|
The references in this article would be clearer with a different and/or consistent style of citation, footnoting or external linking. "Harrison Bergeron" is a dystopian science fiction short story written by Kurt Vonnegut and first published in October, 1961. The theme of the story is egalitarianism and is set by the first line: "The year was 2081, and everyone was finally equal." Originally published in The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, the story was re-published in the author's collection, Welcome to the Monkey House in 1968. Kurt Vonnegut, Jr. ...
Image File history File links This is a lossless scalable vector image. ...
The English language is a West Germanic language that originates in England. ...
This article is about the philosophical concept and literary form. ...
Science fiction is a form of speculative fiction principally dealing with the impact of imagined science and technology, or both, upon society and persons as individuals. ...
This article is in need of attention. ...
F&SF April 1971, special Poul Anderson issue. ...
This article is about the magazine as a published medium. ...
This article or section does not adequately cite its references or sources. ...
See also: 1960 in literature, other events of 1961, 1962 in literature, list of years in literature. ...
This article is about the philosophical concept and literary form. ...
Science fiction is a form of speculative fiction principally dealing with the impact of imagined science and technology, or both, upon society and persons as individuals. ...
This article is in need of attention. ...
Kurt Vonnegut, Jr. ...
Egalitarianism (derived from the French word égal, meaning equal or level) is a political doctrine that holds that all people should be treated as equals from birth. ...
F&SF April 1971, special Poul Anderson issue. ...
Welcome to the Monkey House is an assortment of short stories written by Kurt Vonnegut. ...
Plot summary
In the story, societal equality has been achieved by handicapping the most intelligent, athletic or beautiful members of society down to the level of the lowest common denominator, a process central to the society which is overseen by the United States Handicapper General. At the time of the story, the office of Handicapper General is filled by the shotgun-toting Diana Moon Glampers. In mathematics, the lowest common denominator or least common denominator (abbreviated LCD) is the least common multiple of the denominators of a set of vulgar fractions. ...
Harrison Bergeron, the protagonist of the story, has exceptional intelligence, height, strength and beauty, and as a result he has to bear enormous handicaps. These include distracting noises, three hundred pounds of excess weight, eyeglasses to give him headaches and cosmetic changes to make him ugly. Despite these societal handicaps, he is able to invade a TV station and declare himself emperor. As he strips himself of his handicaps, then dances with a ballerina whose handicaps he has also discarded, both are shot dead by Diana Moon Glampers, the brutal and relentless Handicapper General. The story is framed by an additional perspective from Bergeron's parents, who are watching TV but cannot concentrate enough to remember the incident.
A highly similar (though less developed) version of this idea appeared in Vonnegut's earlier novel, The Sirens of Titan. This article is about the Kurt Vonnegut novel The Sirens of Titan. For other uses, see Siren (disambiguation). ...
TV film -
In the 1995 made for television movie, after the handicapping devices are discovered to be ineffective against Bergeron, he is recruited to become a member of the secret unhandicapped elite who keep society running. Bergeron eventually decides to remain true to himself and hijacks a TV station to bring some culture to the masses before committing suicide when the guards are about to break into the studio; most of his viewers are unable to appreciate what just happened, but the film ends on an optimistic note by showing that a few people did get the message and so his sacrifice was not in vain. One of these people includes Harrison's son, whose mother was a runaway member of the elite society. Harrison Bergeron is a 1995 made-for-cable film adapted from Kurt Vonneguts 1961 short story of the same name. ...
Adaptations and references - One segment of the 1972 teleplay Between Time and Timbuktu was based on the story, and it was later adapted into a TV movie, Harrison Bergeron (1995) with Sean Astin in the title role.
- In 2005 the story was quoted by attorneys in a brief before the Kansas Supreme Court. Vonnegut was quoted as saying that while he didn't mind the story being used in the suit, he disagreed with the lawyers' interpretation of it.[1]
- The hardcore band Snapcase referenced the story in the song "Harrison Bergeron" on their 1997 album Progression Through Unlearning.
- "Handicapper General," therefore, has entered colloquial use as a pejorative term used to describe a person or institution that seeks to achieve equality of outcome by leveling down rather than leveling up, e.g., a school system that cancels advanced classes out of a fear of elitism.
