Futuristic dystopian story about a boy who gets killed for being too intelligent

As I recall, the story begins with a boy and his parents talking about some test that the boy is going to take. His parents seem concerened, but try to hide it. Even more so when he promises to do his best. As the story continues, it is made clear that everyone has to take this test at a certain age. I'm not sure if the age is actually mentioned, but the boy and all his friends appeared to be late pre-teen or early teen. Perhaps 11-14.

The boy is taken to a test centre, where everyone is very friendly in an awkward way. He has to promise to answer truthfully and to the best of his ability to every question. My memories of how the test was adminstered are somewhat vague, but I think he sat by a computer terminal. Once the test is finished, a man enters and takes the boy out. In the last scene, his parents get a phone call about funeral arrangements. I'm not sure whether the termination is actually shown, or if the man just shows the boy out of the test room.

It is somehow made clear throughout the story, that intelligent people are seen as some kind of threat, though I don't remember any specific hints. It is also made clear that the boy is intelligent. But obviously he's not intelligent enough to see through the system and fool the test.

I saw this on TV some 30 years ago, and for some reason I came to think about it the other day, and I would like to see it again. It was a short story, probably an episode of a series of unrelated stories. If it is based on a written short story, I would also like to read it. I've tried googling for it, but I haven't come up with anything. Any clues would be much appreciated.

Answer

This is the Twilight Zone episode Examination Day.

Dickie Jordan is an intelligent and curious youth in a dystopian future. It is Dickie's twelfth birthday, which means he is required by law to report to a government testing facility for a mandatory IQ test. As Dickie gleefully tells his parents how he was told by an older friend that the test is easy and that he's sure he will pass it, his parents react stressfully and avoid his questions. …

It is based on the short story "Examination Day", by Henry Slesar.

Comments

Did the gatekeeper and the keymaster get intimate in Ghostbusters?

According to TVTropes ( usual warning, don't follow the link or you'll waste half your life in a twisty maze of content ): In Ghostbusters, it's strongly implied that Dana Barret, while possessed by Zuul the Gatekeeper, had sex with Louis Tully, who was possessed by Vinz Clortho the Keymaster (key, gate, get it?), in order to free Big Bad Gozer. In fact, a deleted scene from the movie has Venkman explicitly asking Dana if she and Louis "did it". I turned the quote into a spoiler since it contains really poor-taste joke, but the gist of it is that it's implied that as part of freeing Gozer , the two characters possessed by the Keymaster and the Gatekeeper had sex. Is there any canon confirmation or denial of this theory (canon meaning something from creators' interviews, DVD commentary, script, delete scenes etc...)? Answer The Richard Mueller novelisation and both versions of the script strongly suggest that they didn't have sex (or at the very l...

Why didn't The Doctor or Clara recognize Missy right away?

So after it was established that Missy is actually both the Master, and the "woman in the shop" who gave Clara the TARDIS number... ...why didn't The Doctor or Clara recognize her right away? I remember the Tenth Doctor in The Sound of Drums stating that Timelords had a way of recognizing other Timelords no matter if they had regenerated. And Clara should have recognized her as well... I'm hoping for a better explanation than "Moffat screwed up", and that I actually missed something after two watchthroughs of the episode. Answer There seems to be a lot of in-canon uncertainty as to the extent to which Time Lords can recognise one another which far pre-dates Moffat's tenure. From the Time Lords page on Wikipedia : Whether or not Time Lords can recognise each other across regenerations is not made entirely clear: In The War Games, the War Chief recognises the Second Doctor despite his regeneration and it is implied that the Doctor knows him when they fir...

story identification - Animation: floating island, flying pests

At least 20 years ago I watched a short animated film which stuck in my mind. The whole thing was wordless, possibly European, and I'm pretty sure I didn't imagine it... It featured a flying island which was inhabited by some creatures who (in my memory) reminded me of the Moomins. The island was frequently bothered by large winged animals who swooped around, although I don't think they did any actual damage. At the end one of the moomin creatures suddenly gets a weird feeling, feels forced to climb to the top of the island and then plunges down a shaft right through the centre - only to emerge at the bottom as one of the flyers. Answer Skywhales from 1983. The story begins with a man warning the tribe of approaching skywhales. The drummers then warn everybody of the hunt as everyone get prepared to set "sail". Except one man is found in his home sleeping as the noise wake him up. He then gets ready and is about to take his weapon as he hesitates then decides ...

warhammer40k - What evidence supposedly supports Tau as related to the Necrontyr?

I've heard of rumours saying that the Tau from Warhammer 40K are in fact the Necrontyr. Is there anything that supports this statement, in WH40K canon? I just found this, on 1d4 chan 1 : Helping Necrons? Or are they Necrontyr descendants? An often overlooked issue is that Tau have no warp signatures, just like Necrons, hate Warpspawns and Warp in general, just like Necrons, have the exact same skull shape,stature and short lives, and the overwhelming need for Technology and beam weapons, JUST LIKE NECRONS. GW may have planned a race that simply prepares a pacified, multiracial galaxy for Necrons to feast upon, supported by Ethereals that have a C'tan phase blade. Then there is a reference of "dark seed in east" by the Deceiver, so the tricky C'tan might give Tzeentch the finger in the JUST AS PLANNED competition. Or maybe GW just has so little creativity that they simply made a new civ conforming to an Old One's standards without knowing it. Is this the connec...

Blog

Search This Blog