Why on EARTH would anyone want to make a movie of "Atlas Shrugged"?

[SemiCharmedQuark]

Blah!

I'm especially surprised that Angelina Jolie is going to play Dagny Taggart. She never struck me as the "objectivist" type..

[kestrel91316]

1. I'd call that a major sellout on her part. And besides, isn't Dagny a blonde?

[SemiCharmedQuark]

3. She didn't do it for the money, she did it because she WANTED to do it

Apparently she's a fan :shrug:

[kestrel91316]

19. And here I thought she had a social conscience.......

[DS1]

60. Yes, please disregard all the work she has done for good

just because she's playing a character. They say that being able to argue both sides is a sign of intelligence, but for you it just means someone is a sellout.


Gotta love the D.U. !

[bunkerbuster1]

61. Ewww! Grosss!

Whatever fantasy appeal that starlet may have held for me just went in the crapper.

[musette_sf]

2. to "catapult the propaganda"?

after all, it's the Norquist/Ron Paul gospel of "I Got Mine, Screw You Jack".

[phillysuse]

4. It's the right wing media - I would be interested in

who is financing this.

[Boojatta]

40. I would think that even people with weak finances can

accumulate enough money for a movie if they pool their funds and save for 50 years. Atlas Shrugged in copyright 1957.

[Jim__]

5. There's probably a large market of insomniacs out there waiting to buy it. - n/t

[Warren Stupidity]

6. Well The Fountainhead sucked as a book and a movie

so I'm pretty confident that this will be a major film disaster as well.

[Manifestor_of_Light]

12. I remember watching that in a friend's architecture class.

Raymond Massey, Gary Cooper and Patricia Neal.
Aggghhhh.

[dysfunctional press]

14. a lot of that had to do with gary cooper being such an atrocious...actor?

if you'd call what he did "acting" :shrug:

[ToeBot]

31. Every time I see one of his movies I say something similar, my parents act like I spit on them..

I just don't get it, a cardboard cut-out could give a more moving performance.

[Armstead]

62. I really like Gary Cooper's acting

He sucked in The Fountainhead, but everyone sucked in that movie.

Generally, though, he done some really good things as an actor. He has a real underplayed wry humor in many of his roles. For an example, see The Westerner. He and Walter Brennan are great in that.

[Raejeanowl]

7. Oh, Goodie

An agonizingly boring polemic book revisited as an agonizingly boring polemic movie. With an "intellectual" like Jolie starring; what does this tell you?

[Touchdown]

8. It'll have to be a comedy. I hope Paul Verhoeven directs it.

Look what he did with Starship Troopers? Took a military worshipping paen to authoritarian rule and stripped it naked for the fascist polemic it was. :rofl:

Then there's his anti-corporate Robocop and Total Recall.

No, I'm not a Heinlein fan.;)

[SemiCharmedQuark]

9. Vadim Perelman?

He's directing it.

http://www.variety.com/article/VR1117971319.html?categoryid=13&cs=1

[I work for workers]

21. Starship Troopers really wasn't an authoritarian book.

The movie followed it so loosely it's hard to recognize the source material sometimes.

Heinlein's scifi was all over the political spectrum, don't judge him based of one bad interpretation of one story.

[Touchdown]

33. I read that book. It was a military worshipping polemic.

It was unmistakable. In a 190 page teenager's adventure book, it takes two chapters (the old teacher's letter's to Johnny), to describe how democracy failed, and that those who don't serve are weak and undeserving, it's a polemic.

As far as the movie is concerned. I've read ST recently enough to know that quite a bit of dialog was lifted straight from the book, especially Ratcheck's classroom talk, so it's not as badly interpreted as Heinlein's fans would like to pretend. It's just that when the romanticism of military rule in the book was directly translated into film, it showed the ideology for the fascist polemic it was. Naked, and raw fascism.

No, there weren't any mobile suits, or arachnid spacecraft, but the central thrust of the book was all in the film.

