cars.
3
Oddly, I have found the movie "Idiocracy" to be a litmus test for intelligence. Intelligent people get the satire, non-intelligent people do not. Case in point - I used to work in an office. There was someone there, lets call her Melissa. She was very intelligent. Both her and i loved the movie Idiocracy. We "got" it. Now there was another woman with the same name who also worked there. We told her to watch it because it was so great. She comes in the next day and says that movie was so stupid, I couldn't finish watching it. The satire just went completely over her head. So the smart Melissa and I cast a knowing glance at one another as the dumb Melissa declared Idiocracy too stupid to watch. Now, whenever I meet someone new, I try to always ask hey have you ever seen the movie Idiocracy and get their thoughts/opinions on the movie. It never fails as a stealth intelligence meter!
2
'. . . possibly representing the greatest concentration of brainpower and capital ever seen in human history.'
An unchecked statement that possibly represents the author's lack of any historical perspective combined with fawning over people with all that capital in order for some of it to fall his way.
Then Willy could buy some cool Oxfords and walk about with a lacrosse stick. Cool! Heh, heh, heh.
An unchecked statement that possibly represents the author's lack of any historical perspective combined with fawning over people with all that capital in order for some of it to fall his way.
Then Willy could buy some cool Oxfords and walk about with a lacrosse stick. Cool! Heh, heh, heh.
I think we overestimate the "prescience" of Idiocracy. The popular taste of "the masses" has always hewn to the lowest common denominator. Everyone thinks farts are funny. Mike Judge has an uncommon ability to hold that taste up to the light and let us see ourselves reflected in it. But, no, we are not getting dumber, it's just the non-stop availability of popular culture today makes it seem that way.
BTW, KOTH rules! The way Judge straddles affection and mockery is genius. I would be honored to attend a cookout at Hank's house.
BTW, KOTH rules! The way Judge straddles affection and mockery is genius. I would be honored to attend a cookout at Hank's house.
2
Uh, yes we ARE getting dumber. Trump in the White House proves that.
6
While I have never seen it credited, I presume that the writers of "Idiocracy" must have read Cyril M. Kornbluth's "The Marching Morons" or "The Little Black Bag", both of which are set in a similar milieu.
3
I read this article and was compelled to watch Idiocracy this weekend, a movie I missed the first time around. Sadly, I think the film was ahead of its time, as we are now living under a presidency that may, in fact, have been brought to us by Carl Jr and an array of other corporate sponsors. All we need now is a nation-wide WWE wrestling match broadcast live on pay tv to raise money to help pay off the national debt, and I'll think we have come full circle. Well, at least Costco made it to 2500 and Walmart did not. Or was Walmart the trash heap. Hard to tell.
4
This editor's favorite anecdote of the interview is the one that disparages kids in a "reform" school. Talk about punching down. Office Space is one of my favorite movies because it attacked the status quo. Maybe those "kinda stupid" kids were laughing because farts on screen were a truthful sensory experience of their lives.
4
Tackla Ivanka Trump in a film.
2
A more likely explanation for why "Idiocracy" was deep-sixed was due to its "Bell Curve" assumption that IQ is hereditary and that modern society is dysgenic rather than eugenic. Here's the film's opening that spells out Judge's politically incorrect Social Darwinian theory in detail:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YwZ0ZUy7P3E
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YwZ0ZUy7P3E
4
Describing "Idiocracy" as anything approaching prescient is purposefully misinterpreting events to fit the narrative and hypocritical from a liberal point-of-view.
Let us not forgot the beginning of "Idiocracy", in which the poor family, which was portrayed as dumb and trashy, was procreating out of control. The intelligent and educated couple waits, struggles, then eventually has a single child. This is the setup to explain how things get where they are in 2505 -- "dumb" people breeding like rabbits, and "smart" people not. Eventually this imbalance turns the country into a society full of morons.
I would suppose that outside of the context of this article, most liberal-minded folks (myself included) would find the insinuation that poor = dumb offensive. For some reason, this film seems to get a pass. We surely give conservatives and The Republican Party a lot of flack for their siding with the wealthy and privileged and valuing a person's wealth as a major metric of his worth. Isn't that effectively what "Idiocracy" is doing?
As an aside, "set[ting] aside" "King of the Hill" is a huge mistake. That is the best thing Judge has done.
Let us not forgot the beginning of "Idiocracy", in which the poor family, which was portrayed as dumb and trashy, was procreating out of control. The intelligent and educated couple waits, struggles, then eventually has a single child. This is the setup to explain how things get where they are in 2505 -- "dumb" people breeding like rabbits, and "smart" people not. Eventually this imbalance turns the country into a society full of morons.
I would suppose that outside of the context of this article, most liberal-minded folks (myself included) would find the insinuation that poor = dumb offensive. For some reason, this film seems to get a pass. We surely give conservatives and The Republican Party a lot of flack for their siding with the wealthy and privileged and valuing a person's wealth as a major metric of his worth. Isn't that effectively what "Idiocracy" is doing?
As an aside, "set[ting] aside" "King of the Hill" is a huge mistake. That is the best thing Judge has done.
3
Ummm, had trouble following your argument when you got the beginning of the movie entirely wrong. The "upper
class" couple never reproduce. The husband dies of a heart attack masturbating into a beaker. But the wife has some eggs frozen so "fingers crossed."
Can only assume you have never seen the film in its entirety nor can you appreciate it verisimilitude.
"Carl's Jr."
class" couple never reproduce. The husband dies of a heart attack masturbating into a beaker. But the wife has some eggs frozen so "fingers crossed."
Can only assume you have never seen the film in its entirety nor can you appreciate it verisimilitude.
"Carl's Jr."
2
The author pointed out that Judge doesn't manufacture satire as much as show reality to be self satirizing. At this moment our own personal idiocracy is trying to end birth control as we know it, allow public funding, in the form of vouchers, to be used for private education, and refuting any evidence that billions of metric tons of carbon emissions have any effect at all on our climate. But any similarities between the movie and our own reality are, you know, purely coincidental, so the film is strictly prejudicial.
3
My apologies, I haven't seen the movie in some years. I saw it when it came out and thought it was utter tripe. I remembered one of the character bubbles popping into existence for the "upper class" couple, but it was clearly a character bubble popping OUT of existence.
Either way, it doesn't change the meat of my argument. If I am incorrect, then, in your view, how does the movie explain that we get to where we do in 2505? The whole purpose of the intro is to show this imbalance as the premise for the "Idiocracy".
But hey, casually dismissing my argument and implying that it went over my head, because of a slight misremembering of a movie I saw around 12 years ago is clearly reasonable.
Either way, it doesn't change the meat of my argument. If I am incorrect, then, in your view, how does the movie explain that we get to where we do in 2505? The whole purpose of the intro is to show this imbalance as the premise for the "Idiocracy".
But hey, casually dismissing my argument and implying that it went over my head, because of a slight misremembering of a movie I saw around 12 years ago is clearly reasonable.
3
Yesterday I was letting my daughter listen to her awful Top 40 radio station in the car, and the DJ was taking calls from listeners. He ended every call with "Thanks for calling! I love you!"
All I could think of was the store greeter in Idiocracy, standing at the door and endlessly repeating "Welcone to Costco... I love you...". Judge was indeed a man ahead of his time.
All I could think of was the store greeter in Idiocracy, standing at the door and endlessly repeating "Welcone to Costco... I love you...". Judge was indeed a man ahead of his time.
