Atlas Shrugs, Yet Nobody Cares

[Aeronos]

http://wonkette.com/443358/terrible-atl ... box-office

I've been saying for months now that if Atlas Shrugged is commercially mediocre, I will laugh at the utter irony of it all. A film about a book parading the virtues of capitalism and self-interest fails in the eyes of capitalism. Well, it appears to have come true

Though I'm heavily libertarian myself and agree with Rand on a surprising amount of things, I do not agree with objectivism. If people want to work in collectives rather than working for profit, let them... they'd be committing economic suicide, but let them. Likewise, charity should be an honourable thing, not frowned upon as "intellectual surrender". In short, on the Rothbard vs Rand debate, I side with Rothbard. There, that should clear me from the whole "lolyoujusthaterand" shindig.

This will probably come as good news to most here. Not sure how many objectivists we have here, most of the time I see Atlas Shrugged being rightly panned for being badly written...

[Wamitoria]

Wow. Worst advertisement campaign ever.

I didn't even know it came out.

[Aeronos]

There was a trailer in February, then everyone made a fuss because it was scheduled for tax day in the US lol

[Syvorji]

Good. Now, we won't need to worry about Atlas Shrugs, Part Two and Part Three.[/Kim Jong-il cynicism]

[You-Gi-Owe]

I knew about it. It's on my "to see" list.

I guess advertising depends on how you get your news and entertainment.

Here's an article on reviews of the movie:

Some Notable Atlas Shrugged Movie Reviews: P.J. O'Rourke, Kyle Smith, and Others
Matt Welch | April 11, 2011

In the comments of a previous post rounding up some Atlas Shrugged Part I reviews, roystgnr asked, "to avoid wasting everyone's time, could we just post reviews by people who dislike Rand's politics but liked the movie and reviews by people who like Rand's politics but disliked the movie?" Since I aim to please, here's the New York Post's libertarian-leaning film reviewer and underrated columnist, Kyle Smith:

[T]he movie's chief flaws — on-the-nose-dialogue, a cheesy score, no-name actors — are fixable, and it is alive with the potency of Rand's convictions. "Atlas Shrugged" is a rough draft of a movie, but one that's good enough to renew interest in the story's cinematic possibilities. [...]

"Atlas Shrugged" is like the Bible (the only title that outscored it in an unscientific 1991 survey that asked readers which books had most influenced them). Neither is to be taken literally. Each makes a lot of valid points. [...]

Most movies, even movies that earn many times what "Atlas Shrugged" will make at the box office, don't matter. "Hop" and "Sucker Punch" are not going to create any activists, stir any conversation, make people want to read more about the subject. Despite playing on only a couple of hundred screens (and only covering the first third of the novel), "Atlas Shrugged" is going to have an impact. It'll make kids want to read the book, it'll get argued about on widely read blogs, it'll make some viewers question their assumptions: Why is it, exactly, that we are supposed to hate successful businessmen? [...]

This is Rand's moment: Her demon vision, despite the odor of brimstone and the screech of axe-grinding that envelops it, seems less and less unimaginable. For all its stemwinders, its cardboard capitalists and villainous bureaucracy, "Atlas Shrugged" makes ringing statements: that wealth has to be created before it can be divided up, that government isn't necessarily your friend, that the business of America is business.

Libertarian-leaning current events funnyman P.J. O'Rourke, in the Wall Street Journal:

Atlas shrugged. And so did I.

The movie version of Ayn Rand's novel treats its source material with such formal, reverent ceremoniousness that the uninitiated will feel they've wandered without a guide into the midst of the elaborate and interminable rituals of some obscure exotic tribe. [...]

In "Atlas Shrugged–Part I" a drink is tossed, strong words are bandied, legal papers are served, more strong words are further bandied and, finally, near the end, an oil field is set on fire, although we don't get to see this up close. There are many beautiful panoramas of the Rocky Mountains for no particular reason. And the movie's title carries the explicit threat of a sequel.

But I will not pan "Atlas Shrugged." I don't have the guts. If you associate with Randians—and I do—saying anything critical about Ayn Rand is almost as scary as saying anything critical to Ayn Rand. What's more, given how protective Randians are of Rand, I'm not sure she's dead.

The woman is a force. But, let us not forget, she's a force for good.

Are there libertarian-agnostic non-Rand-fans who've liked the movie? I haven't found any yet, though Preview Week is still young. There were some notable savagings by Variety and the Hollywood Reporter, though. Plus this newspaper editorial from the apparently existing Harrisonburg (Va.) Daily News Record, headlined "Objectively Evil: The Truth About 'Atlas Shrugged.'" Sample from that:

A staple of modern libertarian thinking in some ways codified into the law, Objectivism is radically anti-Christian, denies the natural and moral law and assumes that man exists solely as an individual whose highest goal is satisfying his cupidity and concupiscence. It suggests that mankind is a collection of aimless atoms that bounce off of each other occasionally, but otherwise bear no selfless reciprocal duties or imperatives. Indeed, Rand thought selfishness was a virtue.

