Atlas Shrugged

[aways]

Anybody see Atlas Shrugged yet? If so, give us your review. I Hope to see it soon.

[tabs]

Another earlier effort at putting Ayn Rand on the big screen was the 1949 Fountainhead with Gary Cooper, Patricia O'Neil and Raymond Massey. It is a tale where untalented narrow little minds try to keep genius and individual achievement down and subordinate to the will of the masses. This is done so that the untalented don't wind up being shown up for just what they are.

[BeyGon]

It's playing close to here, Laguna Niguel or Mission Viejo, but my wife is still asleep, jet lag from her last few weeks of travel. Maybe next week.
Today I am going to the Orange Circle Car show.

[azasadny]

One of my very good friends saw it and he loved it. He said that where the Wyatt oil fields were located is right where he lives (Boulder, CO). I thought they might focus too much on the Dagny/Hank romance, but my friend said they did not and they stayed very close to the book.

[daepp]

I am a huge fan of the book - I have actually read three times (In college; about 10 years ago and recently). I bring that up cuz I really know the book, and my expectations were very high.

We went to the opening last Friday with two other couples. 4 out of 6 of us had read the book. On a scale of 1 to 10 I would give it a 7. It apparently didn't have much of a budget (which I didn't know beforehand.) I am glad I went, but to me it's clear they could have had a better screenplay and a better Dagny.

What I was most interested in was whether it would encourage those viewers who had not read the book to do so. I don't think that's the case. There is so much in the book's plot I don't think I could have followed it had I not read the book. The two in our group who hadn't read it had no greater inclination after the movie.

Still, if you are a fan, you will probably be glad you went. It just could have been great...

[Loomis]

Originally Posted by DAEpperson

I am a huge fan of the book - I have actually read three times (In college; about 10 years ago and recently).

Good for you! I have the paperback - never got through it. It's now on my Kindle. More of a project than an entertaining read. I flew cross country with it, and watched the percent complete inch from 4% to 6%. I think I'm at 7% now. Problem is, I won't download anything else until I finish that d@mn book!

Meh, who needs books now, just play around on the internet instead. Hey...PlayStation is back online! Time for some Bad Company 2 to kill some time and brain cells.

I'll probably see the movie, as long as it doesn't ruin the book.

[wdfifteen]

I read Fountainhead and Atlas Shrugged a long time ago and get them confused. I like utopian novels in general, which is what drew me to Rand. As I recall, in both she creates a society where characters always know what is in their best long- and short-term interest and always act accordingly.

[A930Rocket]

I lent my ~1960 copy of Atlas Shrugged to a friend and he lost it. Great book and I look forward to the movie.

[azasadny]

I've read the book and I got my wife, father-in-law, brother-in-law and several others to read it. "Atlas Shrugged", "Catch 22" and "Dr Strangelove" are on my "read several times during your lifetime" list.

[daepp]

I would be afraid to see the movie before you finish the book.

[daepp]

And Loomis - with only a couple of exceptions the book moves along pretty fast once you get past the first 100 pages. Stick with it - you'll be happy you did

[foxpaws]

I too have read the book 3 times - the first time was the old de rigour in my first year of college.... then in my mid 20s and then about 3 years ago.

Just saw the movie - it is obviously part I - and I wonder if they will make enough money to make parts II and probably part III if the amount of book covered in this movie is any indication.

So - the romance wouldn't start until movie 2 and wouldn't get kinky until movie 3 azasadny...

I would give it about a 4 - I liked the book when I was young - when I re-read it I realized how shallow it was. The movie is pretty low budget - and Dagny - who really carries the book in the first 2/3rds of the novel is terrible. She is one of the great characters in mid century literature - and Taylor Schilling isn't up to the task -

Oh, just as an interesting aside - they are merchandising the movie - you can buy Taggert's jewelry online - sort of fits with a movie that, if it follows the book, will eventually tear down the cross and replace it with the dollar sign. Ah, the religion of capitalism, and the worship of the almighty dollar. I wonder if they will leave that in if it makes it to the end of the book. Sort of would turn off most of the people it was trying to appeal to.

