Posted on 02/02/2005 10:51:31 AM PST by Borges
What did Ayn Rand want?
Today is the centennial of her birth, and while newsletters and Web sites devoted to her continue to proliferate, and while little about her private life or public influence remains unplumbed, it is still easier to understand what she didn't want than what she did. Her scorn was unmistakable in her two novel-manifestos, "The Fountainhead" (1943), about a brilliant architect who stands proud against collective tastes and egalitarian sentimentality, and "Atlas Shrugged" (1957), about brilliant industrialists who stand proud against government bureaucrats and socialized mediocrity. It is still possible, more than 20 years after her death, to find readers choosing sides: those who see her as a subtle philosopher pitted against those who see her as a pulp novelist with pretensions.
She divided her world - and her characters - in similarly stark fashion into what she wanted and what she didn't want. Here is what she didn't want: Ellsworth M. Toohey, "second-handers," Wesley Mouch, looters, relativists, collectivists, altruists. Here is what she did want: Howard Roark, John Galt, individualism, selfishness, capitalism, creation.
But her villains have the best names, the most memorable quirks, the whiniest or most insinuating voices. At times, Rand even grants them a bit of compassion. Toohey, the Mephistophelean architecture critic in "The Fountainhead," could be her finest creation. And when she argued against collectivism, her cynicism had some foundation in experience: she was born in czarist Russia in 1905, witnessed the revolutions of 1917 from her St. Petersburg apartment and managed to get to the United States in 1926. Her sharpest satire can be found in some of her caricatures of collectivity.
(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...
Not me. I think it's perfectly consistent to admire Rand's nonfiction, and many of her ideas (as I do) while viewing her fiction as ham-handed allegorical treacle.
Happy Birthday Ayn!
Ann Rand’s heir, Leonard Peikoff, sold the movie rights to “Atlas Shrugged” many years ago. The estate does not have any direct control over who makes the movie or who is cast, so this is what I heard is being floated in Hollywood.
Expected Casting:
Dagny Taggart --- Susan Sarandon, Barbara Streisand, and Jessica Lange are all competing for this part. Susan is in the lead right now, but Barbara is eagerly having her husband drive her from casting couch to casting couch right now. Jessica is considered a long shot.
Hank Rearden --- Martin Sheen, Tim Robbins, and Mike Farrell are competing. Sheen has the lead so far, but things could easily change. Producers feel that he is a bit short when paired next to either Susan or Babs and it would be disconcerting to have him talking into their “aaahem” (lets just say navel) throughout the show. They have no chance to strap him on a stuffed horse in this picture. A stepladder was suggested, but Martin is afraid of heights. Tim Robbins’ chances will be greatly improved if Susan gets the lead. Mike is considered a long shot.
John Galt --- Surprisingly, this pivotal role is almost uncontested. Lou Grant is almost sure to get the spot, but Michael Moore is trying hard for it. Regardless of the choice, the wardrobe will not have to be altered.
Francisco d’Anconia --- Many talented actors are trying for this role. Richard Gere, Alec Baldwin, and George Clooney are the leaders. One clue might be the rumors that a part for Francisco’s pet gerbil is being written in. This one is too close to call.
Jim Taggert --- Peter Arnett is expected to make the transition from CNN actor to actor-at-large in this role. He will try his best to steer Dagney from her destructive ways, and gives an interview where he says her plan for the Rio Norte/John Galt rail line are in disarray. She is regrouping and desperately trying to find a new plan.
Robert Stadler --- This is being offered to Martin Sheen instead of the Rearden part, but he wants it punched up quite a bit before he would even consider it. It is expected that in the movie he will become the originator of “Rearden” metal, but had it stolen from him by a vile industrialist and he was just too much of gentleman to object.
Wesley Mouch --- It is almost certain that Sean Penn will get this part, but producers are trying to get Colin Farrell interested in it.
Lillian Rearden --- Janenne Garofalo is currently in the lead, but Jessica Lange and all three of the Dixie Chicks are also trying for the part. Whoppi Goldberg is trying to sell the producers on playing the part for laughs.
Eddie Willers --- This will probably go to Pee-Wee Herman. Near the end, he is shown as confused, but walking into a movie house.
Of course, there are some minor changes from the book. For example, when John Galt is captured, Dagney convinces him of the errors of his ways. His “strike” is selfish and hurts women, children, and minorities more than Republicans. In a three-hour-long speech to the world, he convinces most of the selfish and corrupt industrialists to return to their work, only with more compassion for the working man. Those who do not return (including an unrepentant Rearden) are bombed into oblivion in a 15 minute display of explosive special effects. In the end, Dagny and Galt fly towards New York, where the Republican caused blackout is ending. The lights come on one by one.
There will be cameo parts for Bill and Hill Clinton, Jacques Chirac, Jean Chretien, and the entire Belgian army (all three of them). To coincide with the opening of the movie, the book is expected to be reissued as a 30 page graphic novel.
If there's one thing fans of her fiction know how to do it's 'Freep' polls. Anytimes there's a general public opinion poll of favorite novels The Fountainhead and Atlas Shrugged are always high up there with 'War and Peace' and Ulysses.
As an aside, the film version of 'The Fountainhead' is an absolutely laughable failure. Due, foremost and primarily, to Rand herself who exercised dominating control of the project and drove it into the ground.
yeah...and sometimes it seems like Atlas Shrugged has been made into the ultimate reality show.
Today is JJ's birthday, btw.
"...Come on up, Kinch. Come up, you fearful Jesuit."
You had me worried there for a moment - pheew!
This is my reality show. It's actual size. Like it?
No.
Me niether.
Yes it is. And if it was 1982 I would have posted a centennial article on a non-existent Net message board! Because posting the Molly Bloom monologue would get me banned. :-)
"I wish I'd never seen your skyscraper!"
Women I've dated say that to me all the time -- now I know what they're talking about, except I'm not an architect...
yes, that's the best kind of trea.
Her most valuable contribution to modern philosophical thought is her defense of capitalism on moral, rather than utilitarian, grounds. It's the 800lb. gorilla that drives much of modern conservatism, and represents a recapturing of a moral high ground too easily surrendered by many of capitalism's so-called defenders.
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