

Idiocracy Is a Cruel Movie And You Should Be Ashamed For Liking It - fraqed
http://paleofuture.gizmodo.com/idiocracy-is-a-cruel-movie-and-you-should-be-ashamed-fo-1553344189

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Qualman
This is an awful lot of analysis on the social implications of a movie created
by the guy who crafted Beavis and Butthead. If you are cultivating your
outlook of the future from Idiocracy, then you probably care not about the
real prospects of the future anyway. The author is taking this much too
seriously.

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breadbox
Well, to be precise, the author is frustrated that other people are taking it
much too seriously. I'm inclined to defend this: The time to stop being
dismissive of a stupid story is when everyone else around you is holding it up
as prescient.

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Qualman
It's a fair point, but the issue is agnostic to the subject matter. Rather,
the root problem is that a person or people is/are inclined to look to a
fictional comedy as a point of reference on social issues. I think it is
unfair to the film.

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walterbell
Some people also look to Daily Show and Colbert Report as points of reference
for social issues. Is that a commentary on those people, or the editorial
postures of mainstream journalism?

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Qualman
Hmm, indeed. I would still argue that this is an issue of the individual,
since they are ultimately the entity responsible for deciding what is a valid
point of reference, regardless of if the source is more or less justifiable.

~~~
walterbell
If millions of individuals independently make the same decision about which
media they trust, it may be a social signal.

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hartator
"So we're starting from a position of believing that wealthy people are
inherently more intelligent and, by extension, deserve their wealth. This link
between intelligence and wealth is perhaps the most dangerous idea of the film
and pretty quickly slips into advocating for some form of soft eugenics to
build a better world."

Statically, isn't that true? Corruption and heritage might make this not true,
but I don't think that's totally inepte to think there is a link between
intelligence and the actual wealth of people.

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walterbell
Widely-cited movies often mean different things to different people. Their
indeterminacy increases citations. Idiocracy parodies advertising, GMO
farming, psychotropic mists dispensed by ATMs to calm down annoyed customers,
and many other topics. Is that more or less helpful to society than vampire
romance or robot mayhem movies?

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_cipher_
Someone doesn't know the meaning of the word "satire".

