IDIOCRACY
2006, 20th Century Fox

I’m not sure why it took me so long to finally watch the movie Idiocracy (2006), but I can see now why it was an instant classic.  This movie is rich with energy material, so I can’t tackle all of its energy elements in this one blog post, but there are two quick items worth mentioning.

First, after the main characters (played by Maya Rudolph and Luke Wilson) are transported hundreds of years into the future, I couldn’t help but notice that one of the first things the camera shows is a dirty coal-fired power plant in the background.  Is this movie trying to say that only idiots would still be using coal hundreds of years from now?

Second, at the White House an uneducated child is introduced as the Secretary of Energy.  He won the position as a prize in a competition.  Compare that to the distinguished academic careers and intellectual achievements of our two most recent Secretaries of Energy: Nobel Laureate Stephen Chu (2009-2013) and former MIT Professor Ernest Moniz (2013 to present).  I wonder what Chu and Moniz think about this dystopic future?