Beyond that: to me, the thing that distinguishes Harrison Bergeron in the field of dystopian literature is how relentlessly farcical it is. The "handicaps" are

Beyond that: to me, the thing that distinguishes Harrison Bergeron in the field of dystopian literature is how relentlessly farcical it is. The "handicaps" are self-defeating because they blatantly advertise the advantages that they're meant to neutralize. The allegedly super-intelligent rebel protagonist acts like an impulsive idiot. His ultimate showdown isn't against a legion of high-tech enforcers, but against a shotgun-wielding bureaucrat. In short, it goes beyond merely being unbelievable; it gleefully throws the whole notion of believability into a dumpster and sets it on fire because the fire is pretty.