"The year was 2081, and everyone was finally equal." "They weren't only equal before God and the law, you see." "They were equal every which way." "Nobody was smarter than anybody else." "Nobody was better looking than anybody else." "Nobody was stronger or quicker than anybody else." "And all this equality was due to the 211th, 212th, and 213th Amendments to the Constitution, and to the unceasing vigilance of the United States Handicapper General." "The strong wear weights to make them weaker, the intelligent wear earpieces... that kept them from taking unfair advantage of their brains." "Even the beautiful sometimes wear masks in situations... where the beauty might simply be... too distracting." "It was the golden age..." "of equality." "Some things about living still weren't quite right, though." "April for instance, continue to drive people crazy by not quite being springtime." "And it was in that clammy month... that the H-G men came to take George and Hazel Bergeron's son, Harrison... away." "You were fixing the tv, dear." "I bet that was a real pretty dance, that dance she just did." "Huh?" "That dance." "I bet it was nice." "Oh..." "Wow, how was it time?" "Loud." "Same as last time." "Sounded a little like somebody hitting a milk bottle with a... ball peen hammer, from here." "Not it must be real interesting, to hear all the different sounds." " All the things they think up." " It isn't." "Only, if I was Handicapper General, you know what I'd do?" "I'd have chimes on Sunday." "Just chimes." "Kinda, kinda, in honor of religion." "Yeah, I could think straight, if it was just chimes..." "Well then maybe I'd make'em real loud, then." "I think I'd make a good Handicapper General." "You would." "Pfff." "Boy!" "That one was a doozy, wasn't it?" "Yeah." "You seem distracted, hon'." "What are you thinking about?" "I don't know." "Can't... uh, get it straight in my head, but... something." "You must be tired." "Why don't you stretch out on the sofa, so you can rest your handicaps on the pillows..." "I'm fine." "You're always so worn out." "If there was just some way..." " we could light'em..." " There isn't." "I'm not saying all the time," "I'm just saying maybe when you're sitting around the house..." "Hazel." "If I take them off." "I'm gonna wanna keep them off." "And we both know how we would feel about that." "We'd hate it." "So, nothing to be done then." "We interrupt our broadcast of the national ballet sleeping beauty... for important breaking news." "Ah, Now I don't understand why they interrupt such a nice ballet... just to tell us the same old news." "What does it matter if they're just showing the same old ballet." "Good evening..." "good... good... good evenig, we've just received a warning from the handica... ca... ca... the handicabu ... bububub..." "the handicabu... bubub... the handicaju... jujuju..." "the hand... the handicap..." "That's all right, he tried." "That's the important thing." "I think he should get a nice big raise for trying so hard." "Well, I think I'll get started with the dishes." "Good Evening." "We've just received a warning from the office of the handicapper general, that: suspected anarchist, Harrison Bergeron, has escaped from custody." "Arrested six years ago for propaganda's vandalism, broadcast piracy, refusal to report for his quarterly handicapping evaluations, and for the blading removal of his handicaps in a public place." "Mr. Bergeron had been awaiting trial on a maximal securation prison, here in washington DC, when he... miraculously disappeared from his cell, earlier this evening." "Please be adviced that Bergeron is a genius and an athlete, is under-handicapped, and is considered to be extremely dangerous." "If you see this man please contact your local authorities immediately." "Thank you." "Harrison..." "Quiet." "Ladies and gentlemen." "Distinguished guests from around the world, may I have your attention, please." "There is a bomb beneath this theater and there is a detonator in my hand." "So, I strongly suggest that you remain in your seats." "Now, my apologies for interrupting this evening's entertainment." "Hopely I can provide you with some of my own." "My name is Harrison Bergeron." "I'm a fugitive and a public threat." "I'm a abomination of the able." "I'm an exception to the excepted." "I'm the greatest man you have never known." "And for the last six years I've been held prisoner by the state." "Sentenced without trial to torture without end." "They had hope to destroy in me any trace of the extraordinary." "And in time I came to share that hope." "But the extraordinary, it seems, is simply out of their reach." "So, now I stand before you today... beaten, hobbled and sickened, but sadly not broken." "And I say to you, that if it is greatness we'd must destroy... than let us drag our enemy... out of the darkness where it's been hiding." "Let us shine a light, so that at last, all the world can see." " The stair-well." " Hold position direct by the stair-well." "Unit F holding position outside the north-west balcony." "Copy that." "Unit E what's your status?" "Stand by." "We'll need a little more time..." "And now, for my next trick, I'm gonna need a volunteer." "No one, come now." "Perhaps one of you." "Music." "Unit E reporting... the bomb has been disarmed." "Repeat, the bomb has been disarmed." "Copy that." "Central, kill the broadcast." "Enough." "Just you." "This is central, confirmed the broadcast cut." "You're clear to proceed." "Copy that." "All units..." "stand by for entry." "That one sounded kind-a-like a gun shot." "Hon', you look upset, what is wrong?" "I don't know." "Something... sad..." "on television..." "I think." "Oh, well..." "you should forget sad things, anyway." "I always do." "Gee I could tell that one was a doozy." "You can say that again?" "Gee I could tell that one was a doozy."