OTHERSSAYT0MPALAIMA --.J~ ~. 'l..c, 1'3 Regular Contri~utor , , . -~ Al!f- . Au<:.~Aw,.,ocw....- S~-k..~l.1£l.l-\P a UT commencement: A sliverof idiocracy
Have you ever seen the Acres has "one of the best movie "Idiocracy"? The business schools, a national comedy came out in 2006, champion football team and directed by Mike Judge, cre the mascot with the most ator of "Beavis & Butt-Head" swag." Graduates learned, and "King of the Hill." In "It's all about you. The world "Idiocracy," a completely is your oyster. Failure is tem average (in intelligence, talent, porary. Giving up is perma ambition, personal appeal) nent." And for 23 minutes, we Army clerk (Luke Wilson) and were given examples pf this a prostitute (Maya Rudolph), me-centered, succeed-at-all who has bargained her way costs philosophy. We heard out of charges, are guinea about her training habits, pigs in an experimentto send health problems ·and a few human beings a year into the . setbacks from grade school future .. · · onward. She thanked bi;iefly Instead this odd couple is her father, her husband, her seht 500 years into a broken family and a nameless ninth down future. In the year 2505, grade teacher, but did not talk consumerism and know-noth about a single coach, teacher ingism have brought society or teammate who helped or to ruins after five centuries of inspired her along the way. satirically depicted "reverse As for intellectual or cul Darwinism." tural content, besides Bevo, People with lowerJQs, tal the night life on Sixth Street en.ts and personal motivation and the 2005 national cham . have out-bred people who pion, naturally, version of have natural abilities to serve Longhorns f9otball, we heard society. However, the future one online quote from Aris- - is also in ruins because the so totle about practking making '. called high-IQ educated class perfect and another from cares for no one but them Mary Kay Ash, founder cif selves. Mary Kay Cosmetics, about "Idiocracy" is a horror filrri, never giving up. too, if you are worried about One person, besides Presi where our hyper-materialistic dent Bill Powers, was men culture is heading with our tioned by name, but only by problems in government, edu first name. Both Powers and cation, health care, public ser Richards-Ross made reference vices, political leadership and to "Vince," as if everyone in neglect of the common good. the world should know who . What scared me, when Vince is. I watched a recorded ver- Powers explicitly c·ongratu- · sion, was fast-forwarding lated Vince at the start of the ,, on mute through commer- evening for completing his cial breaks. The commercials degree. This turned out to be blend seamlessly with scenes Vince Young, a poster child for in the movie. It was hard to tell lots that is wrong with NCAA when today's valueless, mind and professional sports in our , numbing commercials ended country. · and the movie about our It is good that Young, Hke whole society become termi other student athletes who nally bored, self-centered and get far off track; has perse addicted to mindless consum vered to get his degree. But I erism started again. also thought of all the gradu Returning to the he.re and ating seniors who struggled now offers little comfort. Let unsung to get their degrees me give one recent example of on-time in education or sociaL idiocracy writ large and put up work or engineering, those . in lights. , with UTeach degrees who are This May, I was part of the already giving back or those · high faculty turnout for the headed for Teach for America. . gene~al spring commence to give back. I thought of grad-, ment ceremony at the Un.iver uates who admire the beauties, sity of Texas at Austin. While ~ of calculus, a Faulkner short I 'graduates at other.universities' ; story, a Maya Angelou poem, a were being addressed ·byJJ(. · · speech by Martin Luther King, Rowling, Bill Cosby, Stephen. a rap song by Lil Wayne. . Colbert, President Barack Our flagship institution of : Obama and Denzel Wash higher education should single ington, we'listened to Olympic' out .those who will never know sprint champion and Texas fame and fortune, but will win. Ex Sanya Richards-Ross, who many successes working with attended UT for two years a . people who need what they decade ago, talk about her- have worked hard to learn. self for 23 of the 25½ minutes True idiocracy may be 500 her corrimericement address years away, but a sample was ., lasted. right here, up close, looking at Richards-Ross congratu . itself in the mirror, at UT com lated graduating students mencement this year. for "fighting the urge to go to And we politely applauded .. Sixth Street everynight." We were told that other schools Palaima is a classics professor at · are pretty cool, but.the 40, the University of Texas at Austin.;