Mike Judge's Idiocracy

A variety of camera techniques are used throughout the beginning sequence to enhance the mood and involve the audience. Camera techniques are harmonized with lighting effects to culminate this dramatic scene. I will begin by discussing examples of this. In the village, many close-ups and long shots are used to enhance facial expression and to set the sombre mood.

When one speaks of intelligence or how bright another person is, the often quoted figure is the IQ or intelligence quotient. It is the most often used standard of how smart a person is. This paper shall look at what intelligence tests measure, how the IQ tests measure intelligence and interrogate their history. It shall then apply the tests to school policy and hence evaluate their validity.

Society’s view on intelligence is becoming watered down from the truth. In Rose’s article, “Blue Collar Brilliance” Rose discusses societies outlook on intelligence. Rose explains how society thinks blue collared jobs don’t involve any intelligence, and anyone can do a blue collared job. He explains how society thinks that since you don’t have to have a high education to perform well in blue collared jobs, it takes little to no intelligence. Rose says, “We reinforce this notion by defining intelligence solely on grades in school and numbers on IQ test” (Rose 279). Rose explains that even though most blue collared jobs don’t require a college degree, they still demand many forms of intelligence. Rose also explains how his brother dropped out of school in the ninth grade but eventually became a successful employee of the company General Motors. In Graff’s article, “Hidden Intellectualism” he explains how there are many students in today’s world who have an outstanding amount of “street smarts” but are failing school. He explains

If it wasn’t for people acting against conformity and developing their interests in academics America wouldn’t be where it is in technical advancements. Fridman argues that for America’s success it’s necessary that, “the anti-intellectual values that pervade our society must be fought” to raise more citizens to be intellectual (Fridman 20-21). He urges for society’s values to be challenged in order for individuals to get more involved with educating themselves. Fridman points out, “There are very few countries in the world where anti-intellectualism runs as high in popular culture as it does in the U.S.”

In a 2008 Washington Post article "The Dumbing of America", the author paraphrases late senator Daniel Moynihan who claimed, "Dumbness has been steadily defined downward for several decades, by a combination of heretofore irresistible forces. These include the triumph of video culture (and by video I mean every form of digital media, as well as older electronic ones); a disjunction between Americans' rising level of formal education and their shaky grasp of basic geography, science and history; and the fusion of anti-rationalism with anti-intellectualism" (Jacoby,

The different methods of communication cause our society to adapt to the incorrect environment, which will eventually cause us to be dumber. Not only is technology making us lazy and less motivated, but it’s also lowering our IQs. According to TNS research, studies have shown that the IQ of the average person living in the United States is lowering because of technology. Technology distractions are everywhere. Even Isla Campbell, who is a researcher of technology trends, agrees. In "Are We Getting Dumber As Technology Gets Smarter?” Campbell says that “society is getting dumber as technology gets smarter” (Campbell). The movie Idiocracy is an example of what the society could possibly look like if we rely on technology too much. In this movie, the main plot involved how technology has been advancing throughout the years, but yet the people seem to be less intelligent than ever before. This movie is entirely fictional, but from how the society acts upon technology these days,

In chapter one of The Dumbest Generation, Mike Bauerlein makes several statements about our generation and comes to a conclusion that helps set the groundwork for the entire book. His analysis of today’s youth states that the current generation is lacking when it comes to intellectual knowledge. He provides evidence that states that today’s under-thirty population in the United States does not have adequate knowledge, and their lack of knowledge with affect them greatly in their adulthood years.

The authors Mike Rose, Gerald Graff, and Charles Murray are all scholars in education. Each one of them brings concrete facts about education in America. They all believe that education is very diverse and that it can come from anywhere not just school. For example Mike Rose writer of the text “Blue Collar Brilliance” explains how intelligence is used more in labor jobs than normal jobs. He believes that intelligence is overlooked. For example he talks about how when he was in his mothers store he would observe and analyze the things around him. He then started to realize the amount of work that waiters do such as communicate with customers, write down orders, and memorize who ordered what. He believes that intelligence doesn't just come from school and that it can be from anywhere. Furthermore Gerald Graff a professor In education argues that what teachers teach to students in schools limit students intellectualism as he gives personal experiences such as topics that were interesting to him he seemed very knowledgeable and therefore his hidden intellectualism was shown. In addition Charles Murray an American Political Scientists writer of “Are too Many People Going To College” talks about how more people should be going to college. He believes that basic education should be taught early on in elementary and middle school. He also mentions that people who don't pursue higher education doesn't mean there intelligence are any less than the ones getting post secondary

Along with the progression of society, major advances have been made in hundreds of different fields — particularly technology. Controversy has risen, and debates ensued over whether today's young Americans are really “the dumbest generation,” due to their “money, media, e-gadgets, and career plans” [Source A]. While advances have been made, they have brought with them resources to benefit off of, and ultimately assist in the overall intellect and intelligence of the human race.

He lays awake at night clutching his bedsheets in guilt, because of his want, and to want anything at all is blasphemy. Because of his intellect, his teachers ridicule him constantly. He tries to dumb himself down and squash down his natural curiosity to fit in, but he is lashed nevertheless. “It is not good to be different from our brothers, but it is evil to be superior to them.” (Rand 21) This quote reflects on the fact that is any man exhibits superior traits to that of their colleagues, they will experience a harsh degree of backlash. Because of the push for sameness, if one man is unintelligent, all others must be the

In his essay Hidden Intellectualism, Gerald Graff emphasizes the idea that to be an intellectual one does not have to excel in school. Graff argues that a person’s intelligence should not be measured by solely what they learned and how they progressed through school, rather, intelligence should be measured by more secular standards. Throughout the essay, Graff provides many examples on how this biased view of intellectualism affected him and others in his childhood and how he suggests that school curriculum be changed to better reflect the different types of intellectualism.

In his Article “Anti-Intellectualism: Why We Hate Smart Kids" Grant Penrod claims that “smart kids” are facing exclusion from positive social norms. Penrod constructs many valid points in his article, points that may open new discussions on the subject at hand. In his essay he says that “social stereotypes, public examples, and monetary obsession are contributions behind anti-intellectualism.” (Penrod, Par.2)

Another technique that is used is changing light with reference to the plot structure. The use of lighting has allowed the audience to see the obvious contrast between the beginning when Szpilman was having a happy life, and after the Nazi came and occupied so that how Polish Jews are getting dehumanised. For instance, the light was extremely bright at the beginning of the film, Szpilman was playing the piano at the radio station and having a meal with the family. When the Nazi

In addition to camera movements, he uses camera distances and framing to create images that make the audience feel cheerful. When he frames a shot, if it takes place outside, there is ample amount of bountiful nature within the frame. The most prominent example of this is toward the end of the film when the narrator is describing the after effects of the massive storm. It is a medium close up but the narrator is only in a small portion of the frame, the rest if a

There is a relationship between intelligence and culture because intelligence is culturally shaped and defined and some cultures support and identify it as very vital in the context of social and ecological aspects. In the early years, there was a bias towards intelligence tests because they used English language and culture. The formation of Wesler Adult Intelligence Scale, Fourth Addition (WAIS,IV) in 2008 by David Wesler was meant to minimise the bias. According to Westen, Burton and Kowalski (2006), intelligence assists human beings to take control of their lives and it varies cross culturally because the power dynamics differ in each society and this leads to differences in behaviour and line of thinking. These authors describe intelligence as multifaceted, functional and can be defined by culture because it is universal and studying intelligence using different culture as a sample that can be used to question Western ideas about intelligence with some emphasis on the assessment of skills and abilities using culturally appropriate methods (Benson, 2003)