The Ayn Rand Recap for Tuesday September 3rd, 2013

Posted by JustinLesniewski 11 years, 7 months ago to Culture
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At the start of every week we here at Atlas Productions will spotlight and respond to the previous week’s most pervasive, popular, and pointed tweets about Atlas Shrugged and its author Ayn Rand.

Monday 8/19:
“@JohnFugelsang I'm glad that editor made Ayn Rand re-title it ‘Atlas Shrugged’ from ‘It's Totally Moral To Be A Big Selfish Douchebag.’”
* * *
Ayn Rand heard Fugelsang-type attacks and responded directly with her nonfiction book “The Virtue of Selfishness,” an intentionally provocative title. Atlas Shrugged is a fictional and less provocative book about the importance of the freedom to live your own life.

Monday 8/19:
“@MichaelSacal The strangest thing in Atlas Shrugged Part II was Teller's cameo. He speaks in it!”
* * *
It’s true. Teller, one half of the iconic Las Vegas magic act Penn & Teller, appears in “Atlas Shrugged Part II” … and speaks! We tried to fit into Penn’s schedule, but it didn’t work. If you want to see Penn’s “audition tape” go to: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gqMKD9lrE...

Friday 8/23:
“@MarthaPlimpton Ayn Rand thought smoking symbolized man's control over nature. If that's not enough to discredit her on every single level, forget it”
* * *
Just because Ayn Rand had a character say smoking was good doesn’t mean everyone should think smoking is good. Like any good author, Rand was using symbolism to demonstrate a variety of perspectives on her point-- namely, the heroism and beauty of an individual human life.

Thursday 8/29:
“@meew my favorite problem w/ Atlas Shrugged. Like Dagny Taggart's ever going to scrub toilets.”

“@alendrel One of my primary beefs with Ayn Rand: if everyone is John Galt, who works in the factories?”
* * *
John Galt, Dagny Taggart, and all the characters in Atlas are fictional and are not meant to represent real people. The Gulch and its residents are meant to represent the best in humanity and the strength of a free economy: when a person can choose to do what he wants, his/her work will benefit everyone.

Oh, and Dagny probably did scrub a toilet. After her plane crashed in the Gulch, she became John Galt’s live-in maid to pay for her medical bills.


All Comments

  • Posted by $ actingbuff 11 years, 3 months ago
    As an amateur actor, doing a couple unpaid local plays and indie movies in Cleveland area each year, how would I go about getting an audition for the next Gulch project? My bio is at my site, http://www.actingbuff.com (page: Who is Terry Smith)
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