Idiocracy is a 2006 Americanscience fictioncomedy film co-produced and directed byMike Judge from a screenplay written by Judge andEtan Cohen based on a story written by Judge. The plot followsUnited States Army librarian Joe Bauers andprostitute Rita, who undergo a governmenthibernation experiment. Joe and Rita awake five hundred years later in adystopian anti-intellectual society. The cast includesLuke Wilson,Maya Rudolph,Dax Shepard,Terry Crews,David Herman,Justin Long,Andrew Wilson, andBrad Jordan.

Idiocracy
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Mike Judge
Screenplay by	Etan Cohen Mike Judge
Story by	Mike Judge
Produced by	Elysa Koplovitz Mike Judge
Starring	Luke Wilson Maya Rudolph Dax Shepard Terry Crews
Narrated by	Earl Mann
Cinematography	Tim Suhrstedt
Edited by	David Rennie
Music by	Theodore Shapiro
Production company	Judgemental Films
Distributed by	20th Century Fox
Release date	September 1, 2006 (2006-09-01)
Running time	84 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English
Budget	$2.4 million
Box office	$495,303

The concept ofIdiocracy dates back to a concept Judge envisioned in 1996. Judge finished a script with the working title3001 in 2001, rewriting the film a year later. Filming took place throughout 2004 atAustin Studios and other cities in Texas.Idiocracy serves as a socialsatire that touches on issues includinganti-intellectualism,commercialism,consumerism,dysgenics,voluntary childlessness, andoverpopulation.20th Century Fox was hesitant to promote the film, refusing to grant it awide release, and did not screen the film for critics. The decision not to marketIdiocracy was seen as unexpected, following the success ofOffice Space (1999), and led to speculation. According to Crews, the film's satirical depiction of corporations made the film financially unviable, while Judge attributed 20th Century Fox's decision to negativetest screenings; Judge stated that 20th Century Fox believed that the film would develop acult following through its DVD release, similar toOffice Space.

The film was released in the United States on September 1, 2006. Despite its lack of a major theatrical release, which resulted in a $495,000 gross at the box office, the film received positive reviews from critics and has since become acult film.^[1]

In 2005,United States Army librarian Joe Bauers is selected for a governmentsuspended animation experiment as the most average individual in the armed forces. Lacking a suitable female candidate, the military hires a prostitute, Rita, by dismissing charges against her and paying off herpimp, Upgrayedd. A scandal involving the officer overseeing the initiative and Upgrayedd forces the closure of the military base under which Joe and Rita were placed in hibernation, suspending the project indefinitely. Over the next five hundred years, average intelligence decreases due to societal expectations, discouraging well-educated individuals from having children as the less-educatedreproduce indiscriminately;genetic engineering is forgone in favor of hair loss anderectile dysfunction treatments. As a result, infrastructure deteriorates,low comedy and vulgarity defines culture, andconsumerism is left unfettered.

Five hundred years later, a garbage avalanche disturbs Joe and Rita's hibernation chambers. Joe awakens in Frito Pendejo's apartment in previously-occupiedWashington, D.C. Asking for help he is laughed at as homosexual by the residents who speak a mixture of "hillbilly, Valley Girl, inner-city slang, and various grunts." He enters a hospital, believing the army administered hallucinogenic drugs to him. Joe realizes the year upon reading a magazine and his hospital bill, but he is arrested at aCarl's Jr. for not having abar code tattoo and being unable to pay his bill. Joe is sent to trial; Frito represents Joe but alleges he destroyed his apartment. The judge perceives Joe to have a homosexual demeanor, finding him guilty and sentencing him to prison. Rita resumes her job as a prostitute.

Joe is sent to a correctional facility, where a faulty identification machine registers his name as "Not Sure", and takes a simplified aptitude test. He escapes from prison after deceiving a guard by saying he had served his sentence and was scheduled for release. Joe visits Frito, who agrees to guide him to atime machine—located within a largeCostco Wholesale store—after Joe promises to create a savings account in Frito's name when he returns to the 21st century, earning him billions incompound interest. With Rita, Joe and Frito enter the store, but Joe is arrested after his bar code is scanned. Joe is taken to theWhite House and appointedsecretary of the interior by president Dwayne Elizondo Mountain Dew Herbert Camacho due to extraordinary performance on the aptitude test. In an address, Camacho states that Joe will resolve unfruitful crop yields,dust storms, and a stagnant economy, among other issues, within a week or face imprisonment.

Joe and Rita visit a crop field. Frito gives him a useless map to the time machine. Joe discovers that the country's crops are being watered with Brawndo, asports drink whose parent company owns theFood and Drug Administration, theDepartment of Health and Human Services, and theFederal Communications Commission; the concentration ofelectrolytes in Brawndo has destroyed naturaltopsoil, causing dust storms. Despite opposition to his plan in the form ofcircular reasoning from theCabinet, Joe convinces Camacho to use water instead of Brawndo in irrigation. Consequently, Brawndo—who employs half of the population—files for bankruptcy, inciting riots as immediate improvement to the crops did not materialize.

