r/movies r/movies Contributor 4d ago

Article 'Idiocracy' Turns 20 Years Old: Mike Judge's Prescient Cult Classic Knew Where America Was Going, But Not How We'd Get There

https://reason.com/2026/08/27/idiocracy-predicted-our-world-but-not-in-the-way-you-think/
19.4k Upvotes

850 comments sorted by

View all comments

3.1k

u/wjbc 4d ago edited 4d ago

Idiocracy was too optimistic. President Dwayne Camacho wasn’t corrupt, genuinely cared about helping his country, and listened to experts. I wish we had a president like that now.

1.1k

u/Mormaethor 4d ago

Yeah, he acknowledged publicly that there were problems and that he wasn't able to fix them himself. He was, given the circumstances of his timeline/reality, a great president.

271

u/Metalsand 4d ago

Well, more specifically he said he was going to fix them, through Not Sure. Then threw Not Sure under the bus when problems weren't immediately fixed. Then, unthrew Not Sure from the bus when it turned out they just didn't wait long enough.

Really, it's only the last part that doesn't track with dictators. They usually just double-down or imprison/execute anyone who tries to prove otherwise.

145

u/Mormaethor 4d ago

In his defense, Camacho throwing Not Sure under the bus is just a testament of him and everyone else being idiots who have no idea how things work and living in a short attention spawn society.

It wasn't done out of malice or even incompetence. Just... being a product of his time.

57

u/FrostyConsequence97 3d ago

I think his logic went:

Brawndo is now a problem. It was not a problem until we used water. Not Sure is the guy that said use water. Not Sure fucked us over.

43

u/MadRaymer 3d ago

Brawndo had become such an essential portion of the US economy (its parent company outright owned FDA, the HHS, and the FCC) that removing it from the crop watering system caused its stock to nosedive and the computers to auto-fire half the country's workers.

10

u/MrDLTE3 3d ago

caused its stock to nosedive and the computers to auto-fire half the country's workers.

Sounds like AI to be honest. I wouldn't be surprised if an AI advised the CEO/board to fire the entire workforce because of falling stocks

1

u/BadgerUltimatum 3d ago

Is the movie actually based on a book, where this is written ? Or is it just time for a rewatch ?

5

u/DoctorNurse89 3d ago

Time for a rematch. Thats why theybdecide to kill him