Ayn Rand's philosophy is as true in this movie as Roark's integrity. I think the screenplay was as close to the book as can be, thanks to her commitment. I had understand that at the end, she was not happy with the movie, that she knew that Gary Cooper didn't get it, that she wanted to distance herself from the movie. I believe the directing was awful, even more so than GC. Dominique had only one face throughout the movie, albeit fairly well-drawn. But the movie to me became more of a love story than anything else. It seemed to shine a spotlight and take on the life of the one weakness of the Fountainhead, the silly overly-dramatic romantic proclamations. It takes effort to get past the love story to the real meat of the movie (and Ayn Rand's effort) which is the dialogue and actions, and thus the message.
But, with all that said, the book is long and difficult whereas the movie compresses in a lighter, more easily digestible way Rand's philosophy and therefore is an excellent introduction to her writing. She was brilliant, just brilliant, and her fears of "collectiveness" and altruism are such a great motivating force for the striving for greatness. No one should ever aspire to be average and mediocre and children should learn this early so that horrible things like WWII and communism will have some challenge from strong, smart individuals.
Casablanca celebrated the hero in man really and I am not entirely sure that was a secondary story to the love story. We need to start celebrating man and mankind again. To become responsible for our own actions and not blame them on God or luck or fate. I cannot see Rand ever buying a lottery ticket, or relying on others to define her values. If children can learn early on that it is very important not to settle, not to cater to the lowest common denominator, in spite of the teachers who teach to the average and expect no more, these children will have the strength to say "no" when the time comes, and will not look for social acceptance to validate their own existence. We as parents can only look out for them for a little bit - the best we can do for them is instill in them a healthy self-esteem and ego.
I am always reminded of Ayn Rand is the Star Trek episode when Capt Kirk is split in two by the transporter. One half is his ego, the other half is not. His ego is winning. His weak half gets weaker, and he says he needs his alter, his ego, to be strong and be able to make decisions. I use that episode often to illustrate that ego is not bad and it is necessary in order to take responsibility and create values for oneself. I would love to know whether the writer of that episode read Ayn Rand...
But, with all that said, the book is long and difficult whereas the movie compresses in a lighter, more easily digestible way Rand's philosophy and therefore is an excellent introduction to her writing. She was brilliant, just brilliant, and her fears of "collectiveness" and altruism are such a great motivating force for the striving for greatness. No one should ever aspire to be average and mediocre and children should learn this early so that horrible things like WWII and communism will have some challenge from strong, smart individuals.
Casablanca celebrated the hero in man really and I am not entirely sure that was a secondary story to the love story. We need to start celebrating man and mankind again. To become responsible for our own actions and not blame them on God or luck or fate. I cannot see Rand ever buying a lottery ticket, or relying on others to define her values. If children can learn early on that it is very important not to settle, not to cater to the lowest common denominator, in spite of the teachers who teach to the average and expect no more, these children will have the strength to say "no" when the time comes, and will not look for social acceptance to validate their own existence. We as parents can only look out for them for a little bit - the best we can do for them is instill in them a healthy self-esteem and ego.
I am always reminded of Ayn Rand is the Star Trek episode when Capt Kirk is split in two by the transporter. One half is his ego, the other half is not. His ego is winning. His weak half gets weaker, and he says he needs his alter, his ego, to be strong and be able to make decisions. I use that episode often to illustrate that ego is not bad and it is necessary in order to take responsibility and create values for oneself. I would love to know whether the writer of that episode read Ayn Rand...