At theExtreme Court, Joe is sentenced topublic execution in amonster truckdemolition derby against undefeated rehabilitation officer Beef Supreme. Rita and Frito discover that Joe's reintroduction of water to the soil allowed crops to grow. Rita pays a cameraman to broadcast the crops on the stadium'sJumbotron, prompting Camacho to grant Joe apresidential pardon. After discovering the time machine is just an amusement ride, a detail Frito was aware of, Joe becomes president and marries Rita, with whom he has three children, who are "the three smartest kids in the world." Frito becomes vice president and has 32 children, "the dumbest kids ever to walk the earth".

• Luke Wilson as Joe Bauers / Not Sure – A former librarian in the United States Army and eventually thepresident of the United States.
• Maya Rudolph as Rita – A prostitute and eventually thefirst lady of the United States.
• Dax Shepard as Frito Pendejo – A lawyer and eventually thevice president of the United States.
• Terry Crews as Dwayne Elizondo Mountain Dew Herbert Camacho – Thepresident of the United States.
• Andrew Wilson as Beef Supreme – A rehabilitation officer
• Brad Jordan as Upgrayedd – A pimp

Other cast members includeDavid Herman as the secretary of state,Justin Long as Doctor Lexus,Stephen Root as Judge Hector, Anthony "Citric" Campos as the Secretary of Defense,Thomas Haden Church as Brawndo's chief executive, andSara Rue as the attorney general in an uncredited role.^[2][3]

The idea of adystopian society based ondysgenics can be traced back to the work of eugenicist SirFrancis Galton.H. G. Wells' 1895 novelThe Time Machine postulates a society of humans who have devolved due to leaving the work to others, while the "Epsilon-minus Semi-Morons" ofAldous Huxley's 1932 novelBrave New World have been intentionally bred to provide a low-grade workforce. Perhaps the closest predecessor is the 1951 short story "The Marching Morons" byCyril M. Kornbluth.^[4][5]

Early working titles includedThe United States of Uhh-merica and3001.^[6] Filming took place in 2004 on several stages atAustin Studios^[7][8] and in theTexas cities ofAustin,San Marcos,Pflugerville, andRound Rock.^[9] Test screenings around March 2005 produced unofficial reports of poor audience reactions. After some re-shooting in the summer of 2005, a UK test screening in August produced a report of a positive impression.^[10]

Idiocracy's original release date was August 5, 2005, according to Mike Judge.^[11] In April 2006, a release date was set for September 1, 2006. In August, numerous articles^[12] revealed that release was to be put on hold indefinitely.Idiocracy was released as scheduled but only in seven cities (Los Angeles, Atlanta, Toronto, Chicago, Dallas, Houston, and Mike Judge's hometown, Austin, Texas),^[8] and expanded to only 130 theaters,^[13] not the usualwide release of 600 or more theaters.^[14] According to theAustin American-Statesman,20th Century Fox, the film's distributor, was entirely absent in promoting the feature;^[8] while posters were released to theaters, "no movie trailers, no ads, and only two stills",^[15] and no press kits were released.^[16]

The film was not screened for critics.^[17] Lack of concrete information from Fox led to speculation that the distributor may have actively tried to keep the film from being seen by a large audience, while fulfilling a contractual obligation for theatrical release ahead of a DVD release, according to Ryan Pearson of theAP.^[13] That speculation was followed by open criticism of the studio's lack of support fromAin't It Cool News,Time, andEsquire.^[18][19][20]Time's Joel Stein wrote "the film's ads and trailers tested atrociously", but, "still, abandoningIdiocracy seems particularly unjust, since Judge has made a lot of money for Fox."^[19]

InThe New York Times, Dan Mitchell argued that Fox might be shying away from the cautionary tale about low-intelligence dysgenics because the company did not want to offend either its viewers or potential advertisers portrayed negatively in the film.^[21] This theory has been given extra weight by Terry Crews, who stars in the movie as President Camacho. In a 2018 interview withGQ Magazine, he talked of advertisers being unhappy at the way they were portrayed, which affected the studio's efforts to promote the movie. He said, "The rumor was, because we used real corporations in our comedy (I mean, Starbucks was giving hand jobs) these companies gave us their name thinking they were gonna get 'pumped up', and then we're like, 'Welcome to Costco, we love you' [delivered in monotone]. All these real corporations were like, 'Wait a minute, wait a minute' ... there were a lot of people trying to back out, but it was too late. And so Fox, who owned the movie, decided, 'We're going to release this in as few theaters as legally possible'. So it got a release in, probably, three theaters over one weekend and it was sucked out, into the vortex".^[22]

