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How do events in the movie 2081 compare to the short story "Harrison Bergeron"?

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The events in the film 2081 are mostly similar to those in the short story “Harrison Bergeron.” However, there are a few differences, including the way Harrison’s parents are presented.

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There are several differences between the film and the story. The film adds more detail about Harrison as an enemy of the state. It adds a series of flashbacks of young Harrison being abducted by riot police during a raid to his home. The incident in the concert hall is handled differently as well. In the film, more attention is paid to the fact that Harrison's disruption of the ballet is televised. The film adds the part about Harrison claiming that he's planted a bomb and is holding a detonator. In the story, Glampers simply appears with a gun to kill Harrison, while in the film there is a SWAT team involved, and some time is spent building suspense by concentrating on the details of police operations.

More importantly, Harrison himself is presented differently. In the story, he is described as a kind of young superman; he explicitly proclaims himself...

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"the emperor," and the point of his intervention is to demonstrate his superiority. There is a kind of exaggerated, almost comic tone to Harrison's dance with the ballerina and their enjoyment of their physical and sexual freedom. The tone of the film is more subdued; Harrison's dance with the ballerina is less extravagant; more importantly, unlike in the story, Harrison and the ballerina do not kiss. How Harrison acts on stage is undercut in the film, which includes many details about a subplot about defusing the bomb, which turns out to be a ruse. In the film, the point of Harrison's intervention at the ballet is to be on television and, in particular, to make sure that his murder at the hands of the state is broadcast. These details do not appear in the story.

Most significantly, in the film, Hazel goes to the kitchen and is doing the dishes during Harrison's appearance on TV, so she does not witness his death. In the story, Hazel sees everything, and it is she who cries at the end, not George.

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2081 is a 2009 film adaptation of “Harrison Bergeron,” a short story written by Kurt Vonnegut in 1961. The short film is very similar to the original story, but there are several differences. Some of these differences occur in the way Harrison’s parents, George and Hazel Bergeron, are presented.

The first noticeable difference takes place in the dialogue between George and Hazel. Both in the story and in the film, Hazel suggests to George that he remove his handicaps—heavy weights and an obnoxious blaring earpiece to interrupt his thoughts—at small intervals, just while at home. However, George’s reaction in the film differs from the story. In the film, George says he will not remove the handicaps temporarily, because then he will want to do so permanently. Hazel remarks that she would hate it if he did that. But in the story, George also cites the severe punishment he would receive as his reason for never taking off the handicaps.

“Two years in prison and two thousand dollars fine for every [lead] ball I took out,” said George. “I don’t call that a bargain.”

Another difference occurs at the end of the story. In 2081, Hazel is out of the room and does not see her son Harrison get murdered on live television. George cries at the sight but then forgets why he was sad. In “Harrison Bergeron,” George is the one who misses the murder, and Hazel is the one who cries and then forgets why.

You might think about how these differences send subtle messages about how the government in the story controls people in both direct and indirect ways.

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