You probably know Kurt Vonnegut. But do you know Indianapolis? That's where Vonnegut grew up. And when I was growing up there during the 70s and 80s, all the geekish kids were acutely aware of this--we felt in the way that teens can feel such things that our geographic proximity to Vonnegut somehow ennobled us, or at least offered proof that our futures could be wonderful and imaginative and different. In high school, we passed around copies of Slaughterhouse Five and Cat's Cradle. Some of us tried writing stories in Vonnegut's clipped, sardonic tone. And many of us carried Harrison Bergeron with us as an emblem of how a kid with a clear head and strong mind can overcome the absurd impositions of a repressive adult world. I will never forget the book report Ted Slupesky delivered on "Harrison Bergeron" in the seventh grade--dressed up in homemade handicaps, towering above us with his reedy six feet plus in height, and delighting in telling the rest of us, in his brand-new very deep voice, all about how Harrison brought his ridiculous world to its knees. We all gave the part where Harrison gets killed short shrift, as it really did not serve our imaginative ends. Kids have a way of doing that.

Vonnegut spoke at my high school in 1986, the year I graduated. He said, "All my jokes are Indianapolis. All my attitudes are Indianapolis. My adenoids are Indianapolis. If I ever severed myself from Indianapolis, I would be out of business. What people like about me is Indianapolis." Vonnegut also had good things to say about public education in Indy--as do I. "That city," he once wrote, "gave me a free primary and secondary education richer and more humane than anything I would get from any of the five universities I attended."

Unless you grew up where I did, you probably have not thought of Vonnegut as a distinctly Hoosier author. Which is fine. It's a dimension of his work that is great fun for people who share his background, but it's not essential for getting what he's all about.

What is essential, though, is seeing how he felt about freedom. "Harrison Bergeron" lays that out with enormous clarity. And now it's come alive in a gorgeous twenty-five minute short film. Check out the trailer--and sign up for updates about screenings at finallyequal.com.

Full disclosure -- I have some slight connection with the film through the Moving Picture Institute. But my opinion of it would be the same even if I didn't.