In 2017, Judge toldThe New York Times that the film's lack of marketing and wide release was the result of negativetest screenings.^[23] He added that Fox subsequently decided to not give the film a strong marketing push because the distributor believed it would develop acult following through word-of-mouth and recoup its budget throughhome video sales, as Judge's previous filmOffice Space had.^[23]

From a budget of $2.4 million,Idiocracy earned a worldwide total of $495,303; $444,093 domestically, and $51,210 internationally.^[24][25]

Although it was not screened in advance for critics,Idiocracy received positive reviews. OnRotten Tomatoes, the film has a score of 71%, with an average rating of 6.4/10, based on 52 reviews. The website's "Critics Consensus" for the film reads, "Frustratingly uneven yet enjoyable overall,Idiocracy skewers society's devolution with an amiably goofy yet deceptively barbed wit."^[26] OnMetacritic, the film has a score of 66 out of 100, based on reviews from 12 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".^[27]

Los Angeles Times reviewer Carina Chocano described it as "spot on" satire and a "pitch-black, bleakly hilarious vision of an American future", although the "plot, naturally, is silly and not exactly bound by logic. But it's Judge's gimlet-eyed knack for nightmarish extrapolation that makesIdiocracy a cathartic delight."^[28] In anEntertainment Weekly review,^[13] Joshua Rich gave the film an "EW Grade" of "D", stating that "Mike Judge implores us to reflect on a future in whichBritney andK-Fed are like the newAdam and Eve."^[29]The A.V. Club'sNathan Rabin found Luke Wilson "perfectly cast ... as a quintessential everyman"; and wrote of the film "Like so much superior science fiction,Idiocracy uses a fantastical future to comment on a present. ... There's a good chance that Judge's smartly lowbrowIdiocracy willbe mistaken for what it's satirizing."^[17]Gerald Casale, a founding member of the new wave bandDevo, saidIdiocracy is "the movie Devo should have made."^[30]

The film was also well received in other countries. John Patterson, critic forThe Guardian, wrote, "Idiocracy isn't a masterpiece—Fox seems to have stiffed Judge on money at every stage—but it's endlessly funny", and of the film's popularity, described seeing the film "in a half-empty house. Two days later, same place, same show—packed-out."^[31] Brazilian news magazineVeja called the film "politically incorrect", recommending that readers see the DVD and wrote "the film went flying through [American] theaters and did not open in Brazil. Proof that the future contemplated by Judge is not that far away."^[32]

Critic Alexandre Koball of the Brazilian website CinePlayers.com gave the movie a score of 5 out of 5. Another staff reviewer wrote, "Idiocracy is not exactly ... funny nor ... innovative but it's a movie to make you think, even if for five minutes. And for that it manages to stay one level above the terrible average of comedy movies released in the last years in the United States."^[33]

Idiocracy was released on DVD on January 9, 2007. It has earned $9 million on DVD rentals, over 20 times its gross domestic box office revenue of under $450,000.^[34] In the UK, uncut versions of the film were shown on satellite channel Sky Comedy on February 26, 2009, with theFreeview premiere shown onFilm4 on April 26, 2009.

In August 2012, Crews said he was in talks with director Judge and Fox over a possibleIdiocracyspin-off featuring his President Camacho character, initially conceived as aweb series.^[35] A week before the2012 elections, he reprised the character in a series of short sketches forFunny or Die. Before the2016 presidential election,Rolling Stone published an article stating that Judge and Cohen would produceIdiocracy-themedcampaign ads opposingDonald Trump's presidential campaign if given permission from Fox to do so.^[36] Crews later toldBusiness Insider that the ads would not go forward as planned, but that they would have featured Camacho wrestling in acage match against the other candidates.^[37]

During the2016 Republican Party presidential primaries, the film's co-writerEtan Cohen^[38] and others expressed opinions that the film's predictions were converging on accuracy,^{[39][40][41][42]} a sentiment repeated by director Judge duringthe elections that year.^[43] At the time, Judge also compared Republican presidential nomineeDonald Trump—who was later elected president—to the film'spro wrestler-turned-president Camacho.^[43] When asked about predicting the future, he quipped, "I'm no prophet, I was off by 490 years."^[44]

Comparisons have been made between the film andTrump's first presidency.^[45][46][47] An article forCollider pointed out the ways in whichTrump's positions echoed the political decisions of the characters in the film in areas such as science, business, entertainment, environment, healthcare, law enforcement, and politics.^[48]Internet memes have spawned comparisons to Trump and characters in the film.^[49][50][51]

However the film’s contents have been used beyond the world of politics and has been used to draw comparisons to broader societal issues such as declining intellectualism in American culture and an ever increasing dependence on technology.

• Dumbing down
• Dysgenics
• Kakistocracy
• "The Marching Morons"

• Idiocracy atIMDb
• Idiocracy at theTCM Movie Database
• Idiocracy at theAFI Catalog of Feature Films