Verhoeven is a smart-ass, and most of his films are politically satirical, and very critical of human nature, but as a Dutch man who lived through German occupation as a boy, I think he's well qualified to recognize fascism when he sees it. Much more than the American Robert Heinlein, who was barred from service because of physical limitations, and spent some time in his life feeling deprived of that heroism.

[I work for workers]

37. Your post is full of inaccuracies.

The movie inserted a fascist climate that was not present in the book. It was very militaristic, but it didn't describe enough of the non-military life to describe it as fascist. There was no direct military government. If anything, the book makes clear that humanity was united under a democracy, albeit one in which suffrage had to be earned through some form of national service.

Heinlein served in the Navy for five years. Despite the ridiculous accusations people toss at him because of that terrible movie, his fiction was across the board when it comes to politics.

[Paladin]

44. I Loved The Movie

Like I've posted before: You gotta love any flick that dresses up Doogie Howser in an SS uniform......

[Touchdown]

45. I read it twice. Got fascism both times.

So, I'm sorry I recognized it if I wasn't supposed to. EDIT: The second time was at the challenge of a Heinlein apologist like you.

Democratic? Those who don't serve in national service, can't be elected in government, or have any say in how their governed. That is the antithesis of democracy.

I read Stranger too. He spent a bit of time ruminating over libertarianism as well.

[Geoff R. Casavant]

10. Well, have you seen "Dude, Where's My Car?"

They'll make a movie about anything these days. :-)

[tridim]

11. Don't laugh, I was entertained by "Dude, Where's My Car"

This coming from a self-admitted film snob who likes only one or two movies every five years.

The movie sucked hard, but it was still entertaining. :) I guess I just like stoner flicks.

[Geoff R. Casavant]

16. Just last night, we rented "Harold and Kumar"

And that was surprisingly enjoyable for a stoner flick.

But "Dude" just sucked out loud, man.

[spoony]

53. Doogie Howser made that film.

His scenes catapulted it into another strata of stoner movie, lol.

[zorahopkins]

13. Shrug

I don't know.

Shrug.

[Megahurtz]

18. Lol! n/t

[valerief]

15. Well, she's not much of an actress to begin with. Now we know she's not the

sharpest tack in the box, too.

[Ezlivin]

17. The sharpest two tacks in the box, actually

[Trailrider1951]

28. Well, I beg to differ

her portrayal of Lisa in "Girl Interrupted" was absolutely chilling. Rent it.

But, her talent as an actress is independent of her intellectual talent. I do not have enough information to give an adequate assessment.

[valerief]

49. Saw it. Stunk. nt

[baldguy]

20. .

[havocmom]

56. Thank you

That is wonderful

[grahamhgreen]

22. What does that mean - that Atlas carried the weight of the world on his shoulders

and then shrugged it off by not caring?

[David Zephyr]

36. Pretty much. Here's the David Zephyr synopsis of Rand's silly book.

In a capsule that would save you from reading the book: All of the wonderful great capitalists who carry the entire world on their burdened shoulders just finally get tired of being criticized and taxed and penalized for all they do and so they decide to "shrug" and drop the co-dependent crybabies that depend on them. --DZ on Atlas Shrugged.

[grahamhgreen]

57. Thanks. Paraphrased - unable to control their gluttony, the parasites killed their host.

[I work for workers]

23. It will be fun to see the Galt speech cut down to size.

It was something like 70 pages long. You could make a feature length film out of that speech alone, but the director will still have to fit another 900 pages of fun into three hours.

This will be a disaster of epic proportions.

[Jim__]

39. I hope they don't cut a word of it!

People who go see the movie should get the full effect.

[alphafemale]

24. Bloated, endless, pointless self-important dialogue by boring characters.

WOW! Sounds like box office GOLD!!!!!

:sarcasm:

[provis99]

25. sounds in the spirit of that awful Scientologist move by John Travolta

what was it, Battlefield against the Evil Psychologists, or something like that? Crazed cults that turn out bad Hollywood movies seems to be an interesting trend.

[Dorian Gray]

26. Good Lord!

I have no idea why.

