Returning to some of the points covered in class Wednesday, I wanted to look closer at two of the eerie similarities between society today, and the one of the future as portrayed in Idiocracy.
The first thing we already briefly talked about, but there were some further points of interest I’d like to discuss concerning the dynamics involved in public speaking and crowd response. In the movie, when Joe Bauers finally makes his address to the country as the new president, they cheered excitedly, clapping at his rather optimistic insights and hopeful words. Watching the President make his address to Congress right before the movie immediately drew parallels in my mind. His speech was interrupted by the crowd’s clapping so many times, it became rather frustrating to watch. After awhile, I notice that any statement with a strong inflection behind it became their cue. I wondered, how much of his speech’s success comes from what he says, and how much comes from how he says it? During President Camacho’s speech, substance mattered not, it was all about delivery and how much the audience liked that delivery. I would venture that a speech from a President today would meet a little more scrutiny, but after watching Congress (which really should be one of the most skeptical audiences around) hand out so many standing ovations during the course of one speech, I wonder if they are really listening to what is being said.
The second thing that raises some concerns is the unfortunately similar way Idiocracy looks to one man to fix all of the people’s problems, much like America is doing now. Furthermore, the insanely truncated timeline in which people want the problem resolved is much like today’s insistence on quick fixing and magical cures. By the time humanity is in a predicament like that of Idiocracy, they are too dumb to know how to solve problems or devise realistic time constraints for doing so. Granted, I do not believe that Idiocracy’s scenario is completely true of the country now, but sometimes I get the feeling we are heading in that direction. I have seen so many interviews with economists and politicians who freely admit they do not know how the economy or the housing market can be fixed. Obviously, it is a complicated problem with no simple solution. Now, that the election is over, the country is looking at the man they chose, the President, to find the answer to all these problems. In many ways, it is exactly the same scenario as Idiocracy, because here is a population who cannot solve the problem, looking to one man to do it for them.
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As an aside, I do want to acknowledge that not everyone in the country is at this point where they expect one man to fix everything. Many are still realistic enough to know there is no quick resolution and no one person possesses the ability to correct a whole country’s problem. Hopefully, people will retain this ability to think logically, and humanity will never plummet to that unfortunate level of existence pictured in the movie.
Since rhetoric began as speech only (pre-written word) I think you could make some very interesting connections here. Recall Izzard's use of inflection and facial expression to create much of the laughter. These are not minor...audiences react to physical motion, inflection, and expressive facial movement as they always have. I guess that's why physical comedy in the form of slapstick always returns.
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