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Atlas shrugged, and so did Dan

2011-02-12 19:49:22.736956+00 by Dan Lyke 5 comments

It is because of Ayn Rand[Wiki] that I survived my '20s. In an era where I had a tremendously skewed risk/reward view, a belief in right and wrong and non-violence bolstered by her philosophies helped me stay alive, out of jail, and from all sorts of other horrible bad ends.

And I could compare her epistemology with _Karl Marx_'s, and despite the strong similarities (they're both staunch materialists), at the point where they diverged her reasons for diverging made a hell of a lot more sense than his.

Eventually that faded. The first cracks came with reading her letters on patents and the space program, and at some point I realized that externalities and a world with finite resources meant that if we could conceive of real estate ownership then having children was an act of violence. Enough of my peers had children, and between that and just looking at history and the human condition, eventually I was worn down to the point where I accepted that, in fact, humans couldn't be rational, and violence was a normal part of the human condition.

So I started voting Democrat. [rimshot]

As Charlene started exposing me to the stuff from Barry Kaufman and the Option Institute, I was also able to see that some of my discontent stemmed from the feeling that that many Objectivists, and Libertarians in general, used their philosophies as excuses, rather than as an empowerment.

But I still have enough of a soft-spot for Rand and that when I heard there was an Atlas Shrugged[Wiki] movie coming out I was kind of excited. However, I have now seen the new Atlas Shrugged trailer.

Uh. Yeah. Trains 90210. Apparently it's like a Paul Verhoeven[Wiki] movie, only without the special effects. Be nice if they could have included some acting.

Sigh.

[ related topics: Children and growing up Interactive Drama Objectivism Movies Robotics Invention and Design Bay Area Software Engineering Space & Astronomy Machinery Embedded Devices Trains Real Estate ]

comments in descending chronological order (reverse):

#Comment Re: made: 2011-02-13 22:48:59.821401+00 by: Larry Burton

April 15th release date. Cute.

#Comment Re: made: 2011-02-13 21:29:03.26766+00 by: spc476

They should have just filmed my synopsis of Atlas Shrugged.

#Comment Re: made: 2011-02-13 20:16:48.71373+00 by: Dan Lyke

Comment over at Sensible Erection on the multi-episodic nature:

One theatrical release, followed by a direct-to-DVD part two, and then a third installment as a "SyFy Original" directed by Roger Corman.

#Comment Re: made: 2011-02-13 15:02:26.449729+00 by: ebradway [edit history]

I liked the comment on YouTube:

"I guess Part 2 will be John Galt's five hour speech in its entirety."

I thought it captured the main point of Atlas Shrugged well and wrapped it up in a candy coated shell of drama and excitement. As for acting, I don't think Ayn Rand was ever noted for the depth of her characters. You gotta give the actors and actresses something to work with!

#Comment Re: made: 2011-02-13 12:23:41.438376+00 by: DaveP

Part 1? I could see going to the theater to watch it if I though one trip would do the job. If it's going to be a multi-parter, I'm pretty sure I'll wait for the box-set, which will likely never happen because people like me didn't go see the first one.