[MisterP]

27. this thread was near this one when I saw it:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x2426863
Can you say, "false consciousness"?

[TheFriendlyAnarchist]

29. I liked Atlas Shrugged.

:shrug: even if you don't like the thoughts it puts forth, I still enjoyed the plot and the characters. John Galt is my screen name many places.

[Liberal_in_LA]

41. I liked it too. Still have a copy. Plan to reread it. Enjoyed the plot, the mystery of 'who is JG

[Zorro]

43. I thought it an entertaining read, also

It's easy to see why AJ would take the part -- it's a strong woman lead role.

I wonder how many people responding to this thread have actually read the book.

[Touchdown]

46. I don't need to shave my ass and sit in a bowl of gin to know it's painful

The book is part of American literary history, and as such one can cull it's meaning from many other sources that have discussed it's themes. I don't need to endure 1000+ pages of over-used adverbs to "understand".

Rand never read Kant, but she criticized him anyhow. What's good for the goose...

[Zorro]

47. Well I guess you answered my query

I presume you've never read Kant, either, because you heard he can be a painful read, too.

[Touchdown]

58. I read enough about her and her quotes, to know about her.

As I said (that you conveniently ignored in typical Randian fashion), she is part of the American lexicon and thus doesn't need to be endured to know about her. So much has been written about her, and her followers that putting up with her root canal writing isn't necessary. It's impossible to go through life and not hear the phrases "One ring to rule them all." "It was the best of times, it was the worst of times." "Big Brother is watching you." "Please Sir. May I have some more?". and ..."Who is John Galt?"

But, I don't speak for others. You have to query the rest of them.

[SemiCharmedQuark]

51. Probably more than you'd think.

I was required to read it and the Fountainhead. I think both are popular assignments.

[jmowreader]

30. It'd have to be better than the movies of "urban novels"

The Special Edition DVD of "Bright Lights, Big City" includes a hose and you use it to vacuum out your car, it sucks so bad.

This one has got to be better. Not a hell of a lot better, but some.

[upi402]

32. catapult the propaganda... Monty Python style n/t

[Blue-Jay]

34. Atlas Shat.

[Boojatta]

35. They want to encourage travel by rail.

It's environmentally friendly.

Of course, it's possible that they'll rewrite it to replace the railroad executive with a trucking company executive.

[Occam Bandage]

38. ATLAS SHRUGGED II:

[philosophie_en_rose]

42. For the return of Mystery Science Theater 3000?

:shrug:

[Blue_In_AK]

48. She's an actress; that's what they do.

She won't BE Dagny Taggart, just playing the role. Brad Pitt was a serial killer in Kalifornia -- that doesn't make him one. Geez, give her a break.

[SemiCharmedQuark]

50. Ok let me rephrase: I'm surprised she's a fan of Ayn Rand.

[Blue_In_AK]

55. Sorry for snarkiness last night...

Politics had me in a bad mood.

[tom_paine]

52. What do you mean? The growth of cruelty and callousness in Imperial Amerika is the largest

growth industry we have.

No other industry, and all of it's related industries, prison, interrogation, surveillance, propaganda, has the growth potential that these do.

Bar none.

"Atlas Shrugged" naturally is part of the continuing plan of Bushie Totalitarians to control every aspect of Imperial Amerikan life and thought.

"Some people matter, and some don't..."

I think the Imperial Subjects of Amerika are ready to take the next leaps to grow the creulty and callousness-realted industries. We are more than ready to be whatever our rulers want us to be.

Nothing less and nothing more.

[Tommy_Carcetti]

54. Well, hell, if they could make "Battlefield Earth"

What's going to stop them from making some Rand screed?

[Johonny]

59. Roger Eberts

review of L. Ron Hubbards battlefield Earth is a funny read. I imagine hollywood will do as good a job on Atlas Shrugged. For the record hanging out in Hollywood I've seen more than one producer reading the book. I think there's a certain sector of society that likes to hear that type of self serving message.

[Freddie Stubbs]

63. $$$

Movies based on books which a lot of people have read tend to do well at the box office.