Ask many cinephiles to pick the best American film ever made and many might pick The Godfather. That’s long been the go-to answer for most.
But ask the question in a slightly different way — “What film most definitively captures the American experience?” — and The Godfather comes in second.
The New York Times recently put the latter query to readers on the country’s 250th anniversary. The 3,000 respondents most often mentioned a less vaunted 2006 picture: Mike Judge‘s Idiocracy.
The film, a science fiction vision set 500 years in the future, depicts the U.S. as an anti-intellectual dystopia. In it, Terry Crews plays President Dwayne Elizondo Mountain Dew Camacho, whose qualifications include being a “five-time ultimate smackdown champion and porn superstar.”
According to the Times, “Some commenters seemed almost sad to list it, linking it to their feelings about the country today, while more than one described it as a documentary.”
For some, the wrestling connection became even more relevant when President Trump hosted a UFC fight at the White House last month.
Among them was former Rep. Adam Kinzinger, who wrote on X, “If anyone defends Trump saying there will be a ufc fight on the White House lawn never listen to them again. Plot to Idiocracy with an equally stupid ass president.”
As for The Godfather, well, it came in second.
