After watching the first few scenes of Idiocracy, I absolutely had to finish the film. Was I happy I did so----ehhhhh, it's honestly hard to say. A hilarious, yet horribly misogynist film, I think part of what made Idiocracy almost unpleasant was the truth in the commentary of it all. As our culture becomes more and more influenced and controlled by corporations, who's not to say that we'll all be wearing clothes turning us into walking advertisements? Or who's to say that in a couple hundred years, our race truly won't get dumber and dumber due to lack of natural selection, turning us into a laughing stock for any extraterrestrials peering at us from neighboring star systems?
When I look at science fiction parodies and satire, as outrageous as they are at times, their commentary almost seems to be even more truthful than that of other genres. Because it involves the future, theories based upon actual scientific exploration are easily expanded upon while still retaining something believable. For example, the opening scene of Idiocracy strikes me as genius. It takes a phenomena that is happening all across America---overblown commercialism, super-sizing food servings, mindless reality TV, etc.---and creates what really is a hugely exaggerated version of our present, but with much of the same problems. In my opinion, this kind of commentary is extremely relevant for upcoming generations.
It is the discussion of our future that creates a great platform for commentary on the present. For many people who go through life uninterested in the news, or who they're buying from, or what kind of culture they're feeding into; science fiction parody is just one way to get people to wake up and smell the coffee. While it won't change the world, for the audience that abhors serious speculation, humor certainly is one way to get people's attention.
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On top of the obvious jokes, Idiocracy also has tons of little snippets hidden in plain site on ads, cars, and in much of the film's production design. Here's a link pointing out eleven of them.
http://www.11points.com/Movies/11_Hidden_Secrets_in_Idiocracy
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