Burst
El Dandy
*inarticulate squawking*
Posts: 8,583
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Post by Burst on Nov 11, 2015 14:18:18 GMT -5
Because I'm completely sick of how this is the go-to movie whenever a lazy cynic wants to make an argument about "Oh society is declining so much, bread and circuses, our civilization is doomed!" as if they're the only intelligent person left in the entire world.
I won't argue that there aren't unbelievably moronic people out there and that they certainly do pump out more babies than the intelligentsia, but if there's such a thing as being 'naively cynical', this is it.
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Post by A Platypus Rave on Nov 11, 2015 14:23:39 GMT -5
I'd default to the XKCD comic talking about how much of a logistical failure the "Idiocracy is happening" argument is... but it has a panel that is mostly religious... instead I'll post the main takeaway of it.
"more harm has been done by people panicked over societal decline than societal decline ever did."
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kidglov3s
Bill S. Preston, Esq.
Wants her Shot
Who is Tiger Maskooo?
Posts: 15,870
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Post by kidglov3s on Nov 11, 2015 14:27:46 GMT -5
20th Century Fox executives in Fall 2006 were saying the same thing! www.cinemablend.com/new/Mishandled-Movies-Idiocracy-Isn-t-The-First-3315.html"Mike Judge's new movie Idiocracy opens this weekend, with absolutely no support from 20th Century Fox, the studio that owns it. Fox is dropping it in 130 theaters with only a week's notice, without a single movie trailer, and without even bothering to issue an official poster for it." www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=5788260"PATEL: USC Professor David Whitzman(ph) worked in movie advertising at Fox when they released Star Wars in 1977, and he's astonished that Fox this time didn't even circulate a trailer for Idiocracy. It's never happened in his 40 plus years in movie marketing. In his experience if executives felt a movie was going to tank, they wouldn't spend tens of millions of dollars on marketing... Prof. DAVID WHITZMAN (Film, USC): But even in those cases, we gave it support. We certainly prepared materials for it. We certainly tried to get the public interested in seeing it. If not, why put it out there at all? PATEL: The why may be that the studio was contractually obligated to release Idiocracy in theaters before releasing it on DVD. Fox or director Mike Judge declined to comment for this story. Fox will only say the film is in limited release, though it's not open in New York where almost every other limited release movie does screen." |
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wisdomwizard
King Koopa
Too Salty
Watching you.
Posts: 11,087 
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Post by wisdomwizard on Nov 11, 2015 14:31:48 GMT -5
Even Mike Judge stated the movie wasn't intended to be interpreted the way movie snobs did. Personally, I dislike Idiocracy not because I think society reflects it (read: it doesn't) or the pretentious nitwits that hold it up on a pedestal; I just plain don't like the sophomoric toilet jokes it uses. It uses just as many disgusting jokes as a bad Adam Sandler film.
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Post by HMARK Center on Nov 11, 2015 14:49:55 GMT -5
Yeah, the "society is dooooooomed" chicken littles really have no grasp whatsoever of history or sociology. Like you say, they mostly want to feel good about themselves by acting like the only smart/sane people in the room, while ignoring a reality that shatters their assertions.
It's not to say that society-threatening factors don't exist, or that there aren't potential crises that are unique to this point in history due to the technology and communication that are possible in 2015, but there are quotes from ancient Greeks about young students being lazy or disrespectful.
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mizerable
Fry's dog Seymour
You're the lowest on the totem pole here, Alva. The lowest.
Posts: 23,475
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Post by mizerable on Nov 11, 2015 15:15:41 GMT -5
Even if I believed society is "doomed", it's for other reasons.
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Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
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Post by Deleted on Nov 11, 2015 15:22:08 GMT -5
It was honestly only okay. Pretty low-hanging fruit and ineloquently told. For all the ridicule it was supposedly doing of the "hyuk-hyuk, sex boobs beer" it certainly had a lot of it and not much else. It basically was putting a bunch of stupid stuff on screen and then using Joe as a way for the audience to go, "Look how stupid they are!" And then a bunch of people tried to find deeper "meaning" in it and hold it up as an example of how clever they are in seeing how the world is going down the tubes. Not even realizing that the character of "Joe" (which they're bascially emulating) wasn't that bright or talented or interesting, he was just average as f*** and being amongst a bunch of dummies made him feel smarter than he actually was.
Its like Scarface that way.
I've seen a lot of people emulate and quote Tony Montana, but they clearly didn't watch the movie all the way to the end.
