To commemorate America's 250th anniversary, the New York Times posed a question to readers: which film most authentically reflects the American experience? The survey of 3,000 respondents departed from conventional wisdom by selecting Idiocracy, a 2006 science-fiction comedy set five centuries ahead, over the traditionally acclaimed The Godfather. The film portrays a dystopian future America where the President is a former professional wrestler and adult film performer, embodying a society that has abandoned intellectual pursuits entirely.

The results carried a tone of unease among respondents, with many expressing discomfort at their own selection whilst several characterized the film as functioning more like reportage than satire. The survey gained fresh political resonance after the Trump administration hosted a UFC event at the White House, prompting former congressman Adam Kinzinger to explicitly invoke Idiocracy when criticising what he perceived as the troubling alignment between the film's fictional premises and contemporary reality. The responses suggest many Americans view the country as drifting toward the anti-intellectual future the film warned against.