10 Things You’ve Never Noticed From Idiocracy

Summary

• Idiocracy’s bizarre predictions include a future where society becomes too stupid to survive, with a world covered in trash and ruled by idiots.
• The film’s portrayal of a stagnant and declining society is eerily similar to today’s reality, making it a cult classic.
• Idiocracy’s humor comes from its satirical take on various aspects of society, including the media, politics, and consumerism, with many brands and logos being used for comedic effect.

Despite Idiocracy having been released nearly two decades ago, rewatching it today still highlights some of the fun hidden details about the comedy — like the Crocs. 2006’s Idiocracy became a cult classic when it predicted one of the bleakest futures for humanity — society simply becoming too stupid to keep going. Luke Wilson stars as Joe Bauers, an average military officer who is frozen for an experiment, waking up 500 years in the future to discover that he is the smartest man alive.

Indeed, Mike Judge’s Idiocracy painted a strange and vibrant version of the post-apocalypse, one in which the end of the world seemed to be the least of humanity’s worries. Along the way, the movie made eerie predictions about the future of the real world, masterfully dodged corporate lawsuits, and snuck in some hard jabs at the current state of human society. From the social commentary to the fun casting choices to the random Easter eggs, there is a lot to discover in Idiocracy that fans may have previously missed.

10 The Great Garbage Avalanche of 2505 Covers The World In Filth

The Futuristic Disaster Sets Up Idiocracy’s Distinct Look

500 years after Joe and Rita (Maya Rudolph) are placed in their respective hibernation pods to be forgotten by the world, “The Great Garbage Avalanche of 2505” is what shakes them awake and out of the pods. After that, the monumental ecological disaster isn’t mentioned again, and what Joe and Rita discover is basically a giant trash heap built around the ruins of the old world. Amid the bright lights and corporate logos of the future painted in Idiocracy, humanity’s relationship with garbage hasn’t changed one bit.

Idiocracy
can be a bit more outlandish with its comedic approach.

Dystopian movies with bleak futures are always faced with the challenge of creating a world that feels lived in but different from the real world, yet recognizable as something that might be plausible. Idiocracy can be a bit more outlandish with its comedic approach. The garbage-filled existence of 2505 is clever world-building that shows the indifference to clutter eventually overran society.

9 Fox Is The Only Logo That Doesn’t Change

It is common for movies about the future to comment on how corporations have evolved. Even the universe of Blade Runner shows the in-your-face advertising of some recognizable brands even amid the much bleaker reality of the future. This is also present in Idiocracy with corporations running everything from hospitals to drinking water. However, every logo in the future is transformed in some way, except one.

Even though the world got much dumber over the centuries, Fox News didn’t have to change that much.

Fox News maintains the same logo throughout 500 years of societal decline. This is a bit of satirical commentary on the kind of reporting the network does, suggesting that, even though the world got much dumber over the centuries, Fox News didn’t have to change that much. The hosts of Fox News are hardly dressed either. They’re little more than eye candy for viewers as they deliver vapid teleprompter-led reports. One funny detail sees a news anchor introducing an on-the-scene report and turning around as if the field reporter is behind them.

8 The Clevon Family Tree-For-All Includes Easter Eggs

A Closer Look At The Distant Relatives Reveals Fun Mike Judge Cameos

The beginning of the movie gives a hilarious explanation of how low intelligence expanded throughout society by looking at two different family trees. One was a successful and intelligent family who decided to approach starting a family with caution and rational thinking. The dumber, on the other hand, kept having children without regard for how wise it was, growing their family tree to ridiculous lengths.

Even funnier is what audiences can discover by examining the family tree more closely.

The Clevon family tree is only on screen briefly and it is so vast that it is hard to make out much detail, but there are a few questionable branches. Hank and Bobby Hill from Mike Judge’s King of the Hill can be found. There are also some animal representatives in a dog, a chimp, and a goat. Lastly, despite it making zero sense unless time travel was involved, there’s Donald Rumsfeld, George W. Bush, and Condoleezza Rice.

The Satire Of Future Movie Audience Had Unfortunate Connections To Idiocracy Itself

Idiocracy is famous for being a huge box office bomb — it only made $495,303 worldwide (via Box Office Mojo). The movie’s release is notoriously troubled with Idiocracy originally scheduled for 2005 only for 20th Century Fox to pull it from the release calendar and delay it indefinitely. Eventually, the studio did release the movie in 2006 but only in a handful of theaters and for a very brief release window. As a result, Idiocracy received little to no attention.

Funny enough, one of the recurring jokes in the movie is that audiences of the future are willing to accept movies that are the lowest common denominator. Joe gives an impassioned speech during the film’s climax in which he insists that they can return to a time when there were thoughtful movies in theaters. Idiocracy‘s failure almost highlights its own point. While the eventual cult status helped to cushion the failure, its reputation as a good movie that failed miserably is a complicated one.