[lendaddy]

Originally Posted by foxpaws

Ah, the religion of capitalism, and the worship of the almighty dollar. I wonder if they will leave that in if it makes it to the end of the book. Sort of would turn off most of the people it was trying to appeal to.

That is a very shallow interpretation and certainly not what I believe is intended with all the dollar sign stuff. I do agree that was not one of the best thought out portions of the book, but it is a worship of freedom not an actual currency that is intended. Remember it was sort of a joke in the first place when he gave Midas the sculpture.

On further thought, the only worship I remember being encouraged is of self, though worship probably isn't the right word there either.

[azasadny]

Foxpaws,
My friend told me the Wyatt oil fields are right near Boulder, where you both live, that must have been pretty cool. I'm a Christian, so parts of Ayn Rand's philosophy didn't work for me (obviously), but I understand why she was an atheist after reading her life story and what her family went through in Russia.

[foxpaws]

It is pretty cool having the fields nearby - heck - when I drive to work I drive through fields that are really being worked right now - I think every week a new rig pops up and another set of wells go in...

lendaddy - Rand could have used many symbols for freedom - eagles - in the west wild horses equate to freedom, heck even a drilling rig would have been appropriate - she very specifically chose the dollar sign to rise over the rubble of the cross for a good reason - the symbolism at the end of the book means a lot - and she obviously wanted to get across a very specific point.

azasadny - many people go through far more than what Rand did in Russia and continue to believe in God - God rewards sacrifice - that is antithesis to her objectivism creed - she just replaces God with her own god (the god of self).

[McLovin]

Originally Posted by foxpaws

the symbolism at the end of the book means a lot - and she obviously wanted to get across a very specific point.

which specific point is completely missed by many, as evidenced in this thread.

[lendaddy]

Originally Posted by foxpaws

lendaddy - Rand could have used many symbols for freedom - eagles - in the west wild horses equate to freedom, heck even a drilling rig would have been appropriate - she very specifically chose the dollar sign to rise over the rubble of the cross for a good reason - the symbolism at the end of the book means a lot - and she obviously wanted to get across a very specific point.

I'm not talking about freedom in the flag waving sense, freedom in the spiritual sense(not to be confused with religion). It's all about passion and the freedom to pursue it.

And back to your original claim, I've struggled to come up with a single beloved character in her books that celebrated the trappings of wealth.... I've come up with none. Money and wealth are byproducts of the passion not the goal.

[tcar]

The movie is just the first part of the book... about a third, as I recall.

You could probably do the movie when you've read that far... maybe.

They are at present working on parts 2 and 3.

Budget; yes, shoestring...

[M.D. Holloway]

Selfishness is a virtue...

[foxpaws]

Originally Posted by lendaddy

I'm not talking about freedom in the flag waving sense, freedom in the spiritual sense(not to be confused with religion). It's all about passion and the freedom to pursue it.

And back to your original claim, I've struggled to come up with a single beloved character in her books that celebrated the trappings of wealth.... I've come up with none. Money and wealth are byproducts of the passion not the goal.

I am not talking about flag waving either - otherwise I would have chosen the image of a flag. She very specifically chose a dollar sign to replace a cross - she actually could have used a government symbol to be replaced, but she specifically replaced God's icon with her spiritual icon, the mighty dollar, money, her barometer of all.

As far as money, and how she views it - remember Francisco's very long speech on the virtue of money in Shrugged? If I remember (I'll need to dig up my rather tattered copy) he claims that the biggest achievement of America is that we are a country of money - that is how you define America.

However, you come to find out as you slog through Shrugged Francisco's speech was only 'very long' until you got to Galt's speech at the end - 90 pages - I wonder how the movie will treat it?