Stupidity (2003)

My comments refer to the "Special Edition Director's Cut" which runs about 70 minutes, and appears to be absent from the "alternate versions" page.This is a fun introductory look at the topic of stupidity. As the film itself notes, stupidity isn't a subject that has been looked at seriously by very many researchers. Books on the subject can't even fill a shelf, and this is the first and only film with this title (as far as IMDb knows).The film opens with a look at the definitions of stupidity, as well as former psychological terms that have become insults: idiot, imbecile, and moron.It the moves into the subject of dumbed-down media (apparently the original idea of this film, and something from which it suffers although it doesn't admit it).Other topics include fallacies of smart people (or at least successful people) who over-estimate their abilities, "super-stupidity" -- the promotion of stupid behaviour and ignorance, and widespread human stupidity (climate change, religion, war).Former president Bush is shown as a prime example of stupidity, and using the appearance of stupidity to accomplish goals.It ends with the idea that being stupid in today's world is actually quite hard work for most people, and that stupidity may be a desirable state, at least at the individual level.I'm not sure what all the differences are, but this version apparently includes a Fox News interview, and a David Suzuki interview, not in the original version.If there had been more films on the subject of stupidity, I'd have rated this lower. But this is all there is. It could have taken a more serious tone. It should have included things like the "tragedy of the commons", the Monty Hall problem, and invention versus quality concepts.

I just watched this "documentary" and think it was quite interesting. I do understand some of the critique in the comments here regarding the way this movie is edited and in how it doesn't fully fit the "documentary" description.Anyway, I guess most have missed the point of why the movie is edited like this. The basic point of the movie is setting up the question what it stupidity, what is intelligence (and I think the whole explanation of the IQ-test and the source of terms like "idiot", "moron" and "imbecile" pretty much hits the nail that many who spew their intelligence in our faces are in fact pretty stupid but can't see it) and why is it that in an advanced age like we live in it is possible that clear stupidity spreads out to so many levels of our daily lives.This movie is not just explaining terms and getting lost in its modern flashy editing like many criticize. In a way I found myself thinking strongly outside my personal box like up to now I only experienced with documentaries by Adam Curtis. So to me the movie worked, although i fully agree that in some way this movie is kind of incoherent. But the movie is served in a hypnotizing modern advertising way and pumps information and thesis in your head like normally brand slogans work but delivers quite the opposite. You do not get a clear message, you rather get many questions and I think most people don't even come close to think about many of these... although they are evident and necessary because a clear and immense stupidity dominates our daily lives. So this movie rubs your face in it any you start to connect the dots... and you need to think, you cannot simply consume this movie.I just saw Adam Curtis "Century of the self" last week and its astonishing to see the parallels in how a society that de-evolved on the basis of morons like Freud and Bernays whose basic premise is a misanthropic "man is stupid"-idea that tops idiocy of with the fact that the men who realized that man is stupid think they can lead and control stupidity... although they are men themselves and therefor equally stupid and proving this right by doing something as stupid as dumbing down the masses and lying to them. Its these people that we can thank for a nihilistic society that has implemented loads of stupid ideas into a daily live that they consider "normal"."Stupidity" moves across many subjects... media, internet, the idiotic way of how mankind shits in their own front-yard, still bashes their heads in like apes and praises faith and blind belief-systems that are far from being intelligent. And it closes the circle in pointing out how all this fits on modern politics.... guess what, your bush-Bashing is also implemented. But this point is true... watch this and Century of the self and you get the scary picture in how it all moves back to Bernays and the faulty history of psychology. Is not just the recent American political leaders... its a system that slowly creeps into our head and installs the acceptance of stupidity as normal. Watching the recent debates with McCain and Palin or seeing how the media feeds on unimportant nonsense like names or crappy veteran stories... it clearly got worse. And this system works the same in Europe as I can see in daily German media regurgitations. Its in politics, in economics (like the sub-prime-crisis and its fallout clearly show... this is not intelligent, its stupid. But if our elites consider the plain concentration on making money intelligent... only then a system of loans packaged and resold, shrouded to be seen not today but in 20 years when the shrouded bomb explodes can not be seen as plain stupidity working on egoistic short-sighted and ignorant motives like in the age of cavemen), entertainment, science, it came from advertising, infected every part of society and has become normal.The questions may seem unimportant... but no one seems to ask anymore. Why do we watch TV, why do we watch commercials treating us like children and even buying whats advertised, why could we evolve into a species that is splitting atoms, reaching to the skies and close to cloning themselves but yet be unable to equally progress on a social level??In that way the movie is more intelligent than most of those elites who consider the human race stupid but don't include themselves... the makers of this movie call themselves idiots. And this is the point... we all are and its OK. But if some think they are intelligent by feeding the idiot in most of us... this is plain spiritual emptiness, this is stupidity on the highest level and to me this his right where this movie is aiming at ... its aiming at all of us who have to remember "Everything you know could be wrong!".

Just over an hour long documentary on stupidity, how to define it and why we are it. Amusing to a point, but ultimately pointless film prattles on for its running time not saying much. To be certain its nice to know that idiot, imbecile and moron are all readings from the IQ test (Idiot is an IQ of 0-25 or a mental age of up to 3;Imbecile is an IQ of 25 to 50 with a mental age of 3 to 6 and a moron is an IQ of 50 to 75) but at the same time how can you really like a film that repeatedly makes the point that the rapid fire editing style of TV and its parade of idiocy is helping to dumb us down when the film uses the same rapid fire editing and parade of stupid human tricks to keep us interested. Though not as clever as it thinks it is, the opening warning that the film was made by a bunch of idiots proves painfully to be true. Watch on cable only.

OK, so "stupid" isn't the right word, "cheap" is more like it. A film with a fascinating subject, that has been neglected in the media (which the film makes a big point of), is ruined by shoddy production values. The film has poor quality cameras and even poorer sound. During the interviews, you will strain to hear what the person's saying. The filmmakers could have fixed this with a little bit of good sound mixing, but decided not to. The film also suffers due to a lack of clips from the material that they are talking about. The filmmakers would have been wise to not worry about copyright issues and instead make a good film, especially with the budget they were working with. And as mentioned by others, the film does indeed have no real focus. And what little structure that is offered is...well...stupid. Instead the film uses an inordinate amount of old Trailer Vision material, and old stock footage. This film needed a major rewrite. This subject needs more attention from the public, and this film in the end is simply a wasted opportunity, especially with the great list of interviewees.