I’m bored and have no one to talk to, so here I am again, blurting my brains out.
I saw this movie quite a while ago. It was based on a book by Kurt Vonnegut and basically its about this dystopian world where everything and everyone is equal and nothing is great. No great writers, no great singers, no fantastic food…nothing. The best decription I can come up with is that everything is beige. Nothing is bad, but nothing is very good either.
At the time it really hit me hard. I couldn’t imagine a world without amazing literature and art and music. Where TV shows and movies were just bland and barely interesting. I couldn’t imagine being excited about anything in this world because it was so bland and what was the point if you were never blown out of your socks by something fantastic? And the worst part? No one noticed. Well almost no one, because it didn’t happen over night. It took years and years and went so slowly that everyone just drifted along, not seeing what the big picture was really doing to be. The governments were trying to keep everything peaceful, no more wars and the best way to do it was to give no one anything to fight over. And they did get peace but the cost was unimaginable.
Of course, humans being what they are, everyoe once in a while someone would wake up and really see the world around them. Someone with a little spark of something more. Someone who could write a better than anyone else, or sing or paint or play an instrument. And of course, the government couldn’t have that so they handicapped them in some way. Like Harrison. He was captured and because he was so smart, they were going to lobotimize him so he couldn’t wake the people up and turn them agains the governmnet.
He’s rescued just in time by a man from a secret society who offers him the chance to go and live in a secret world, where people who were smart and funny and talented gathered together. Of course he’d have to leave his whole family behind as well as everyone else.
Now here’s the strangest part. I can’t remember how the movie ends. I know in the book Harrison tries to take over the government and ends up dead, but I can’t remember if Harrison in the movie takes the secret society up on their offer.
Those of you who know me, know that I am all about equality, especially for women and the LGTBQ+ community. And to some, this may seem like the same thing as what happened in Harrison Bergeron, but it’s not. What I and many others are fighting for is for everyone to have the same rights as everyone else. And rights are not like pie. When you give them to more people, you aren’t taking them away from someone else.
I am worried about the world though. There’s seems to be so many people out there who are hating everyone who is not exactly like them. People who think that the “rules” they follow should be followed by everyone else.
People who don’t understand that just because they are on a diet doesn’t mean I shouldn’t eat donuts.
This is the kind of world Harrison was living in. One that didn’t tolerate change or growth. One that was willing to lose so many amazing things just to make sure that they didn’t have to deal with anything that makes them uncomfortable. It was run by people who were so sure of their right to make decisions for everyone else because it was the only way to keep the peace.
I wish that more people would stop being so interested in what everyone else was doing and focus on what makes their own lives better. Try looking at the world with empathy and compassion and understanding and stop thinking that someone elses happiness is taking something away from you.
Go watch Harrison Bergeron, or read the book. And someone let me know how the movie ends.
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