3
Mike Judge is a national treasure. The Mark Twain of our times.
Beavis and Butthead was groundbreaking television (and riotously funny to me as a teenager), Office Space and Idiocracy are guerrilla masterpieces with no expiration date in sight, and now the Master has graced us once again with Silicon Valley, trenchant, pitch-perfect satire of an industry that has invaded all our lives.
But I have to echo some other commenters in complaining about this article's curt dismissal of King of the Hill, which is, to me, the jewel in the crown of Judge's work. I think it is satire, and of the best kind precisely because it is so loving -- it doesn't merely lampoon its subjects for cheap laughs at those rubes in Texas, but explores their complexities and contradictions in a way that's both incisive and insightful, revealing deep truths about identity, family, and community along the way. And like any of Judge's work, it can make you laugh so hard you miss five or six more jokes in the process.
Mike, don't ever retire! America needs you now more than ever.
Beavis and Butthead was groundbreaking television (and riotously funny to me as a teenager), Office Space and Idiocracy are guerrilla masterpieces with no expiration date in sight, and now the Master has graced us once again with Silicon Valley, trenchant, pitch-perfect satire of an industry that has invaded all our lives.
But I have to echo some other commenters in complaining about this article's curt dismissal of King of the Hill, which is, to me, the jewel in the crown of Judge's work. I think it is satire, and of the best kind precisely because it is so loving -- it doesn't merely lampoon its subjects for cheap laughs at those rubes in Texas, but explores their complexities and contradictions in a way that's both incisive and insightful, revealing deep truths about identity, family, and community along the way. And like any of Judge's work, it can make you laugh so hard you miss five or six more jokes in the process.
Mike, don't ever retire! America needs you now more than ever.
10
I couldn't agree more, and no matter what Mike Judge might think he is indeed a national treasure.
2
Thanks, Mr. Judge, until King of the Hill I thought all good Texans were dead.
4
Mr. Judge, you're the funniest man on the planet. Please tackle the hipster "maker" class in your next opus. Brooklyn furniture makers/ceramacists/knifemakers/knitters for starters
5
In "Idiocracy," the President in the year 2505 is a candid, foul-mouthed wrestling star named Dwayne Elizondo Mountain Dew Herbert Camacho.
Here in 2017 for President we have a candid, crude reality TV star who has made many appearances in WWE programs, and who has appointed WWE owner Linda McMahon to a cabinet position.
Incredible.
Here in 2017 for President we have a candid, crude reality TV star who has made many appearances in WWE programs, and who has appointed WWE owner Linda McMahon to a cabinet position.
Incredible.
5
I've said it before and I'll say it again, but at least Idiocracy's President Camacho was trying to HELP the country. He knew that he had to use the best and the brightest (Not Sure), unlike our current CiC, who would rather just race us to the bottom.
5
"Bobby, if you weren't my son, I'd hug you . . ."
8
Judge is a solid actor on his own. He was involved in his fellow Texan's Robert Rodriguez's "Spy Kids" franchise - which had a certain charm initially but quickly devolved in sequels - but I still love his portrayal of the idiotic restaurant manager in "Office Space" eager to exert power over his tiny bit of turf by pushing Jennifer Aniston's character to wear more "flare" on her corporate restaurant uniform. He speaks precisely to the angst and stupidity that exists in so much of corporate America, then and now. It's quite eerie, really, how gifted and perceptive he is. I suppose it points to the maxim that you are supposed to have distance between you and your subject matter in order to write about it accurately. He probably got all the material he needed in the year he spent in the cubicle world. I admire how much he has seemed to be so creatively prodigious and highly successful in a business mostly on his own terms.
5
Mike Judge has brought me more laughs over the past 25 years than anyone else. He's also expanded my appreciation for the animation art form through the festivals he's curated--and at least once brought me to tears by introducing me to the beauty canine freestyle dancing (featured in an episode of "King of the HIll"). He is a national treasure.
7
...to the beauty *of* canine freestyle
1
I love his movies, and I think it's almost impossible to overstate how good is his animated King Of The Hill. KOTH manages both to satirize and to love openly its subjects. That is not an easy thing to do, but Judge pulls it off like a champ.
2
Office Space is at the top of my Most Subversive Film list, ahead of Dr. Strangelove, A Hard Day's Night and I Am A Fugitive From A Chain Gang. Nearly 20 years old now it resonates even louder now. Hank Hill remains a good man and Beavis and Butthead still bring laughs when the demented duo try just about anything. Thank you, Mike Judge for the insights and smiles.
3
Interesting how there's no mention, either in the article or the comments, of Daria, which still stands out for its sympathetic portrayal of smart, creative, interesting teenage girls (and the bubbleheads who surround them). Is wasn't on as long as Bevis and Butthead or King of the Hill (which I agree gets short shrift), but how is that not an accomplishment?
9
The problem with the show Silicon Valley is that it's a L,A, writers view of technology and workers in tech in Silicon Valley. It's not representative at all of who really works in our companies. Where are the majority of Chinese, Vietnamese, Indians and other immigrants who really populate the companies in this area? Where are women? I mean as engineers and managers? (And, yes. There were women in tech in 1985 and now,). I can't watch the show after working so long in tech and owning a small tech company. It's not realalistic at all.
5
Actually, the idea of sitting in a theater with 250 kids laughing at a bare bottom and fart noises sounds pretty funny. Dumb as it is, I think it would get more and more funny as those around you laugh. Because undoubtedly people would laugh at the sound of others laughing, and others would laugh at them, and it would become an infinite loop. Sometimes the not-funny becomes funny if it goes on enough.
Idiocracy should win some sort of retroactive Academy Award for the opening scene about IQ featuring everyman Clevon. Never has a nail been so squarely hit on the head.
Idiocracy should win some sort of retroactive Academy Award for the opening scene about IQ featuring everyman Clevon. Never has a nail been so squarely hit on the head.
4
Wonderful article, Mr. Staley. Insightful and funny. Although I'm envious you got to drink beer with Mike Judge. That alone makes me want to hate you. :-)
3
it's a shame more ink wasn't spent on King of the Hill. If there's hope for redemption in America, we'll find it in Arlen, TX. Over and over, we see how Hank's conservative nature leads him into frustration with a changing world, and how his sense of decency love for his family and friends leads him back to reconciliation with the way things are.
3
“Idiocracy” ....actually, the movie had tested abysmally with audiences.
How ironic. The ancestors of the future didn't get it. No surprise.
How ironic. The ancestors of the future didn't get it. No surprise.
3
I've worked at 3 cubicle-laden companies over the past 25 years. "Office Space" is so dead-on accurate, it makes me cry more than laugh.
4
Mike Judge and the reporter, Willy Staley, were both revelations to me. Judge is an acknowledged master but Staley brought him to the million. Staley is a rising star.
2
Mike Judge is a genius.
26
Very sorry to see the short shrift given to King of the Hill - a brilliant show. Each character was so beautifully developed, with Judge himself voicing several, including Hank Hill, so unforgettably. Never saw a bad or mediocre episode, and I may have seen them all.
44
"amazingly, considering the scene was shot weeks earlier — in his hands, he holds a lacrosse stick." Lol, how long do you think Rothman has been carrying around that lacrosse stick? years?
13
My friend who teaches in High School loaned me his DVD of Idiocracy and told me that it portrayed exactly the the student body in his High School, exactly without any exaggeration.
18
With all its lapses, errors, political shifts, etc., all of which are actually quite normal in a huge and diverse country making its way through a century in which technology has seemingly outstripped every other human value, America remains one of the very best places in the world to live. Not just now, but across human history.
Did anyone suppose that a political landscape would somehow remain unchangingly set on one approved trajectory while the world about it crumbled, reinvented itself, readapted, crumbled again, reinvented itself again?
With long-time friends in and close ties to Britain, and having travelled through Europe, I can tell you that reports of the self-destruction of America are vastly exaggerated. We had 8 years of Bill Clinton, 8 years of Barack Obama, and what do you know - the pendulum shifted again. It always does.
Could things have been done better? Oh, yes. Could they have been much worse? Oh, yes, oh, yes. Are things fabulous or even better in Britain, France, Italy, Belgium, Greece, Russia, China, India, the Middle East? Oh, no, oh, no!
Perhaps you could make an argument for Denmark (pop. 5.5 million, the size of Scotland, and still nearly 90% white ethnic European) or Greenland or Switzerland, but the rest?
Once a week I thank God for the courage of my grandparents in leaving homes in Europe without a penny or a word of English, to get on boats that dumped them on Ellis Island and the slums of the Lower East Side. Perfect? No. Wonderful? Yes.
Did anyone suppose that a political landscape would somehow remain unchangingly set on one approved trajectory while the world about it crumbled, reinvented itself, readapted, crumbled again, reinvented itself again?
With long-time friends in and close ties to Britain, and having travelled through Europe, I can tell you that reports of the self-destruction of America are vastly exaggerated. We had 8 years of Bill Clinton, 8 years of Barack Obama, and what do you know - the pendulum shifted again. It always does.
Could things have been done better? Oh, yes. Could they have been much worse? Oh, yes, oh, yes. Are things fabulous or even better in Britain, France, Italy, Belgium, Greece, Russia, China, India, the Middle East? Oh, no, oh, no!
Perhaps you could make an argument for Denmark (pop. 5.5 million, the size of Scotland, and still nearly 90% white ethnic European) or Greenland or Switzerland, but the rest?
Once a week I thank God for the courage of my grandparents in leaving homes in Europe without a penny or a word of English, to get on boats that dumped them on Ellis Island and the slums of the Lower East Side. Perfect? No. Wonderful? Yes.
18
Yes, no one thought it would stay in the same trajectory, there would be set back on the progress that this country has made towards "a more perfect union". However, most people didn't think that this country would sink to electing such a low intellect and bigoted person, that was not a swing of the pendulum but a falling off of the pendulum. I guess it is reflective of a segment of the population that is running towards "Idiocracy" with their bigoted choices.
You may have a slight tinge of rose in the lenses of your glasses.
We say we want diversity. But when we get diversity -- including idiocy -- we complain. Maybe we need to adjust our definition of diversity to include everything, and learn to appreciate the stimulus of it all. Imagine, the horror of uniformity. White people, white bread, white sheets, white ideas, white ... oh, god, puh-leeze, give me some COLOR! Spot-on comment, "liz"
OK. I read pretty much all of it and then I kept chanting "representative" but they told me that representative was a concept not a person. So what do I do now?
4
Humor is a godsend these days. Thanks to Mr. Judge and colleagues worldwide (looking at you, Bassem Youssef) for guiding us through the darkness with sparks of laughter.
7
I love this line from the essay, "technology left us completely, terrifyingly, to our own devices." There is an anxious freedom associated with technology, and yet it ensnares us in ways that keep us addicted to systems of control. (Like the video game that keeps its user playing as long as possible in loops and loops of patterns. The perception is that the user is in control when the game is actually directing the players' actions.) It's easy to become less sensitive growing up in a virtual world. It's easy for those who have poor social skills to avoid interacting with others and become masters of social media, hiding from real interaction. Part of interacting is the capacity to read facial expressions, body language, and other social cues. No more!
I remember having a conversation with a computer engineer at a party who recently took a new job. I was a teacher at the time making probably an 1/5 of what this guy made and working 65-70 hours a week teaching English to Middle Schoolers. He argued about greedy teachers wanting more money and why the school year needed to be longer. I asked him if he got a bump in salary with his new job. A crude question I had no problem asking because I'm the type who is willing to forego courtesy when people are Idiocrats. He said, yes. I work hard. I said, "Man, you must be the only one." It took a few seconds, but the comment registered and he blushed uncomfortably. I thought, well, at least he blushed.
I remember having a conversation with a computer engineer at a party who recently took a new job. I was a teacher at the time making probably an 1/5 of what this guy made and working 65-70 hours a week teaching English to Middle Schoolers. He argued about greedy teachers wanting more money and why the school year needed to be longer. I asked him if he got a bump in salary with his new job. A crude question I had no problem asking because I'm the type who is willing to forego courtesy when people are Idiocrats. He said, yes. I work hard. I said, "Man, you must be the only one." It took a few seconds, but the comment registered and he blushed uncomfortably. I thought, well, at least he blushed.
26
If the President or Sean Spicer start saying,"Cause Brawndo's got electrolytes." we will definitely know the "Idiocracy" has arrived. I pray that Otto von Bismark was right when he said," God has a special providence for drunkards fools and the United States of America."
18
"Calling “Idiocracy” a documentary is one of those jokes about Donald Trump that was made constantly in the latter months of 2016 and now reeks of a certain strain of ineffectual liberal smugness."
Your style editor used to have a weekly column that had to regularly explain why the verb "was" there ought to be "were." (Of the jokes about Donald Trump that were made constantly, Calling "Idiocracy" a documentary is one.)
Your style editor used to have a weekly column that had to regularly explain why the verb "was" there ought to be "were." (Of the jokes about Donald Trump that were made constantly, Calling "Idiocracy" a documentary is one.)
2
Even before I watched it, I knew I would love 'Idiocracy.'
Its very name summarizes who we are.
No need to wait until 2505.
Its very name summarizes who we are.
No need to wait until 2505.
9
I'm a big fan of Mr. Judge. However, as far as "America's self destructive tendencies" go, I'll bet he'd get just as much mileage chronicling the everyday foibles of the other 200+ members of the United Nations.
4
You meant US Congress, right?
Office Space is classic. Gary Cole should have gotten an Academy Award for that performance.
19
Not to sound like a person who reads, but Judge seems like our Swift. (And huzzah, I say, for that.)
17
Media is not the enemy however, only the NYT has real info...Fox News is an Oxymoron...It bends, opinioniszes, deforms, and finally lies...
All around the world, here in France, Europe and Elsewhere people are shifting to the far right forgetting that we're all Earthlings who have moved from one place to another. We are all migrants and human. Remember that!
All around the world, here in France, Europe and Elsewhere people are shifting to the far right forgetting that we're all Earthlings who have moved from one place to another. We are all migrants and human. Remember that!
6
All humans are not the same. All human cultures are not the same. Is the fact that people move around and are all humanoid a good reason to shrug and say, No Biggie, when groups with very different views on women, Jews, and gays start coming in in huge numbers and insisting that the surrounding culture adapt to them? You know, like draining Christianity out of old and loved Christmas carols in Sweden and Norway? Or thinking it's fine to have thousands of women who can't leave their homes unless covered from head to foot? How about those 6,000 cases of women and girls affected by FGM that turned up in the UK's hospitals last year? Is that okay because we're all human and all came from somewhere at some point?
Culture counts. That's why those people are turning right: their governments refused to stand up for their cultures.
Culture counts. That's why those people are turning right: their governments refused to stand up for their cultures.
7
I know women, Jews, Gays, Christians, Muslims, Buddhists and every other... I'm not in favor of proselytizing violence from any culture or religion. There is no culture, country or religion that treats women and me equally. If that happens I'll join in the fun.
Mixing cultures and people is a good thing culturally and physiologically because purity is a physical weakness!
Mixing cultures and people is a good thing culturally and physiologically because purity is a physical weakness!
In the United States of America people pursue their on happiness. Like the Quakers, real Americans.
Ignorant anti Americans caught up in sulking think the American federal state has the role of selling sulker's ignorant misunderstanding of culture. But America ever was and will be absolutely positively is a complete rejection of such sulking whining lazy foolishness. Go live with the Quakers and the Mennonites, real Americans from the start who get it. They are doing fine despite the English eveywhere trying to force their post 1776 euorpean orthodoxies on real Americans. Say it together, Penn sylvania. Leave the darkness of ignorance. That is a good start.
Ignorant anti Americans caught up in sulking think the American federal state has the role of selling sulker's ignorant misunderstanding of culture. But America ever was and will be absolutely positively is a complete rejection of such sulking whining lazy foolishness. Go live with the Quakers and the Mennonites, real Americans from the start who get it. They are doing fine despite the English eveywhere trying to force their post 1776 euorpean orthodoxies on real Americans. Say it together, Penn sylvania. Leave the darkness of ignorance. That is a good start.
Had no idea he played with the Anson Funderburgh band! Great blues!
3
I'm a long-time fan of Mike Judge. He grew up in Albuquerque (I'm a New Mexico native), and often captures little nuances of life in our state. I definitely knew a few kids like Beavis and Butthead, especially kids from Albuquerque that had moved to my small town. It would seem that we do not always have the best parents in our state... ;-)
Anyway, this is a very nice journalistic piece on a visionary satirist whose entertaining work peels apart the layers of our country's socio-economic structure. It's not a long stretch to envision our future to that depicted in "Idiocracy."
Anyway, this is a very nice journalistic piece on a visionary satirist whose entertaining work peels apart the layers of our country's socio-economic structure. It's not a long stretch to envision our future to that depicted in "Idiocracy."
12
In San Francisco, the recently completed, 58-story Millennium tower is falling over due to poor engineering and no one knows how to stop it.
à la the opening shots of Idiocracy, I envision a giant strap placed around the top of the tower and around a neighboring building to provide support.
à la the opening shots of Idiocracy, I envision a giant strap placed around the top of the tower and around a neighboring building to provide support.
21
How about a huge drone, hovering 24/7, holding it all up? Or duct tape? To other buildings? That begin to tilt? Until the whole thing topples, like dominoes? And someone comes in and turns it into DomiNoZone condos. Just ride the wave, right? Nothing ever stays the same. BTW, my husband, a really insane guy who keeps telling me I should see "Beavis and Butthead Do America," laughs too much when I'm cutting his hair. What's this country coming to?
1
im currently watching the king of the hill series
very funny, and spot on portrayal of texas kultur
8
If you conflate Idiocracy with the old musical hit 'In the Year 2525' you will have all the bases of our horrible future covered.
7
I suggest you get out more and travel the world before assuming America has a horrible future.
5
When an avowed socialist can get as close to the Presidency as Sanders did, our fate is sealed.
1
Spend some time in a high school in our fair state, Elizabeth, and I think maybe you'll see what people mean when they talk about their fear of the future. Or, maybe just turn on Fox News.
1
I see Silicon Valley as a dismal commentary on the tech industry. The characters are awful corrupt people. Their selfishness takes priority when they interact with each other. The honest characters like Richard Hendricks senses his own good values and purposely tries to act against his instincts.
3
"difficult year"?
only if you want it to be.
only if you want it to be.
3
The most telling bit about Judge here is that he's often the quietest guy in the room. The smartest, funniest, but quietest. We haven't become too dumb or numb as a society as much as we've become too loud. When Time magazine declares "everyone" as their "Man of the Year" you know there's a problem.
50
Especially when half of everyone is made up of women.
9
Silicon Valley is an absolute pleasure. As one decidedly on the fringe of our technological advance, professionally in an antiquated, soon-to-be-replaced by-all-algorithms-and-robots-all-the-time industry and a dyed in the wool progressive railing against the Corpocracy (Idiocracy) whenever the opportunity presents itself, I look forward to every episode that reinforces my consistent belief, that contemporary Tech is more smoke and mirrors, more stupidly overvalued stock and moronic investment, more distraction than output, more flying cars and atomic motorcycles than any tangible, sustainable improvement in ours lives. Which leads one to wonder are Mr Judge and I the only ones who see this as an existential threat, an inexorable march to the end of civilization? Or is there an emerging awareness evidenced in the public reaction to dragging customers off the universally despised airlines, or the palpable sense of revolt against the machine, that resulted in our electing an idiot President or the murderous statistical proof that 'multi-tasking', especially while operating a motor vehicle, is Butt Head stupid; could these be harbingers of an awakening, one that asks, just because we can should we? After all, if the end game is extinction we have had the analog tech to do that for more than half a century and yet here we are. Then again we may be doing it one app at a time, in that case laughing as we go is a lot better than crying.
16
You are not the only ones who see this as an existential threat, Kelly. As a native daughter of Jersey City who spent the first 28 years living in the NY metro "crack of the backbeat" and then the next 30+ in Central America...my perspective can't help but seeing this. And now, due to marketing Belize ad nauseam stateside, I now have to put up with that culture coming here and pressuring me to multi-task my life away and get too busy to be aware of my immediate surroundings or the born here folks residing within it. Pizza seems to be their god.
When I was first introduced to "Idiocracy" about 5 years ago, I found it brilliant spoof. Too bad that in this Time of Trump it has now turned from spoof to an actual documentary of the times.....
When I was first introduced to "Idiocracy" about 5 years ago, I found it brilliant spoof. Too bad that in this Time of Trump it has now turned from spoof to an actual documentary of the times.....
14
Isn't he the boy that stole my lawnmower?
7
One of the myths blown to smithereens by Judge's work is the idea that more education makes for better citizens. In fact, many of the idiots in Office Space and Silicon Valley have college degrees (or we presume such based on their jobs), but they are still infantile personalities made stupid by their petty needs and greeds.
As Judge shows, there are plenty of decent, smart, people out there making good decisions who never went to college. And there a lot of idiots with credentials from the Ivy League slowly destroying the world via their stupidity and greed.
As Judge shows, there are plenty of decent, smart, people out there making good decisions who never went to college. And there a lot of idiots with credentials from the Ivy League slowly destroying the world via their stupidity and greed.
45
A degree nowadays is not like a degree when the goal wasn't job placement but critical thinking and problem solving. All the advanced training in economics or physics or "business" cannot bring wisdom to someone who has not spent time in the humanities.
Rhetoric, logic, philosophy, art history, languages - these make better problem solvers than do classes taken specifically to satisfy a resume-checking algorithm. But companies are forcing this educational approach (and societal dumbing down) because they don't want to invest any time bringing a talented generalist up to speed on something they will no doubt excel at.
Rhetoric, logic, philosophy, art history, languages - these make better problem solvers than do classes taken specifically to satisfy a resume-checking algorithm. But companies are forcing this educational approach (and societal dumbing down) because they don't want to invest any time bringing a talented generalist up to speed on something they will no doubt excel at.
17
"but they are still infantile personalities made stupid by their petty needs and greeds."
I will take the level of infantility and greed from SV techies and I will raise you the level of infantility, greed, and soul-wrenching cynicism of Wall Street financial traders and financial analysts.
Maybe most of what SV guys make has little to do with improving people's lives, but if you really want to point fingers, please consider Wall Street first, second, and third. WS guys make *nothing*. At best, they are insurance salesmen; at worst they cause world-wide financial crises.
I will take the level of infantility and greed from SV techies and I will raise you the level of infantility, greed, and soul-wrenching cynicism of Wall Street financial traders and financial analysts.
Maybe most of what SV guys make has little to do with improving people's lives, but if you really want to point fingers, please consider Wall Street first, second, and third. WS guys make *nothing*. At best, they are insurance salesmen; at worst they cause world-wide financial crises.
4
In a lot of ways, Mike Judge is like a modern Charlie Chaplin with sound. Chaplin's comedy was acclaimed for many of the same reasons as Judge's - sympathetic portrayals of real people in circumstances outside their control, prophetic visions of society undone by out-of-control technology and run by ridiculous despots, outrageous visual slapstick material, etc. Its mix of brainy and non-brainy humor was acceptable for the masses and sophisticates. If anything, Chaplin's work is even more appreciated now, as I'm sure Judge's will be someday.
14
As someone appalled by the immaturity of today's adults - obsessed with their phones, social media, Pokemon, the Kardashians, Mama June, and zombie invasions, Idiocracy looked less like a satire than a documentary. China has now replaced us as the superpower and we as a culture are too busy distracting ourselves with fluff to notice.
25
What an idiocratic statement! I'd match our idiots, although fewer in number, against China's any day.
1
I bet you're loads of fun at parties.
Not everyone is "obsessed" with those things but some folks do find them a nice distraction from the horrors happening in the world at large. What should "adults" be into - Perry Como, cardigan sweaters and talking seriously about the Bible? Lighten up; you'll enjoy life more.
Not everyone is "obsessed" with those things but some folks do find them a nice distraction from the horrors happening in the world at large. What should "adults" be into - Perry Como, cardigan sweaters and talking seriously about the Bible? Lighten up; you'll enjoy life more.
1
Silicon Valley is a good show, but not a great one. The seasons are wildly inconsistent. We'll see if it raises the bar to become a true companion to Veep, but as of right now it's merely better than most.
4
Idiocracy is one of my favorite films of all time. At least in the satirist genre of prophetic horror.
Judge's excellent critique of modern society and it's de-evolution to destruction should strike a cord with all Americans. Wake up and smell your world, it's a funk of careless, UN-empathetic sprinting to the finish line of control, sales and gadgetry. Judge's work should yield the moment and give us the wisdom to reflect on our own existential power and the responsibility that comes with it.
read a book, have a conversation, plant something that grows
I haven't watched "silicon valley" but this piece makes me want to pick it up soon. After I watch my Idiocracy DVD for 10th time, and nervously laugh myself to a hysterical and fearful tears.
Judge's excellent critique of modern society and it's de-evolution to destruction should strike a cord with all Americans. Wake up and smell your world, it's a funk of careless, UN-empathetic sprinting to the finish line of control, sales and gadgetry. Judge's work should yield the moment and give us the wisdom to reflect on our own existential power and the responsibility that comes with it.
read a book, have a conversation, plant something that grows
I haven't watched "silicon valley" but this piece makes me want to pick it up soon. After I watch my Idiocracy DVD for 10th time, and nervously laugh myself to a hysterical and fearful tears.
Chris Buck's photo of Mike Judge is terrific. An interesting and compelling portrait that could stand alone from the story it illustrated. That said it piqued this reader's curiosity. Thank you!
5
Great feature. I'd heard of Mr. Judge but knew little (I never watched Beavis and Butthead). Last two paragraphs of this profile had me crying with laughter.
Read it all, great writing. I do wish the author included more from Judge himself. He seemed mostly absent from this profile.
7
Wonderful profile. The section on the staged trade show was brilliant. Perfectly captured the combination of self-aggrandizement and utter cluelessness of the tech industry. In what other industry would a business not only permit itself to be featured in a scathing satire, but actually send sales reps to the send-up?
4
"Idiocracy" was parodying the Bush presidency. The fact that Trump has made Bush seem competent is a feat indeed.
The fact that you can go to Amazon and buy a red Swingline stapler is fantastic, but even more fantastic are the 2,000+ comments that customers have left on the product.
I have to stop commenting this article so I can get back to finishing my TPS reports.
The fact that you can go to Amazon and buy a red Swingline stapler is fantastic, but even more fantastic are the 2,000+ comments that customers have left on the product.
I have to stop commenting this article so I can get back to finishing my TPS reports.
23
I haven't yet seen Idiocracy (the movie, that is), but I will now. Office Space is, without qualification, a classic. And as I think back to Office Space now, it's sad just how much better that time seems in hindsight. Can you imagine? One of the main predicaments was that the office printer wouldn't work right.
Now, everything works so well, people download apps to avoid raising their hand to hail a cab.
(And, as we also now know, people today are so hypnotized by the ability to get information "presented" to them in a palatable way, that they can willingly elect a president whose lack of integrity is on full display (but is whitewashed over by spinmasters, with their own similar character flaws, on TV), whose campaign themes are recycled from fascist movements (that one would only be able to learn if they READ their news, rather than letting it seep into their head through the filter of thematically curated TV and radio news programs), and who cannot articulate any plan for achieving any of the campaign promises that supposedly make him the more popular candidate (which would only matter if people were still capable of paying attention long enough to hear the answer, which they aren't).)
Now, everything works so well, people download apps to avoid raising their hand to hail a cab.
(And, as we also now know, people today are so hypnotized by the ability to get information "presented" to them in a palatable way, that they can willingly elect a president whose lack of integrity is on full display (but is whitewashed over by spinmasters, with their own similar character flaws, on TV), whose campaign themes are recycled from fascist movements (that one would only be able to learn if they READ their news, rather than letting it seep into their head through the filter of thematically curated TV and radio news programs), and who cannot articulate any plan for achieving any of the campaign promises that supposedly make him the more popular candidate (which would only matter if people were still capable of paying attention long enough to hear the answer, which they aren't).)
11
Every time I come to the US I feel like I am living “Idiocracy”...
When my 14-year-old son heard that Trump was 'elected' as President, he said "Wow, it is turning out that 'Idiocracy' was actually a documentary."
12
I marketed "King of the Hill" in first run on Fox and then in syndication for 20th TV... never had more fun! Thanks, Mike!
BTW, a spot I did for another animated sitcom featuring nothing but flatulence was a finalist in our industry's award show last year... so yeah, we're getting close to Mike's vision!
BTW, a spot I did for another animated sitcom featuring nothing but flatulence was a finalist in our industry's award show last year... so yeah, we're getting close to Mike's vision!
4
"Hypnotoad" is the top show of the 31st Century.
2
Please explain King of the Hill in this context. You dismiss it as an exception. It was not satire. It was a loving look at our oddness, without pessimism. The characters were all flawed - but they didn't see themselves as drones and they were not idiots. Hank Hill is a genius. I can see the same mind behind this and Butthead and Idiocracy. But it is hard to explain.
