scntfc wrote:i think you're overestimating your typical american "stupid mike judge comedy" viewer. in general, americans are fucking ignorant and completely oblivious to even the most basic commentary in idiocracy. using your definition of smart (has to show insight, can't be obvious or simple) in relation to that demographic then there's plenty of smarts to go around. i'd guess that 95% of americans have never even thought about how mainstream media and advertising dumbs down the populace, so that's "smart". obvious to me, obvious to you, but not obvious to most people. take that premise, couch it in a bunch of base, dumb, lowest common denominator humor, and maybe just maybe someone will 'get it'.
So wait.
Your argument is that if you're stupid and ignorant, like the "average" American,
Idiocracy is a smart movie. Think about that.
Your defense of the movie as having smart things to say: first) presumes the stupidity and ignorance of its viewers and second) leads you to
dumb down our very conception of
smart. On one hand you show disdain for Americans as "fucking ignorant and completely oblivious," and on the other, you use that homogeneous bloc of stupid/ignorant humanity as the reference point for intelligent satire.
That's not a very compelling case for
Idiocracy's satirical panache. Even your defense of it has you making an argument which unwittingly dumbs down what it means to say something smart.
scntfc wrote:
and if there is a show that you think deals more with contemporary social and political issues than south park, then i'd love to know what it is (i'm not doubting you, i'd really like to know). i don't even particularly like the show, but i give credit where credit is due...those dudes take on plenty of issues that no one else will touch with a ten foot pole (the issue of portrayal of muhammed comes to mind).
I haven't seen
South Park in a while, but I have it on reasonable authority that
it blows. You ask for shows that deal with "more" issues than
South Park, which is not the same thing as dealing more incisively, critically, thoughtfully, or engagingly with said issues. Maybe
South Park has a lock on sheer breadth, but in my experience its treatment of pressing issues is uneven and often reactionary when not simply opportunistic, cynical, and puerile.
I hear
The Wire was a biting and engaging indictment of contemporary capitalist society, but I haven't seen it. I'm not much of a TV person, but I know that if
South Park is your benchmark for social critique you can do better. Likewise, if you think
The Daily Show is the most informative news programming on television, you should spend more time
at the margins. I like Stewart, to a degree, but he plays into a lot of cheap,
ignorant BS himself.