Such an ideology denies reality. For one thing, history teaches us that mankind everywhere has always lived under some political authority. As well, men and women are not just individuals, but members of families, communities and towns who work and live together. The natural and moral law, as well as revelation, commands them to be good members of society and to love one another as they love themselves. The law commands this not because a neighbor demands it, but because God expects it as a matter of charity and justice, although he leaves men free to disobey him. Rand vigorously and viciously rejected these simple Christian injunctions.

Objectivism, then, is objectively evil, the merits of Rand’s arguments about collectivism regardless. [..]

So perhaps the conservatives ought to stop buzzing about this film and learn something about the atheist rationalism Rand espoused and the torment it has visited upon the world.

You'll definitely want to click through that last link....

[Unchecked Expansion]

The Free Market works!

[Tekania]

http://wonkette.com/443358/terrible-atlas-shrugged-part-i-dismal-at-the-box-office

I've been saying for months now that if Atlas Shrugged is commercially mediocre, I will laugh at the utter irony of it all. A film about a book parading the virtues of capitalism and self-interest fails in the eyes of capitalism. Well, it appears to have come true

Though I'm heavily libertarian myself and agree with Rand on a surprising amount of things, I do not agree with objectivism. If people want to work in collectives rather than working for profit, let them... they'd be committing economic suicide, but let them. Likewise, charity should be an honourable thing, not frowned upon as "intellectual surrender". In short, on the Rothbard vs Rand debate, I side with Rothbard. There, that should clear me from the whole "lolyoujusthaterand" shindig.

This will probably come as good news to most here. Not sure how many objectivists we have here, most of the time I see Atlas Shrugged being rightly panned for being badly written...

I'm holding out for the somewhat more interesting Porn adaptation...

[New Manvir]

It's their own fault for not adding a sassy, talking, animal sidekick.

[Wamitoria]

It's their own fault for not adding a sassy, talking, animal sidekick.

Voiced by Whoopie Goldberg. *nods*

[Meryuma]

It's their own fault for not adding a sassy, talking, animal sidekick.

Voiced by Whoopie Goldberg. *nods*

Named Shruggy.

[OMGeverynameistaken]

Voiced by Whoopie Goldberg. *nods*

Named Shruggy.

Who is also a donkey that learns a valuable life lesson about caring for poor people and how it makes you a parasite.

Also, taking social security money under an assumed name should feature in here somewhere.

[New Manvir]

Voiced by Whoopie Goldberg. *nods*

Named Shruggy.

Now all we need to give her is a catchphrase.

Ideas?

[Rambhutan]

It's their own fault for not adding a sassy, talking, animal sidekick.

Voiced by Whoopie Goldberg. *nods*

I got confused and thought I was in the whooping cough thread for a second there.

[Lunatic Goofballs]

The Free Market works!

Yay!

[Lacadaemon]

This movie fails because it is left wing rubbish.

[Lunatic Goofballs]

Named Shruggy.

Now all we need to give her is a catchphrase.

Ideas?

"Let's Get Randy!"

[New Manvir]

Now all we need to give her is a catchphrase.

Ideas?

"Let's Get Randy!"

[Valdanis]

Bwahahahahaha.

I have a hipster libertarian friend who is going to be rather upset.

[Meryuma]

Interestingly, though I'm a market-y type and an ethical egoist, I have a lot of problems with Ayn Rand.

[Mussoliniopoli]

Interestingly, though I'm a market-y type and an ethical egoist, I have a lot of problems with Ayn Rand.

Ayn Rand has a lot of problems with Ayn Rand. Factor in his penis, love of rape and being a welfare leech. Oh yes I almost forgot and a love for a serial killer.

[Sociobiology]

I cant handle bad writing,
hey if you cant write two conflicting points of view without making one stark raving mad you're a shitty writer.
if your villain has no motivation besides he is evil or insane you are also a bad writer.

if you describe a utopia were there is no dissent or disagreement then you are a bad writer.

[Valdanis]

Obligatory.

[Revolutopia]

If they want to make a movie about Objectivism they should just make a BioShock Movie saying that it was better written and more realistic.

[Takaram]

They made a movie about this? Recently? Fail, guys, fail.

[Seangoli]

Interestingly, though I'm a market-y type and an ethical egoist, I have a lot of problems with Ayn Rand.

Ayn Rand has a lot of problems with Ayn Rand. Factor in his penis, love of rape and being a welfare leech. Oh yes I almost forgot and a love for a serial killer.

Ayn Rand is a she...