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Jolie to film the cult 'bible of selfishness' (Atlas Shrugged)
The Observer Guardian ^ | January 28, 2007 | Paul Harris

Posted on 02/11/2007 2:15:16 PM PST by saganite

Ayn Rand is one of the most controversial writers in modern American literature, known for her tireless advocacy of the right to selfishness and her hatred of big government. She has been derided and loved in equal measure and her books have sold millions of copies, attracting followers as diverse as banker Alan Greenspan, President Ronald Reagan and architect Frank Lloyd Wright.

Her most famous book, Atlas Shrugged, has long been a target of Hollywood producers and attracted such big names as Faye Dunaway, Raquel Welch and Sharon Stone. But each project collapsed in the face of turning a 1,200-page philosophical novel into a watchable movie. Now that is to change. The latest attempt to film Atlas Shrugged is set to star Angelina Jolie in the role of Rand's railroad heiress heroine Dagny Taggart. Unlike past efforts, this one seems likely to succeed. A two-hour screenplay is almost complete and filming is to start this year with release in 2008. It is being written by Randall Wallace, who wrote the Mel Gibson epic Braveheart, and is backed by Lion's Gate Entertainment.

Atlas Shrugged is one of the most controversial books in modern literature. It is a passionate defence of Rand's belief that the world is best served when individuals act entirely in their own rational self-interest. Or, to put it more bluntly, they act selfishly. Rand, who died in 1982, founded the objectivist school of philosophy and still has millions of followers. Atlas Shrugged and another novel The Fountainhead promote her views. In financial circles Atlas Shrugged has been dubbed 'the bible of selfishness'.

(Excerpt) Read more at observer.guardian.co.uk ...


TOPICS: Culture/Society; Philosophy
KEYWORDS: atlasshrugged; aynrand
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To: Brad Cloven

I drive my wife crazy by asking "Who is Brad Pitt?"


21 posted on 02/11/2007 2:26:32 PM PST by Larry Lucido
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To: saganite
The latest attempt to film Atlas Shrugged is set to star Angelina Jolie in the role of Rand's railroad heiress heroine Dagny Taggart.

OK, but who is John Galt?

22 posted on 02/11/2007 2:26:36 PM PST by Tribune7 (A bleeding heart does nothing but ruin the carpet.)
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To: Publius

I liked that movie.


23 posted on 02/11/2007 2:27:52 PM PST by BenLurkin
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To: Larry Lucido
Now how about having a beer with us after work...

Actually, Galt had dinner with Eddie Willers quite often in the Taggart Transcontinental cafeteria.

24 posted on 02/11/2007 2:28:38 PM PST by Publius (A = A)
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To: Publius

I'm a "cult follower" of STREETS OF FIRE especially the score of Ry Cooder. Great action. Great CARS. Great music.


25 posted on 02/11/2007 2:28:43 PM PST by az wildkitten
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To: BenLurkin
Tom Cruise.

That's it. You're banned. Take a 3 day suspension.

26 posted on 02/11/2007 2:28:50 PM PST by Larry Lucido
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To: IronJack

If I were casting, I would select Johnny Depp. Depp and Jolie...I can see it.


27 posted on 02/11/2007 2:30:17 PM PST by PennsylvaniaMom (Just because you're paranoid doesn't mean they aren't out to get you...)
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To: padre35
Rand was also an atheist, and not one who is merely skeptical or one who required empirical proof as opposed to faith.
28 posted on 02/11/2007 2:30:49 PM PST by elhombrelibre (Hagel, Obama, Voinovich and Biden making the world safe for Iranian terrorists.)
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To: padre35
Rand was also an atheist, and not one who is merely skeptical or one who required empirical proof as opposed to faith.
29 posted on 02/11/2007 2:30:51 PM PST by elhombrelibre (Hagel, Obama, Voinovich and Biden making the world safe for Iranian terrorists.)
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To: saganite

"America's abundance was created not by public sacrifices to 'the common good,' but by the productive genius of free men who pursued their own personal interests and the making of their own private fortunes. They did not starve the people to pay for America's industrialization. They gave the people better jobs, higher wages and cheaper goods with every new machine they invented, with every scientific discovery or technological advance -- and thus the whole country was moving forward and profiting, not suffering, every step of the way."
[Ayn Rand]


30 posted on 02/11/2007 2:31:52 PM PST by SomeoneNeedsToSayIt (Socialism: If we ALL can’t be wealthy… we ALL will be poor…)
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To: Larry Lucido
I'm still dying to know in what year this "futuristic" novel written in the 50's will be set. Will it be re-adjusted to current times?