10
Look in the mirror.
This piece was written in the smug and shallow you are there and we are in on it style so beloved of people who stay in the herd that applauds its own critical thinking. The kind of herd that gets buffoons like Trump elected.
Idiocracy is a kinder version of Kornbkruh's MarchingMorons.
King of the Hill is not an after thought but the main course.
And if you want a show those Silicon Valley vain sociopaths love it is Southpark.
This piece was written in the smug and shallow you are there and we are in on it style so beloved of people who stay in the herd that applauds its own critical thinking. The kind of herd that gets buffoons like Trump elected.
Idiocracy is a kinder version of Kornbkruh's MarchingMorons.
King of the Hill is not an after thought but the main course.
And if you want a show those Silicon Valley vain sociopaths love it is Southpark.
9
Nice piece. Thanks, NYT for keeping professional long-form journalism alive.
24
Before I heard of this film, I circulated a note to several friends declaring our nation to have become an idiocracy instead of a democracy, due to our dysfunctional, defective (brainwashed) voters.
One of the recipients replied that it should be idiotocracy, since idiot just means peculiar (as in idiosyncratic).
She is right, but that doesn't roll off the tongue trippingly, does it.
One of the recipients replied that it should be idiotocracy, since idiot just means peculiar (as in idiosyncratic).
She is right, but that doesn't roll off the tongue trippingly, does it.
5
As the prose of this front-page, high-profile essay petered downwards from dull, I stopped reading at "suckiness."
5
A great read!
7
Silicon Valley is the funniest show on TV and I can't wait for the new season to start. The show is horrifyingly real and brutally funny for anyone who's worked those kinds of jobs. The bonus is no laugh-track.
9
"Over dinner, Judge told me that he now fears “Idiocracy” was a little optimistic — maybe the country won’t even exist in 2505."
That statement struck fear in my heart and saddened me more than any other statement I have read since I saw 45 glide down that escalator to announce. It's potential to be true seems more realistic with every day that passes under our current circumstances. Mike Judge captured the sickening truth over the last 40 years with "Idiocrocy" and anyone with half a brain recognized this fact when it came out.
I have been telling everyone who will listen to watch this movie.
That statement struck fear in my heart and saddened me more than any other statement I have read since I saw 45 glide down that escalator to announce. It's potential to be true seems more realistic with every day that passes under our current circumstances. Mike Judge captured the sickening truth over the last 40 years with "Idiocrocy" and anyone with half a brain recognized this fact when it came out.
I have been telling everyone who will listen to watch this movie.
157
It struck fear in my heart too, especially because I initially misread 2505 as 2050.
2
Sad that both parties are so lame that "what have you got to lose?" wins the presidency.
4
I have been telling everyone I know to watch this movie as a harbinger of what is to come. However, my brother-in-law pointed out a huge difference between the movie and the current administration that I hadn't considered: In Idiocracy the president and his cohorts, while not very bright, have the interest of their fellow human beings at heart. This administration, not at all.
5
Office Space and Idiocracy both reflect the corporatization of America - the former from the perspective of employees, the latter from the perspective of customers.
42
One of the things that always brings a smile to my face is the upscale clothing store for husky boys where Hank Hill's son shops in "King of the Hill."
It's called "H. Dumpty"
Brilliant.
It's called "H. Dumpty"
Brilliant.
48
Just an aside, but I thought "Extract" is largely the inverse of "Office Space". Less the crush of managerial apparatus and more suction of employees.
Judge would agree. He has said when he made Office Space he only knew the misery of the worker bees. After some years of success he understood the misery of being the boss, ala Extract.
3
"A difficult year"?? No, a GREAT year!
3
Because Trump has been able to fulfill so many of his campaign promises? LOL
2
Not to be a pain, but I THINK Mike played drums for Anson and the Rockets.
Right???
Right???
1
Wikipedia says he was the bassist.
Nope, he was the bassist.
No time to comment, gotta water my lawn with Brawndo.
38
It's got electrolytes!
4
It's what plants crave!
People do not come close to fully appreciating the comedic brilliance of Mike Judge. His ability to portray societal problems on film are stunning. Whether it is
a feature length film, a television series, or (perhaps the best) his "cartoon" character driven series, he is a genius, and I use this word very sparingly.
As is mentioned in Willy Staley's article, Judge shows us humor at it's finest; however, this humor (sometimes) becomes horror, upon closer observation.
Typically, I believe his legacy will not be fully appreciated by society until many years from now. I truly hope it occurs much sooner, like now.
a feature length film, a television series, or (perhaps the best) his "cartoon" character driven series, he is a genius, and I use this word very sparingly.
As is mentioned in Willy Staley's article, Judge shows us humor at it's finest; however, this humor (sometimes) becomes horror, upon closer observation.
Typically, I believe his legacy will not be fully appreciated by society until many years from now. I truly hope it occurs much sooner, like now.
103
If "Idiocracy"'s forecast is accurate, the likelihood that Judge's genius will be "fully appreciated by society" is dwindling rapidly, not increasing...but that's all the more reason to celebrate having him in our midst now!
1
The role of corporations run amuck in society is bang on reflected in "Idiocracy." If you haven't watched it, do, and see if you don't agree. Everyone wearing logos, drinking concoctions from water fountains, and the land unable to grow any food because of corporate abuse. It's a glimpse of America, Made Great Again.
Bonus is that future law degrees are available from Costco. That would have saved me a ton of money!
Bonus is that future law degrees are available from Costco. That would have saved me a ton of money!
67
One of my first thoughts when I heard Trump confirmed was "Oh my God "Idiocracy" is really coming true". It's been uncanny unfortunately. Hat's off to Mike Judge. I guess?
65
I think that's when Judge made the observation that Idiocracy was now a documentary.
4
I remember it now, Idiocracy, the flatulence sequence, and the bizarre laughter, our dumbing-down future via the Trump presidential campaign. This latter-stage 1984, art mimicking life remains more predictively scary than funny. But let's not stop holding the mirror to Silicon Valley.
10
Trump in office is nothing short of a nightmare
26
Mike Judge is one of the most under appreciated comedic voices of the past 25 years. Anyone working in corporate America can relate to "Office Space" - a true classic and the reason I giggle every time the printer says "PC Load Letter". "Silicon Valley" is another gem. The staying power of his work was demonstrated at my house last week when my 8 and 10 year old sons discovered the episode of "King of the Hill" where Bobby takes a women's self defense class. "That's my purse!" Haven't seen the kids laugh that much at anything in a long time!
Well, that was speciaal...until i had to look up veri-simili-tude.
Is a word special, when the computer doesn't even try to machine mouth it?
Is a word special, when the computer doesn't even try to machine mouth it?
1
lol. Let's add the following words that also appear in the article, which while generally familiar with what they mean, I decided to look up to get their precise meaning: prescient, jingoistic, ardor, venality. I feel like I just studied for the SAT's.
it's a shame he did not run against Trump. He would have had a higher probability of defeating him than Hillary did.
13
For my money, Judge's greatest achievement is "King of the Hill," the animated series on Fox that ended a few seasons back after a long run. He managed to poke fun at what some folks would call the quintessential Trump demographic, and he did so in a hilarious manner that was smart, empathetic, and laugh out loud funny. After is wife Peggy's parachute didn't deploy and she crashed to the ground, ending up in a full-body cast, Hank Hill told her, "“You know, Helen Keller was largely useless, but look how we remember her. Yep, first lady of the American stage.” There are at minimum three great jokes in those two sentences. There are simply too many great quotes to recount here from that great show.
