Saturday, September 15, 2012

Harrison Bergeron - every 5 years

ribbit                           




Friday, October 12, 2007

Mother Superior was leaving for a meeting this morning.  I said, "Al Gore won the Nobel Peace Prize."  She said two words, and left

"Harrison Bergeron"

Jump to Now.



Rodge
My son had to read this and answer homework questions to it. It's right out of an Atlas Shrugged mind, but I'll be damned if I can't see this happening by 2081...

Chris



THE YEAR WAS 2081, and everybody was finally equal. They weren't only equal before God and the law. They were equal every which way. Res Ipsa LoquitorNobody was smarter than anybody else. Nobody was better looking than anybody else. Nobody was stronger or quicker than anybody else. All this equality was due to the 211th, 212th, and 213th Amendments to the Constitution, and to the unceasing vigilance of agents of the United States Handicapper General.

Some things about living still weren't quite right, though. April for instance, still drove people crazy by not being springtime. And it was in that clammy month that the H-G men took George and Hazel Bergeron's fourteen-year-old son, Harrison, away.

It was tragic, all right, but George and Hazel couldn't think about it very hard. Hazel had a perfectly average intelligence, which meant she couldn't think about anything except in short bursts. And George, while his intelligence was way above normal, had a little mental handicap radio in his ear. He was required by law to wear it at all times. It was tuned to a government transmitter. Every twenty seconds or so, the transmitter would send out some sharp noise to keep people like George from taking unfair advantage of their brains.

George and Hazel were watching television. There were tears on Hazel's cheeks, but she'd forgotten for the moment what they were about.

On the television screen were ballerinas.

A buzzer sounded in George's head. His thoughts fled in panic, like bandits from a burglar alarm.

"That was a real pretty dance, that dance they just did," said Hazel.

"Huh" said George.

"That dance-it was nice," said Hazel. 

You can watch the loosely adapted full movie here, or read it here, or read some of it, and do the homework here.  Then you decide (if you haven't already).


10 comments:

Anonymous said...

Come on, Rodger. Got anything more current? I read that 40 years ago, I think in National Review.

Freddie Sykes

Rodger the Real King of France said...

Your point being?

Cheesy said...

Great object lesson, for anyone paying attention. The end is about what you'd expect.
I picture Diana Moon Glompers as janet nappylatino

Anonymous said...

Vonnegut was a raging leftist, just full of pent up leftism; which is why this story, which ridicules the ideology of the left so well, is amazing. The fact that it came from his skull just blows me away. A stopped clock and all that.

baboy

Anonymous said...

We have to have a point? We have to read the articles before commenting? What's next, math?

Freddie Sykes

Phssthpok said...

See also the short story 'Examination Day:

http://www.thebostonbachelor.com/2008/examination-day-by-henry-seslar/

Anonymous said...

"Robert Hedrock"

GrinfilledCelt

Anonymous said...

I invite your attention to a film starring Luke Wilson and Maya Rudolph, called "Idiocracy."
With a little more attention to production values, it could have been a "B" movie. But I couldn't stop watching because of the underlying premise.
Unfortunately, I can see this outcome on the horizon and it scares me a little.
PvtCdr(SS) MichigammeDave

Rodger the Real King of France said...

"Idiocracy" not on NetFlix

Anonymous said...

I also thought of Idiocracy as the flipside to this film. I'm surprised you're not already familiar with it, Rodger. It's really funny and really scary.
GrinfilledCelt

Post a Comment

Just type your name and post as anonymous if you don't have a Blogger profile.