The American Spectator : The Spectacle Blog : Rand Round-Up

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Loads of Ayn Rand-related content spilling out onto the web the last couple days with Atlas Shrugged arriving in theaters. A decent sampling includes the Mises Daily piece "The Continued Relevance of Rand's Villains"; the hysterical and shallow Think Progress video "The Truth About GOP Hero Ayn Rand"; a typically balanced bit from Cathy Young ("I believe that Rand is underappreciated and often unfairly maligned. But I also fear that the current Rand vogue often focuses on the worst, not the best, aspects of her legacy"); Kurt Loder and P.J. O'Rourke pannings; a more positive take from Brian Doherty; the Reason video embedded below; and, of course, the surly eFilmCritic review that namechecks this very magazine:

As you may have surmised from the occasionally snarky tone of what I have written thus far, I am not exactly a fan of Ayn Rand, though my objection to her is based less on her philosophy and more on the fact that her books are virtually unreadable garbage that feature narratives that play like bizarre fusions of a year's subscription to "The American Spectator” and dime-store romance novels that are written with the kind of prose stylings rarely seen outside of meatpacking guides...

Sure, friend, we surmised, alright -- and we'll even take you at your word that you actually have the sort of intimate familiarity with a year's worth of our magazine to make such a definitive statement about the objective reality of AmSpec, not to mention meatpacking guides and cheap romance novels. (We aren't judging!)

Now if we could just get our subscription numbers in line with sales of Atlas Shrugged...It's in your rational self-interest, Galts of the world. We swear!

View all comments (5) | Leave a comment

RJ| 4.19.11 @ 7:20PM

I haven't read Atlas Shrugged, but I saw the movie yesterday. Its an entertaining movie with a message. I liked it. I was especially impressed that the movie was made with a $10 million budget. I am looking forward to seeing Part 2 next year.

Osamas Pajamas| 4.19.11 @ 8:00PM

I enjoyed seeing "Atlas Shrugged Part I" this past weekend and I look forward seeing to II and III, ASAP. The enemies of individual liberty have been predicatble in their distortions of Rand's philosophy and personal history, their intent evidently to discourage readers from seeing the movie and / or reading her novels and other books.

But you know you're having fun when your enemy's heads explode in a fit of vituperation and rage, however. The fact that OhBummer has condemned her and her books publicly has sent sales of her books w-a-a-a-a-a-y up --- and probably OhBummer's disdain will help to promote the movie, as well.

"Atlas Shrugged" --- the book --- has a lot of meat on the bone, and reducing it to three episodes seems impossible. If the movie does well, probably Fox could do a miniseries in a few years that better elaborates the storyline, theme, characters, and philosophy so roundly despised by professional Democrats and other left-wing dingbats and collectivists.

Mark| 4.20.11 @ 1:11PM

You know they're out of argument when Think Progress resorts to comparing a limited release to the massively hyped, fictional power-point presentation of An Inconvenient lack of-Truth.

Ryan| 4.20.11 @ 8:56AM

I think there's a huge part of the truth that producers may well "check out" of the system or go elsewhere, but I have a single, major issue with Rand's philosophy...

I DO ask that nobody live for me. I will take responsibility for myself.

However, the second part..that I am to live for nobody...that is up to me. I am a Christian. I have been changed by Christ to desire to serve my fellow man - even sacrificially, as Christ has done for me.