After hearing John Dvorak rave about this movie on TWiT, I was curious. It was hard to picture myself agreeing with Dvorak but I like Mike Judge's other products so I rented it.
This is not Office Space 2. It is not the best movie you will see this year. You may be turned off by the crude jokes (they only lasted 30 minutes before hitting stop).
But I will be darned if I cant stop thinking about it. I see the issues from this movie everywhere in the news.
This week, the new CEO of Electronic Arts stated that the problem with the video game industry is that the games are too hard. Apparently we consumers are "paying for content we never see" so the game makers should make the games easier, i.e. dumb them down for us.
Also this week three surgeon generals made statements about how the Bush Administration has been substituting political policies for science. (The same thing NASA scientists have been saying for years about global warming science.)
Yes, it is true that every generation feels that young people are different and dumber than people used to be. Some of that is surely a reaction to change and aging, but still it is worth thinking about. Especially here in the USA, where we have so much power and influence yet seem so ignorant about so much. Take the recent global Pugh Research poll that showed that the USA is the least concerned (or informed) about global warming of all developed nations they looked at.
If you like sarcasm and farce, you will find the movie funny. It is not often you see a movie that is funny and thought-provoking. I enjoyed the mixed up wordplay (people continuously use words incorrectly), and that seat with the built in food tube, toilette and TV. The President in all his professional wrestling/porn star glory was a hoot too as was the Extreme Court.
Then read Gore's new book, "The Assault on Reason".
