Harrison Bergeron

This is one of my favorite movies because it makes you think of the "what if" to the nth degree. It ranks up there in my mind with Matrix in terms of challenging your imagination to think outside the world as we know it. It is too bad it was only a made-for-TV movie because I think it would have done as well at the box office as many movies that are much less interesting have. The movie puts us in the future, where the not-so-intelligent have risen up against the intelligent and forced the government to create a mechanism (a head band) for ensuring that all citizens stay at the same level of intelligence - average. Our main character, Harrison, is, much to his family's dismay, above average and, despite the band, cannot contain his intellectual gifts.

I saw this movie on TV one evening, probably even missed the start of it. I had no idea what it was, and it had the familiar TV-movie feel but it also had something compelling which kept my interest so I sat and watched it through.

I was amazed by this film, partly because of the scope, partly because of the parallels I could see in the world around me (which have only increased since), partly because it was so apparently innocent and unassuming and partly because I had never seen or heard of it before. It took me by surprise. I think I realised shortly after that it was written by the respected Sci-Fi author K.V. and that I should really have read the story sometime. Oh well. You can't catch them all.

However, much time passed and I forgot the name of the movie (it doesn't exactly stick in the mind) and I forgot which of the famous authors seeded it - but I didn't forget the content. From time to time I would ask somebody 'did you ever see that film...' and always got a blank response. I just remembered the author today and traced the name, which brings me here.

All I can say is this - watch it, and at the same time think about the last time you watched mainstream television 'entertainment'. If the parallels doesn't make your skin CRAWL, well - put the band back on...

Even though the film takes place in the future, it is an interesting and frightening look at our own times. It's a combination of 1984 and MATRIX with a 50s-style movie. The fact that we allow ourselves to be told what to think and do is played out in an interesting fashion. The Thoreau-like character sees the facade and learns how to break through. Sean Austin does a great job as the naive innocent who sees into the darkness behind the facade. Christopher Plummer is very effective as the "big brother" who actually has a soul. The film makes us confront the dilemma of whether we want to be "normal" or to be who we really are.

Kurt Vonnegut's story turned into an intriguing movie. Not a sci-fi classic but worthy of particular praise for its grim vision of the future. Not a future dominated by machines because man has taught them to evolve (Terminator), nor a future inhabited by docile, lazy epicures who have even lost the ability to read (The Time Machine). This is somewhere in between, a future where the average prevails and where excellence is looked upon with scorn.

After a second civil war, America's leaders have realised that war is idealistic, so they look to an age where ideology was at its lowest point. The golden age of mass consumerism - the 1950s. Children are taught at school to achieve mediocrity, grade C is best, grade A is very bad. Adults are force fed tv with no stimulating content, and strive to buy the newest durable product they see advertised. All brain patterns are controlled by thought suppressing headbands.

The premise is marvellous and keeps the viewer hooked. It is darkly comic, but seriously thought provoking. Not brilliantly acted but certainly worth a look.

Bruce Pittman's intelligent and modest TV adaptation of Kurt Vonnegut's short story is a wonderful and much under-appreciated piece of high sci-fi. Films of this kind are rarely made, simply because there's not much potential audience for low-budget science fiction - most people are in sci-fi mainly for special effects and impressive battles. Harrison Bergeron, though, is one of those few adaptations made of real philosophical sci-fi, the kind that creates an image of the future as a reflection of our own reality. And it succeeds quite well in delivering its message, and for what it is it could be enjoyed by almost everyone - though I doubt it could have done well in the theaters.

The film revolves around two wonderful lead actors - one is Sean Astin, who recently gained success and fame as Sam Gamgee in Peter Jackson's Lord of the Rings trilogy. The other is the wonderful British actor Christopher Plummer, remembered by sci-fi buffs as the Klingon General Chang from Star Trek 6: The Undiscovered Country. Brilliant comedian Eugene Levy gives an eerily funny performance as the President. The story is of a future America in which equality is achieved by discouraging exceptional talent or intelligence and creating forced mediocrity. Harrison (Sean Astin) is one of the exceptional few whose intelligence surfaces despite the government's best efforts and is therefore given the chance to work for the government. There he discovers the timeless Orwellian truth of Fascist regimes - all are equal, but some are more equal than others. Astin's interplay with Clummer (the classic 'Big Brother') is wonderful, and the ending is beautiful. The script does an excellent job of expanding Vonnegut's very short story into a 100 minute film.

Harrison Bergeron is well worth watching - if you can get your hands on it. As far as I know there isn't a DVD available, but the VHS can be ordered on Amazon and the movie plays occasionally on television. If you're interested in science fiction literature of authors like Vonnegut, Philip K. Dick, or Isaac Asimov, this wonderful little think-piece is a good purchase.