In "Idiocracy," one man (Luke Wilson) is cryogenically frozen for just a bit too long. He awakens 500 years in the future and finds that the world is dumb. Really, really dumb. The reason? Dumb people breed like rabbits even though they can't afford all those kids and smart people say they want to "wait" until their careers are stable enough before they have kids. The smart people, however, wait too long, and, ladies, as you know, once you hit 40 it gets pretty hard to put a bun in the oven. Thus, natural selection makes the "stupid" choice.
Just how stupid? Well, in the future, everyone's favorite show is "Ow! My Balls!," the President is a pro-wrestler and Starbucks has become a chain... of brothels.
Anyway, I was reminded of this movie when I saw all the complaints about the latest cover of The New Yorker.
The publication has repeatedly explained that this cover is meant to be satirical and that it pokes fun at comments made about Obama by right-wing pundits. I guess if you don't read the magazine that often, I can see how the context might be missing, but isn't this image ridiculous enough? Nevertheless, many people still take it literally including Obama's camp. People have said it is offensive and in bad taste. Too many columnists have already written great pieces in rebuttal to this unfounded outrage, so I'll just list my favorite arguments:- Obama's campaign made things worse by complaining. They should have laughed it off and said something witty like, "Look how well they drew Michelle!" It would have made Obama look much cooler and smarter.
- The New Yorker is often considered a liberal and high-brow magazine that has traditionally included satire. How could you confuse this cartoon for anything else?
- Has our society's concept of freedom of speech become so corrupted that we are nearing a "Dutch prophet" level of outrage? Ok, maybe, that's an extreme example, but when was the last time someone made such a big deal about political satire?
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