56
As I read all this, I kept thinking--thank heavens I majored in the classics. You know. Greek and Latin. Now why would I think that?
Garbage, that's why. Cities--nations--cultures--all these (to some extent) are brimming with garbage. Things utterly foolish--transient--perishable. Silly things. Toys of a moment. To say nothing of little peeves--little wrongs--little inconveniences. Things that clutter and embitter human life.
Read Horace (or Juvenal) about ancient Rome. The heat. The sweat. The smell of hot, sweaty people. Noisy funerals. A building going up with some heavy joist swinging out of control, all but braining someone. An occasional mad dog. A pig wallowing in a patch of mud. All the realities of first century Rome. A.D or B.C--take your pick!
These things are gone. Like a dream. Thousands of years have run by. What we have is--Horace and Juvenal. The marvelous ringing hexameters that describe the things. The thoughts, the feelings and passions of fellow human beings. Even their anger--facit indignatio versum says Juvenal. "Anger writes the poem." And oh! so much more. The classics--a kind of timeless world. We move about--we see--we experience. WITHOUT being mugged or jostled or trodden on or having filth and urine dumped on our heads.
The Horace or Juvenal of Silicon Valley? Two thousand years from now? Who's it gonna be? Good question. I don't know.
Garbage, that's why. Cities--nations--cultures--all these (to some extent) are brimming with garbage. Things utterly foolish--transient--perishable. Silly things. Toys of a moment. To say nothing of little peeves--little wrongs--little inconveniences. Things that clutter and embitter human life.
Read Horace (or Juvenal) about ancient Rome. The heat. The sweat. The smell of hot, sweaty people. Noisy funerals. A building going up with some heavy joist swinging out of control, all but braining someone. An occasional mad dog. A pig wallowing in a patch of mud. All the realities of first century Rome. A.D or B.C--take your pick!
These things are gone. Like a dream. Thousands of years have run by. What we have is--Horace and Juvenal. The marvelous ringing hexameters that describe the things. The thoughts, the feelings and passions of fellow human beings. Even their anger--facit indignatio versum says Juvenal. "Anger writes the poem." And oh! so much more. The classics--a kind of timeless world. We move about--we see--we experience. WITHOUT being mugged or jostled or trodden on or having filth and urine dumped on our heads.
The Horace or Juvenal of Silicon Valley? Two thousand years from now? Who's it gonna be? Good question. I don't know.
32
I work at an Atlanta data startup, and there is a lot of truth in the show "Silicon Valley".
Somewhere there is a hip hop musician in Silicon Valley saying that there is a lot of truth in the show "Atlanta".
It's really becoming a meta world!
Somewhere there is a hip hop musician in Silicon Valley saying that there is a lot of truth in the show "Atlanta".
It's really becoming a meta world!
great article.
one question: can you guys trade DJT for President Camacho? Terry Crews is much smarter, funnier, and better looking, imo.
one question: can you guys trade DJT for President Camacho? Terry Crews is much smarter, funnier, and better looking, imo.
41
"So you smart huh? I thought your head would be bigger"
I love that guy, would be way better than current so called pres.
I love that guy, would be way better than current so called pres.
7
Trump shares Camacho's three-point plan for "fixing everything," except that he thinks he is the smartest man alive, and he will be the one to do the fixing. At least Camacho had the presence of mind to realize he wasn't capable of that.
2
It's quite disheartening that Judge's dystopian conceit in "Idiocracy" has come to fruition 488 years too quickly. Maybe its advance should by codified in some corollary of Moore's Law concerning the entropy of intelligence. Or, as Breathed's Bill the Cat might say, "ACK!".
17
If it wasn't for King of the Hill I'd believe that Mike Judge's worldview was grim. But he created Hank Hill, a man who loves his son, even though he doesn't understand him, and tolerates his crazy neighbors and friends.
We could all take a cue from Hank these days.
We could all take a cue from Hank these days.
61
Idicoracy ran a bit long for me but that opening montage is brilliant. It can always be counted on for a good laugh.
8
"possibly representing the greatest concentration of brainpower and capital ever seen in human history"
Bullocks!
Bullocks!
4
I too am a physics graduate from 1985; now I understand why I always enjoyed Mike Judge's work so much going all the way back to my seeing Frog Baseball in 1993: our value systems, formed during the 1960s and its aftermath in the 1970s was upended (and made a bit irrelevant) by the onset of Reagan and the Neocon movement. It is frightening to us and yet, at the same time, utterly hilarious. It's definitely an exercise in learning human nature.
32
We are moving toward -- are already in? -- an AliceInWonderland TV movie world, a hall of mirrors in which we hate loving what we see, abhor adoring what we say, and renounce all we believe. Laughing at it is a great release, at least until it strangles us to death - at which point we rise to start all over again. Nifty? Go ask Alice.
6
God bless America... with social conservatives that don't believe in birth control devices... and progressives who don't believe that the people least fit to have children, should be socially pressured to not have them. Idiocracy, here we come.
37
Is Idiocracy a call for eugenics?
5
Idiocracy made Mike Judge the Frank Capra of our times.
57
I think you hit the nail on the head, although Mike Judge has a better comedic skill set than Capra had.
Many people think criticism (in any way) of one of the best directors of the 20th Century as blasphemy, so please don't misconstrue my point. I say what I mean, and fully appreciate Capra's qualities in film; also, his flaws.
After all, we are human, and far from perfect.
Many people think criticism (in any way) of one of the best directors of the 20th Century as blasphemy, so please don't misconstrue my point. I say what I mean, and fully appreciate Capra's qualities in film; also, his flaws.
After all, we are human, and far from perfect.
1
'idiocracy' does anticipate a whiff or two of the trump era -- in, say, its title, if nothing else -- but its treatment of race is startlingly dated. a trigger-happy rapper is the worst president judge could imagine? certainly, 'ow my balls!' remains a cultural menace, as does the rest of fox, but the threat judge gives the shortest shrift (the '-cracy' part) turns out to be the decidedly un-idiotic designs of trump advisor steven bannon and his resentful white constituency.
4
"Go away, 'batin." Yeah, that movie has been swirling in my mind quite a bit in the past year...
17
Finally--giving Mike Judge his due for his amazingly prescient understanding of America! Both Office Space and Idiocracy are among my favorite movies, but ever since trump showed up on the scene to run for president, it was obvious that he was following the Idiocracy script a little too closely. Didn't anyone else see it? Everything was there right in front of us. It hurts me now to see it all come true--and 500 years early!
63
Idiocracy not only foresaw the Trump Presidency, but contemplated the likes of Puzdner, Pruitt, DeVos and even Bannon. The current crop of idiots in charge are even planning to privatize the water supply. How did that work out for Judge's idiots? What makes Judge a genius is that he understands that the so called governing elite who think they are running the show are actually manipulated by the moron masses. When President for Life Trump performs at one of his beloved rallies, who is controlling whom? It is scary enough believing Trump runs the show, but his "base" wants WWF Monster Truck executions. Will 59 Tomahawks be enough to satisfy their desire that Trump act Presidential?
121
Who's running the show at Trump gatherings? -- well. there's only onethere who has thieved his way to both enormous wealth and (now) enormous power.
