Retro Duo: Idiocracy (2006); The Babadook (2014)

Idiocracy (2006)

Director: Mike Judge

Flawed but still funny, semi-forgotten work by one of the great comic minds of our generation.

Mike Judge has a rather singular place in American humor. As the creative mind behind Beavis and Butthead, King of the Hill, and the more modern Silicon Valley, he has shown to be a distinctive voice by tapping into elements endemic to recent generations of the denizens of the U.S. and mining them for comic gold again and again. He also gave us Office Space, the cult hit that to this day, nearly two decades after its release, is perhaps the defining parody of cubicle culture.

Back in 2006, Judge wrote and directed Idiocracy, which was something of a departure from his comfort zones. Instead of lampooning dumbed-down pop culture or office hell, he went for a full-on satire in the form of future dystopia. The story follows Joe Bauers (Luke Wilson), a completely average guy (yes, this makes him an "Average Joe." Get it?) who happily does his meaningless job as an army librarian. Joe is selected for a military experiment in suspended animation, along with a prostitute, Rita (Maya Rudolph), which goes awry and leads to Joe and Rita emerging from their cocoons 500 years into the future. When they awake, they find that the world has been overrun by all of the worst elements of human nature, turning earth into a nightmare of corporate ubiquity and a population too stupid to deal with even the simplest problems. The previously-average Joe, however, is now literally the smartest man in the world, leading the population to turn to him to solve all of their many massive problems.

Joe rides along with President Camacho's cabinet/entourage.
The notion that the highest position in the land is held by the
brashest, most ultra-macho trash-talker isn't such a stretch.

The movie is a fun watch, despite the fact that it noticeably loses steam in its second and third acts. The first ten or fifteen minutes feature some great comic dialogue and typically hilarious Mike Judge-type gags. Once Joe awakes in the hellishly dysfunctional future, there is still plenty of hilarious commentary on the more negative trends towards homogenization, oversexualization, and commercialization that we see today. Hospital nurses who are using a fast-food style picture board to admit patients. An entire TV channel dedicated to watching a guy get his testicles pummeled in various ways. A foul-mouthed, trash-talking president who was a famous porn star and professional wrestler. These bits are as hilarious as they are the logical conclusions of certain disturbing trends in our popular culture.

What takes some wind out of the movie's sails towards the end for me is that the future depicted on the screen is simply ugly. Much of this is by design, as Judge envisioned a world where basic services like garbage disposal and environmental protection have long since been abandoned. That, and the fact that nearly every person and object has been branded by large corporations, create a visually unappealing world. It also doesn't help that the film didn't seem to have enough funding to bring the vision fully alive. In doing a touch of research, it doesn't seem like any funding was pulled from the film, but the effects, sets, and costumed have a rather cheap look to them. The movie is much more about the humor and social commentary, to be sure, but the B-grade aesthetics bring the experience down a notch.

Despite its flaws, I recommend this one to just about everybody. It's fun and silly, with a healthy amount of clever, old-school satire. While its overall scope outstripped its resources, but the ideas and gags are still well worth a look.

The Babadook (2014)

Director: Jennifer Kent

Now that is how a horror movie should be. Subtle when necessary. Profound and thoughtful. And creepy enough to make you soil your underpants.

For those who haven't seen it but plan to, I'll keep this spoiler-free, at least in terms of key plot points in the second and third acts of the movie. The tale follows Amelia, a widow whose son, Samuel, shows some concerning behavioral problems. His active imagination has him afraid of monsters to the point that he creates weapons to fend them off and sometimes acts out his violent defenses. One night, Samuel pulls a pop-up book previously unseen by Amelia off of his reading shelf. The book is titled "Mister Babadook." Amelia begins to read the book, despite its extremely creepy images and haunting narrative, and too late glances ahead to see that the story takes a horribly grim turn. She tries to hide the book, but the damage seems to be done. Samuel is so scared now that after a night of little sleep, he claims to be able to see the Babadook in many other places. As Samuel's behavior concerns and frightens other children, parents, and other adults around him, Amelia grows more and more concerned.

While I could nitpick a few things in terms of the imagery and a few of the connections from one point to another in this story, I found it to be astounding. It's not often that I'm riveted to a screen the way that I was during this picture. I can't call myself a devotee of the horror genre, but I do enjoy a well-crafted and well-executed scary movie that makes my skin crawl, and The Babadook delivers. It does rely on a few conventions, such as the odd squeaky door or shadow-shrouded closet, but the emotional and psychological context I found to be highly original. There is something of a "twist" in the story, I suppose, but it's not of the M. Night Shyamalan variety. Figuring it out early (for me it was about halfway through the picture) doesn't diminish the effect, and the film is subtle enough to not offer a grand "reveal" at any point, trusting us viewers to piece it all together on our own. And just when I was afraid that the resolution was going to be way too tidy, we get an ending that is far from completely comforting.

Little Samuel is creepy at hell much of the time, but you
learn that this impression is a bit of a red herring. This is one
of several clever wrinkles the movie offers the horror genre.

I would love to dig deeper into the psychological elements explored in the movie, as it comprises what I feel elevates this movie above just a genre picture. In the name of staying spoiler-free, though, I cannot write too much. I will only say that this was a brilliant use of the visual medium to convey the terror and confusion that I imagine people might feel when certain foundations of reality begin to crumble around them.

I will point out that this is a grim story. There are no beautiful people involved, and there is nary a joke cracked through the whole film. It is intense, and when one realizes what lies at the movie's heart, one can see why it needs to be intense. For those looking for one of those "fun" horror movies with jump-scares and maybe even a little sexual titillation, this is absolutely not the movie for you.

I'll be keeping my eye out for what the writer/director Jennifer Kent comes up with next, as The Babadook was good enough to make me regret not getting out to see it in theaters a few years ago.