2081

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vi6TTNKdgSk

What happens in a world where everyone is equal?  When personal achievement is irrelevant, what becomes of the exceptional?  If freedom becomes less important than fairness, who benefits?

Kurt Vonnegut asked these questions in his dystopian short story Harrison Bergeron.  In 2009, this short story was resurrected and these questions asked again in the movie 2081.   Displaying all the rebellion of the original tale, 2081 manages to be disturbing, haunting, and horribly brilliant.  The beautiful are masked.  The strong are crippled.  The intellectual are tortured for their thoughts.  Equality belongs to mankind at last.  The playing field is leveled, not by bringing everyone to a greater level of brilliance, but by lowering all mankind to the level of the ordinary.

If you have half an hour, watch 2081.  Its haunting message will linger in your mind and color the way you hear the message of political correctness.  This little film showcases the very best possibility of American cinema come to fruition.  Its very being is the stark contrast to the world it warns is lurking a government decree away.

*I was sent a copy of 2081 and asked to review it.  I wouldn’t recommend it if I didn’t like it.  I loved it.