Stupidity (2003)

Please don't spend money on this.

Good concept, poorly executed.

Am i the only one who thinks........Average?

In truth, there is barely enough story here to make a film.

The topic of this film is stupidity. What is stupidity? Why do people become or choose stupidity? Why are films so stupid or marketed for the stupid? How do we all behave or think stupidly? These topics and many more are explored in this odd little documentary.The fact that there are a LOT of stupid people out there is certainly not news. So because of this, you wonder if this film is simply 'preaching to the choir', so to speak. Okay so we know that there are LOTS of stupid people...but what can you do about it? After all, stupid people don't care that they are stupid or have no idea that they are stupid--plus non-stupid people can't legally kill them, so I just don't see a point to the discussion or this film. In addition, some of the film's experts, to me, seem like very well-educated idiots. So what's the point? Well, after seeing the film, I am not really sure there is one.Mildly diverting but certainly not particularly good or well made or insightful. And a film that's easy to skip or watch if you've got nothing better to do. I did, however, appreciate how the film pointed out that MOST Hollywood types are poorly educated...yet so many seem to think they are brilliant and have important things to say (amen!). I also liked the interview with the founder of the "Bert is Evil" website was interviewed--but it really had little to do with stupidity. Otherwise...meh.

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.

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.

This movie is stuffed with quick edits full of useless archival footage. Are any of the clips in the movie longer than 10 seconds? The filmmakers clearly think we need constant visual stimulation to keep us engaged. This movie is 95% style, 5% content. It does more to glamorize idiocy than repudiate it.Please, we can pay attention without thousands of edits.The actual content delivered by this movie are surrounded by footage that is related to the movie, but does not contribute actual content.