It’s the End of the World as We Know It: Idiocracy, Dystopias and Social Commentary Through Satire Presented by Marc Manasse Sydnor Performance Hall, Lynchburg College April 5, 2017

Research Questions How does Idiocracy fall into the genre of dystopian science fiction? What aesthetic similarities and differences arise between Idiocracy and other dystopian science fiction fIlms? Is Idiocracy effective at creating social commentary?

Methods Reviewed the text multiple times along with literature on the subject of dystopian science fiction films. Compared Idiocracy alongside a variety of other dystopias. The text’s message and satirical modality was analyzed to determine if it was effective at communicating social commentary.

Idiocracy and Dystopia

Aesthetics

Social Commentary

Conclusions, Limitations and Future Studies Idiocracy is a satirical comedy that falls into the genre of dystopian science fiction. Through the satirical dystopian future presented in Idiocracy and the use of humor this text is effective at providing social commentary. It is up to audiences to realize the message of the text and have it impact society in some way. Semiotics says that each viewer creates their own meaning from the text.

Future Studies What kind of commentary do different genres provide? How does the recombinance of different genres affect different texts’ popularity? Is predicting the course of many utopias and dystopias in science fiction texts a help or a hindrance to the advancement of society?

Questions?