6 Idiocracy Made Fun Of The Products It Featured

Brawndo Is One Of The Rare Fictional Corporations

Product placement in movies is sometimes a necessary way to fund the project, but it can be quite distracting when it is shoved in the audience’s face. Idiocracy features several instances of made-up products, such as the sports drink Brawndo. However, it also has some very clear mentions of recognizable brands peppered throughout the movie. The comedy is able to get away with such a brash use of corporations because it is poking fun at the entire concept.

Idiocracy imagines a future in which corporate sponsorship has extended to every facet of society. There is a darkly hilarious moment in which a woman attempts to buy food from Carl’s Jr. only to be unable to afford it and thus her children are remanded to the custody of the restaurant chain. Likewise, Costco is shown to still be a place where people go to buy anything, but it also has its own law school now.

5 Crocs Were Used Because They Were Cheap

One of the subtle details in Idiocracy is that everyone in the future is wearing Crocs as their chosen footwear. The laidback and durable shoe fits with the lazy and low-maintenance kind of life that the people of 2505 are looking for. However, while today’s audiences might read Idiocracy‘s use of Crocs as a key staple of the characters’ wardrobe, the true intention behind the shoe’s inclusion is much funnier.

According to an interview Mike Judge gave on The Joe Rogan Experience, Crocs were a relatively unknown shoe at the time, so production could get them for a low price. The shoe was presented to Judge by the costume designer as a funny, unique, and cost-effective option. They also insisted that no one would ever wear them in the real world. To their surprise, by the time the delayed movie found an audience, the shoes were hugely popular.

4 Upgrayedd Is Played By Rapper Scarface

Scarface Has A Past Connection To Mike Judge

One of the most memorable characters in the movie is Upgrayedd despite the fact that he is only ever seen in pictures. In an early scene, Officer Collins (Michael McCafferty) explains that Rita was selected for the science experiment after getting permission from her pimp, whose name is Upgrayedd. There are a couple of running jokes about him, including Rita constantly being worried that he is going to show up in the future and Joe not understanding that he is her pimp and not her boyfriend.

Another fun detail about the character is that, when seen in photos from Collins, Upgrayedd is played by rapper Scarface. Not only is Scarface a influential and acclaimed artist in his own right, but he also has a previous connection to Mike Judge. The memorable use of the song “Damn It Feels Good to Be a Gangsta” from Mike Judge’s comedy Office Space comes from Geto Boys, a hip-hop group that Scarface was a part of.

3 Luke Wilson’s Brother Plays His Would-Be Killer

Andrew Wilson Has A Wordless Cameo As Beef Supreme

During the climactic scene, Joe is being punished through “rehabilitation”, which turns out to be a violent demolition derby like something out of The Running Man. Joe is targeted by a number of dangerous enemies, but the most formidable of them all is a wild warrior who is known as Beef Supreme. As it turns out, the silent character is actually played by Andrew Wilson, the older brother of Luke Wilson.

While Luke and Owen Wilson are the most famous siblings in the family, Andrew has maintained a solid career and appeared in a number of projects. He’s popped up in several Wes Anderson movies with his brothers, such as Bottle Rocket, Rushmore, and The Royal Tenenbaums. He also starred in Owen’s movies like Zoolander, The Big Bounce, and Hall Pass. Andrew and Luke co-wrote the little-seen movie The Wendell Baker Story, which he also directed.

2 Office Space Cast Members Appear

David Herman And Stephen Root Make Cameo Appearances

Much like Idiocracy, Mike Judge’s previous movie Office Space was a box office failure that went on to become a beloved cult hit. In fact, a lot of the support that Idiocracy received was likely due to fans of Office Space who were eager to check out Judge’s new project. Perhaps knowing that, Judge included a couple of Office Space cast members in cameo roles for Idiocracy.

David Herman is best known for playing Michael Bolton in Office Space, but he appears in a supporting role in Idiocracy as the Secretary of State in President Camacho’s cabinet. Stephen Root is an acclaimed character actor but his hilarious role as Milton in Office Space has become iconic. Root appears early in the movie in an uncredited role as Judge Hector “The Hangman” BMW. Both actors are also part of the voice cast of Judge’s animated sitcom King of the Hill.

1 Idiocracy Is Prophetic In Many Ways

The Eerily Prescient Predictions Of The Movie Have Added To Its Legacy

One of the things that has helped to make Idiocracy remain relevant nearly two decades after its release is the fact that its outlook on the future has been seen as somewhat prophetic. Idiocracy is a broad comedy that has a lot of fun with its wild premise without taking anything too seriously. However, Judge is very sharp at satire, and his view on where the issues in modern society could lead has proven to be strangely accurate.

The election of a celebrity with a boisterous personality as President of the United States, society turning its back on science, and a distrust of the intelligent and educated minds in society.

In recent years, many fans have looked back on the movie and acknowledged many of the ways things Idiocracy addressed became more prominent in society. Some examples of these aspects include the election of a celebrity with a boisterous personality as President of the United States, society turning its back on science, and a distrust of the intelligent and educated minds in society. Even the entertainment of the future in Idiocracy now seems like a comment on the rise of YouTube and TikTok celebrities.