Addendum: will the "Mother of all Bombs" be enough?
Your lede completely misses the mark. The real roots of our trouble are plainly visible in "Beavis and Butthead," blazing a trail of proud know-nothingness. Beavis and Butthead would be about 40 years old now. Who do you think they voted for?
264
Farts are funny; but is that what we need to focus our collective attention on? Things are getting pretty bad in the world. Perhaps we have gone far enough with the dumbing of America. I long for a vision that inspires the best in humanity, rather than a man's buttocks passing gas. How about a story about some lousy man-children who grow up into admirable adults?
1
They voted for Slayer obviously.
3
They're registered to vote?
Have so far just looked at some YouTube snippets of "Idiocracy" -- but one thing stands out.
The real problem is not that the nice, white Yuppie couple isn't having children, but that the trailer people aren't getting an education that would help them realize who their exploiters are.
The real problem is not that the nice, white Yuppie couple isn't having children, but that the trailer people aren't getting an education that would help them realize who their exploiters are.
81
Was this a promo for Silicon Valley or a profile on Mike Judge? How do you do a whole article on Mike Judge and only leave one sentence for King of the Hill??? Blasphemy
25
hey this sucks it's like all words and stuff there's no chicks or loud music!
Beavis, I told you stop trying to read the New York Times! It sucks like Winger!
Beavis, I told you stop trying to read the New York Times! It sucks like Winger!
110
Beavis would never try to read the New York Times, or anything, probably.
"If anything can explain the short time horizon on which “Idiocracy” and reality merged" It has been merging for a long Time and Mike Judge has been the chronicler of our demise since Beavis and Butthead, also the champion of all the people unable to alter its course. Thanks for the profile of one of my most valued artists.
32
Indeed, the US has gone way out of hand. Whenever I'm in a plane about to take off for another country, any other country, I feel I'm back home.
17
"Silicon Valley" is spot on. It's no wonder some people love it and some are quite scared of watching it. It's all completely true! I call the Valley "Silly Valley" since it is!
I worked for years in San Jose, which is the anchor for what became S. Valley and there was a guy in my company who drooled hamburger and coffee down his chin who was the sort who would say "sure, move my desk! But I'll burn down the building! And where's my stapler?" And Novell (remember them?) had a sign up for years that implied they were going to build on otherwise empty ground. They never did. The 'net happened instead! Now it's Yahoo. And of course Google. And once a woman drove me past one of Steve Jobs' houses in Los Gatos (of course) and she pointed out his 17 (!) motorcycles. The people who work in the Valley are weird and the show nails it!!!
I worked for years in San Jose, which is the anchor for what became S. Valley and there was a guy in my company who drooled hamburger and coffee down his chin who was the sort who would say "sure, move my desk! But I'll burn down the building! And where's my stapler?" And Novell (remember them?) had a sign up for years that implied they were going to build on otherwise empty ground. They never did. The 'net happened instead! Now it's Yahoo. And of course Google. And once a woman drove me past one of Steve Jobs' houses in Los Gatos (of course) and she pointed out his 17 (!) motorcycles. The people who work in the Valley are weird and the show nails it!!!
7
My company found their chief IT guy sitting on a dumpster drinking coffee chain smoking and talking to himself and had to send him away for an adjustment.
I remember him coming into my office and I told him we just made fresh coffee and when he looked at the full 12 cup pot said is that all you make,we use 30 cup urns in our office. I had to tell him well we can always make more.
Nice guy but operating on a different wavelength.
I remember him coming into my office and I told him we just made fresh coffee and when he looked at the full 12 cup pot said is that all you make,we use 30 cup urns in our office. I had to tell him well we can always make more.
Nice guy but operating on a different wavelength.
7
whatever happened to novell? the whole building watched the oj verdict at their facility (they had the biggest tv.) Served us pizza and beer a whole lot better than they did files. i suppose that was the high water mark for them, oj, and, come to think of it, me.
I stopped reading this story about halfway through. Not because it wasn't interesting, it was. I stopped because I became dispirited, deflated.
How have we become THIS? Victims and agents of brutality and casual cruelty. Consumers. Eyeballs. The "Help". Deplorables. The Smug.
Not to go too far into the abyss, but is there any hope?
Can we escape this bitter and desperate time? I believe we can, but not before more of our fellow citizens awaken from their fear and loathing induced rage.
We have more power than we think we do. We just need to use it.
Love to all.
How have we become THIS? Victims and agents of brutality and casual cruelty. Consumers. Eyeballs. The "Help". Deplorables. The Smug.
Not to go too far into the abyss, but is there any hope?
Can we escape this bitter and desperate time? I believe we can, but not before more of our fellow citizens awaken from their fear and loathing induced rage.
We have more power than we think we do. We just need to use it.
Love to all.
45
I like some of Judge's work. King of the Hill is a top five for me. But the classism in Judge's Idiocracy bothered me enough that I turned it off. It's too easy to say our problems stem from stupid people or "stupid people" breeding. That's not satire- it's eugenics.
Also, I have a lot of fancy book learning, with no reform school experience, and I would definitely laugh about context-free flatulence. Tim and Eric have gained a lot of popularity with this type of comedy. Sometimes basic, silly things are funny. That doesn't mean our collective IQ is in decline. It just means that humor doesn't always have to be intellectual in order to be worthy of a laugh.
Also, I have a lot of fancy book learning, with no reform school experience, and I would definitely laugh about context-free flatulence. Tim and Eric have gained a lot of popularity with this type of comedy. Sometimes basic, silly things are funny. That doesn't mean our collective IQ is in decline. It just means that humor doesn't always have to be intellectual in order to be worthy of a laugh.
10
except that the new so called potus road the coattails of buffoon's votes into his office with a little help from the Russkies. so, yeah, there's total classism in the modern Idiocracy. Remember the 'elites' comments?
8
I had to read way too far down into the comments to see someone call Judge out for his classist Idiocracy. Thank you for doing so. Judge's classist tendencies were always tamped-down in his best work, King of the Hill.
1
The number of smart, upper middle class professionals that voted for Trump should make anybody question the notion that Trump was voted in by the working class. I do live in a more conservative state, but he had an appeal that went beyond resentful poor people. I do believe that this election revealed some ugly tendencies in our culture. Judge is right on one thing- willful ignorance is our real enemy.
8
Well, who knew. I saw Anson Funderburgh and the Rockets in the late 80s a couple of times in Oxford, MS. I suppose that was Mr. Judge slapping that bass as the wonderful Sam Meyers sang away? Good band. Good years, then.
3
Great piece that captures the genius of Mike Judge. In "King of the Hill" there are are many instances of biting satire . . . such as the character of Buck Strickland, Hank's terminally self-absorbed boss, who holds staff meetings sitting on the toilet and passing paperwork under the door to his minions.
19
Judge can see where we are heading. I know several folks who refuse to watch "Idiocracy" because they know it to be true.
I hope he keeps after us with that sort of black comedy. If there's any way to stop us from heading into the abyss, it will involve laughter.
I hope he keeps after us with that sort of black comedy. If there's any way to stop us from heading into the abyss, it will involve laughter.
66
And the truth hurts.
Always loved his work and the biting cultural commentary.
Didn't know that he looked just like Bobby Hill.
Didn't know that he looked just like Bobby Hill.
9
With a dab of Patch Boomhauer in the squint.