Between Time and Timbuktu is a television adaptation of Kurt Vonneguts science fiction novels and stories, and the title of a book containing the script of the broadcast. ...
“TV†redirects here. ...
Harrison Bergeron is a 1995 made-for-cable film adapted from Kurt Vonneguts 1961 short story of the same name. ...
Sean Astin (born Sean Patrick Duke[1] on February 25, 1971) is an American film actor, director, and Oscar-nominated producer, most famous for his film roles as Mikey in The Goonies, the title character of Rudy, Samwise Gamgee in the Lord of the Rings trilogy, and Drew Barrymores...
The Kansas Supreme Court is the highest judicial authority in the state of Kansas. ...
It has been suggested that this article or section be merged with pejoration. ...
This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ...
Gifted education is a broad term for special practices, procedures and theories used in the education of children who have been identified as gifted or talented. ...
Elitism is the belief or attitude that the people who are considered to be the elite — a selected group of persons with outstanding personal abilities, wealth, specialised training or experience, or other distinctive attributes — are the people whose views on a matter are to be taken the most seriously, or...
Footnotes - ^ Scott Rothschild (May 5, 2005). Vonnegut: Lawyers could use literary lesson. LJWorld.com. Retrieved on 2007-06-12.
Year 2007 (MMVII) is the current year, a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar and the AD/CE era. ...
is the 163rd day of the year (164th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ...
External links - Harrison Bergeron at the Internet Movie Database
- The politics of Kurt Vonnegut's "Harrison Bergeron" - Critical Essay (Fall, 1998) by Darryl Hattenhauer
The Internet Movie Database (IMDb) is an online database of information about movies, actors, television shows, production crew personnel, and video games. ...
See also Dumbing down is a usually derogatory term which refers to the simplifying of a subject, often education, news and TV amongst others. ...
Tall poppy syndrome (TPS) is a pejorative term used in Australia and New Zealand to describe what is seen as a levelling social attitude. ...
References - John Tierney, "When Every Child Is Good Enough," The New York Times, November 21, 2004
| Novels | 1950s: Player Piano (1952) • The Sirens of Titan (1959)
1960s: Mother Night (1961) • Cat's Cradle (1963) • God Bless You, Mr. Rosewater (1965) • Slaughterhouse-Five (1969)
1970s: Breakfast of Champions (1973) • Slapstick (1976) • Jailbird (1979)
1980s: Deadeye Dick (1982) • Galápagos (1985) • Bluebeard (1987)
1990s: Hocus Pocus (1990) • Timequake (1997) | | Story collections | Canary in a Cathouse (1961) • Welcome to the Monkey House (1968) • Bagombo Snuff Box (1999) | | Collected essays | Wampeters, Foma and Granfalloons (1974) • Palm Sunday (1981) • Fates Worse than Death (1990) • God Bless You, Dr. Kevorkian (1999) • A Man Without a Country (2005) | | Scripts | Happy Birthday, Wanda June (1970) • Between Time and Timbuktu (1972) • Make Up Your Mind (1993) • Miss Temptation (1993) • L'Histoire du Soldat (1993) | | Adaptations | | Stage | Welcome to the Monkey House (1970, 1974) • Sirens of Titan (1974) • Cat's Cradle (1976) • God Bless You, Mr. Rosewater (1979) • Breakfast of Champions (1984) • Requiem (Stone, Time, and Elements: A Humanist Requiem) (1988) • Slaughterhouse-Five (1996) | | Film | Happy Birthday, Wanda June (1971) • Slaughterhouse-Five (1972) • Next Door (1975) • Slapstick of Another Kind (1982) • Mother Night (1996) • Breakfast of Champions (1999) | | Television | Displaced Person (1958, 1985) • Between Time and Timbuktu (1972) • EPICAC (1974, 1992) • Who Am I This Time? (1982) • All the King's Horses (1991) • Next Door (1991) • The Euphio Question (1991) • Fortitude (1992) • The Foster Portfolio (1992) • More Stately Mansions (1992) • Harrison Bergeron (1995) | |
Feeds |
Contact