How about a "Back to the Future" scenario? That way, they could use Michael J. Fox (and he could "shrug" all he wants to)

31 posted on 02/11/2007 2:32:24 PM PST by Migraine (...diversity is great (until it happens to you)...)
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To: Larry Lucido

Bird-brains Jolie and Brad will turn this into a farce.


32 posted on 02/11/2007 2:32:50 PM PST by Dante3
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To: saganite
Ayn Rand is one of the most controversial writers in modern American literature

I stopped reading right there.

\ To the author, Howard Zinn is probably pretty right of center.

33 posted on 02/11/2007 2:33:54 PM PST by Mr. Brightside
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To: saganite
Here's a short little thing I wrote years back...used to be up on FR but got fried when they reformatted the site a few years back. I just googled it and found it here:

Atlas Dined: An Ayn Rand Spoof

Excerpt:

When their dinner arrived, neither dared look at one another. They had both ordered rib eye steak with asparagus and baked potato. He had requested his own basket of rolls, and she knew he had done it to mock her. He could eat more rolls than she, and she hated herself for letting him, for caring, for not being able to hide her shame, in the pleasure it gave her to submit, to eat only one roll while he ate four.

34 posted on 02/11/2007 2:35:33 PM PST by Huck (Soylent Green is People.)
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To: az wildkitten
Great CARS.

That mixture of 1950's and 1990's cars made the whole design work. It's timeless and outside of time.

For a taste of the absurd, also check out Terry Gilliam's "Brazil" from 1985. Take a look at the 1930's computer terminals with magnifying glasses and the ubiquitous ductwork.

35 posted on 02/11/2007 2:37:57 PM PST by Publius (A = A)
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To: Hardastarboard
I'm interested to see how Hollyweird will take a well-known major libertarian treatise, antithetical to everything that Hollyweird stands for (Marxism), and interpret it in a way that bolsters Marxism as the proper world view. And trust me, they will.

Yes, and it will be interesting to see how Hollywood socialists infer that the Democrats' idea of going into the polling place and voting for big government to confiscate more of their neighbors' money - - the ultimate in selfishness - - is somehow more moral than Rand's philosophy.

36 posted on 02/11/2007 2:42:09 PM PST by Lancey Howard
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To: Larry Lucido
Both are fans of Rand's works.

That seems unlikely, given Jolie's one-time "U.N. Goodwill Ambassador" status, which conflicts with Randian philosophy on a number of levels.

37 posted on 02/11/2007 2:42:25 PM PST by montag813
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To: PennsylvaniaMom
Not Depp. Again, I hate his politics, but I admit he's a good actor. But not in Atlas. I see Antonio Banderas as Francisco Danconia, Reese Witherspoon as Mrs. Rearden, maybe somebody like Scott Glenn as Galt. But I don't know who I'd cast as Rearden. Somebody with John Goodman's face but not quite as much girth ...

Steve Buscemi as Wesley Mouch ...
John Malcovich as Dagney's worthless brother ...

Other choices for Dagney? Clare Danes, Linda Hamilton ... looking for a brunette who's feminine but with some muscle ...

38 posted on 02/11/2007 2:42:47 PM PST by IronJack (=)
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To: saganite

Sounds like a cult classic in the making


39 posted on 02/11/2007 2:42:50 PM PST by mylife (The Roar Of The Masses Could Be Farts)
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To: Mr. Brightside
I stopped reading right there.

That's a good point. Controversial? I dunno. Was she once upon a time and I'm too young to remember? Like back when Elvis thumpin' around scared the neighbors? Or is the writer a nimrod?

40 posted on 02/11/2007 2:43:02 PM PST by Huck (Soylent Green is People.)
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