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Post by A Platypus Rave on Nov 11, 2015 15:27:05 GMT -5
It was honestly only okay. Pretty low-hanging fruit and ineloquently told. For all the ridicule it was supposedly doing of the "hyuk-hyuk, sex boobs beer" it certainly had a lot of it and not much else. It basically was putting a bunch of stupid stuff on screen and then using Joe as a way for the audience to go, "Look how stupid they are!" And then a bunch of people tried to find deeper "meaning" in it and hold it up as an example of how clever they are in seeing how the world is going down the tubes. Not even realizing that the character of "Joe" (which they're bascially emulating) wasn't that bright or talented or interesting, he was just average as f*** and being amongst a bunch of dummies made him feel smarter than he actually was. Yeah, they make it pretty obvious that Joe is actually pretty dumb himself... |
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Post by Long A, Short A on Nov 11, 2015 15:29:50 GMT -5
This thread warms my heart.
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"Magic" Mark Hurr
Bill S. Preston, Esq.
Here, have some chili dogs
Not related to Phantasmo
Posts: 15,746
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Post by "Magic" Mark Hurr on Nov 11, 2015 15:34:28 GMT -5
Upgradde with two D's for a double dose of this pimpin'.
^^I can't let that be erased from history.
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Post by Surfer Sandman on Nov 11, 2015 16:45:19 GMT -5
I used to think that it reflected society but then over time, it sank in that Mike Judge was trolling people like me. It's satire. Not totally implausible. Not accurately reflective either.
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Post by Kevin Hamilton on Nov 11, 2015 16:47:23 GMT -5
I still really enjoy it.
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The Ichi
Patti Mayonnaise
AGGRESSIVE Executive Janitor of the Third Floor Manager's Bathroom
Posts: 37,289
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Post by The Ichi on Nov 11, 2015 17:13:40 GMT -5
I'd default to the XKCD comic talking about how much of a logistical failure the "Idiocracy is happening" argument is... but it has a panel that is mostly religious... instead I'll post the main takeaway of it. "more harm has been done by people panicked over societal decline than societal decline ever did." This one's allowed though I hope.  |
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The Sam
El Dandy
The Brainiest Sam of all
Posts: 8,423
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Post by The Sam on Nov 11, 2015 18:58:24 GMT -5
I'll base my fist with your ass! Fist...ass, SHUTUP! ass. (awkwardly flips you off)
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Post by Z-A Sandbaggin' Son of a b!%@h on Nov 11, 2015 19:03:15 GMT -5
But... But... It hs electrolytes, it's what plants crave.
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Post by Z-A Sandbaggin' Son of a b!%@h on Nov 11, 2015 19:04:56 GMT -5
Also I love this movie. Regardless of what other people say... It is fantastic! :-)
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kidglov3s
Bill S. Preston, Esq.
Wants her Shot
Who is Tiger Maskooo?
Posts: 15,870
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Post by kidglov3s on Nov 11, 2015 19:07:35 GMT -5
Also I love this movie. Regardless of what other people say... It is fantastic! :-) I think it's a great movie too. Not something to build a life philosophy around, but it's funny. |
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Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
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Post by Deleted on Nov 11, 2015 19:21:59 GMT -5
Its like Scarface that way. I've seen a lot of people emulate and quote Tony Montana, but they clearly didn't watch the movie all the way to the end. That happens a lot; people love to quote movies, but don't really bother to know what actually happens or the whole point of the movie. Your example is that of a man who starts to do drugs, first to survive, then to thrive, and his paranoia and obsession with drugs begins his downfall, ultimately being destroyed by his former allies because he treated them like garbage. People just assume it's about a man who starts a badass and dies a badass. My main issue with the movie is the fact that it, like Demolition Man, are now treated as the cautionary tales that people like to harp about if certain ideological groups get power. |
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Post by tigermaskxxxvii on Nov 11, 2015 19:39:15 GMT -5
I'd default to the XKCD comic talking about how much of a logistical failure the "Idiocracy is happening" argument is... but it has a panel that is mostly religious... instead I'll post the main takeaway of it. "more harm has been done by people panicked over societal decline than societal decline ever did." That quote about societal decline reminds me of a line from a song called "Surrogates" by The Ducky Boys that goes "Each generation knows the end is near. Yeah, each lives to see their kids grow old....." It's such a great commentary on the Chicken Little mentality so many people have. |
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Post by 2coldMack is even more baffled on Nov 11, 2015 19:46:05 GMT -5
With the exception of Office Space, I tend not to think much of Mike Judge's work(King of The Hill might be the single most overrated television show in the medium's history), so Idiocracy never really did it for me.
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