Sunday, February 25, 2007

Resistance

About a dozen years ago, a friend gave me the following audio clip from The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy:
Vogon Guard: Resistance is useless!

Ford Prefect (annoyed): You can shut up as well.

Vogon Guard: Resistance is useless!

Ford: Oh, give it a rest. Do you really enjoy this sort of thing?

Vogon Guard: Resistance is -- What do you mean?

Ford: Does it give you a full and satisfying life, stomping around, shouting, pushing people out of spaceships?

Vogon Guard: Well, the hours are good.

Ford: They'd have to be.

Vogon Guard: But now that you come to mention it, I suppose much of the actual minutes are pretty lousy. Except, except some of the shouting I quite like: Resistance is u-

Ford: Sure, you're good at that, I can tell. But if it's mostly lousy, then why do you do it?
-- Douglas Adams

The clip as edited speaks powerfully to people when they feel "stuck" (as we all do from time to time). In the radio script, however, the dialogue doesn't stop there. Ford proceeds to speculate sarcastically about what might be motivating the guard to do something that's mostly lousy. And of course, he has no alternative path or suggestions for the guard, so the guard continues with business as per usual (after all, it's what he knows), and sends Ford off to be pushed out of the spaceship.

No comments: