Atlas Shrugged: A Timeless Novel of Self-Sacrifice . . .
. . . at least, so says the DVD cover:
Atlas Productions LLC announced today its plan to replace more than 100,000 title sheets appearing on the Atlas Shrugged Part 1 DVD and Blu-ray versions sold through major retail outlets. These retail versions were packaged with an inaccurate synopsis of Atlas Shrugged. Not affected were the “Special Edition” versions sold online at AtlasShruggedMovie.com.
The 1957 novel, Atlas Shrugged, is known in philosophical and political circles for presenting a cogent argument advocating a society driven by rational self-interest. On the back of the film’s retail DVD and Blu-ray however, the movie’s synopsis contradictorily states “AYN RAND’s timeless novel of courage and self-sacrifice comes to life…”
I wonder if it was simply a mistake, or a practical joke by the copy writer. If it was the latter, then it was a joke showing courage and self-sacrifice — in this case, the willingness to sacrifice one’s job.
okay i am reading it right now, and that’s not a completely crazy reading. rearden sacrifices his money for his family’s happiness. Francisco D’anconia sunk millions of his money into that San Sabastian mine to make a point. The truly selfish would have simply found a way to prosper in this collectivist nightmare, but raging against it is sacrificing, in some sense of the word.
Take for instance this passage:
That is self-sacrifice in some sense of the word.
Aaron Worthing (e7d72e) — 11/11/2011 @ 12:14 pmYou just have to use the Force.
Like describing The Fountainhead as a novel of “self-sacrifice”.
I mean who doesn’t think of manslaughter in the course of the destructive vandalism of a public housing project as self-sacrifice?
You just have to look at it “from a certain point of view” and all that.
Sam (2fdd3d) — 11/11/2011 @ 1:01 pmSam: Manslaughter? I don’t recall anyone getting killed during the dynamiting of the Cortland housing project.
Drew (558c6b) — 11/11/2011 @ 1:06 pm‘A novel of self interest’ that has been sabotaged from day one, in part because it is a little too close to real life events.
narciso (ef1619) — 11/11/2011 @ 1:20 pmEvery time I fly into LaGuardia airport, Atlas Shrugged feels more and more like a documentary.
carlitos (49ef9f) — 11/11/2011 @ 1:37 pmI wonder if it was simply a mistake, or a practical joke by the copy writer.
In fact, a department head in the DVD marketing group would have had to have signed off the copy and the proof before it went to press. Could also be a marketing ploy to draw attention to a flick that flopped now out on DVD, in which case, it worked.
DCSCA (9d1bb3) — 11/11/2011 @ 1:57 pmA dystopia about a rapacious US Government obstructing a conduit of affordable energy, for
narciso (ef1619) — 11/11/2011 @ 3:13 pmideological reasons, that’s just crazy talk, that could never happen. . .
Read about halfway thorough.
It’s one thing to believe in limited government, self-reliance and the free unfettered market.
It’s quite another to be so devoted to such ideals above anything else 24/7.
No matter it’s applications about socialism married to crony capitalism,it’s heartless. Rand’s world has no children, nothing approaching love and no God. I don’t have an issue with atheism, but Rand’s world is joyless and hopeless.In many ways Galt-land as her paradise is a mirror image of Eastern Europe from 1945 through 1989. She tried to copy Orwell and Huxley and failed.
And worse than all that, it’s the worst-written love story ever in the English language. Ever.Rand as s teller of stories and a developer of characters sucks. Better she had tried to write something like “The Wealth of Nations” if that was her goal. By the time I threw it agaisnt the wall, I would’ve volunteered to beat all the characters to death with Rearden’s groovy metullurigically-designed railroad ties.
Bugg (ea1809) — 11/11/2011 @ 3:46 pmBugg ,
Your mistake is in thinking Dagne ends up loving Galt, it’s more that she ends up realizing it’s okay to love herself. Great sex, first with Rearden then with Galt is just a bonus, not the goal.
As for sacrifice, how about Eddie at the very end? He apparently sacrifices himself in some vain hope of keep the railroad going just a little longer.
Soronel Haetir (f21d6f) — 11/11/2011 @ 10:20 pmCain haters-Ayn Rand is a bigot
Cain Haters-The women only came forward 15 years cause she was paid off or something.
DohBiden (ef98f0) — 11/11/2011 @ 10:53 pmDisco Stu simply does not have a clue. Seriously . . . a “marketing ploy”? Brilliant!
Icy (8aec60) — 11/11/2011 @ 11:08 pmAaron, those are all explicitly not examples self-sacrifice; just the opposite, they’re about setting priorities. A key point of Rand’s philosophy is that one must be honest with oneself about ones priorities, and be prepared to sacrifice something one values if one will get in return something one values more. If you value your friend’s life more than the money it would take to buy them the medicine they need, then buying it is not really a sacrifice; you’re just trading something of lower value for something of higher value. But if you value the money more than the person’s life, so be it; sacrificing the money anyway would be morally wrong, because it trades a higher value for a lower one. Just don’t have the gall to call yourself that person’s friend.
Milhouse (ea66e3) — 11/12/2011 @ 9:21 pmDrew:
Was that just for the movie?
I’m pretty sure I recall the night watchman getting killed during the whole thing.
It has been awhile though.
Anyway, it was a mistake: http://blog.atlasshruggedmovie.com/2011/11/atlas-shrugged-inadvertently-releases.html
The producers are mortified that the story would be described as being about self-sacrifice, and will replace the inaccurate title sheets.
Sam (2fdd3d) — 11/13/2011 @ 1:14 pmHey if Obama gets his way we’ll be like Detroit.
Where the only rich people are those dem politicians who are voted in.
DohBiden (ef98f0) — 11/13/2011 @ 1:33 pmAtlas shrugged, and then cashed his Social Security check. You guy know she took the hated socialist tonic, after railing against it for years. Rand’s books only highlight her hypocrisy.
heubler (c8e5d2) — 11/14/2011 @ 5:45 amAnd no her first big relationship was D’Antonia, than Galt, it’s more in the Russian tradition of An na Karenina than any American novel.
narciso (ef1619) — 11/14/2011 @ 5:52 amheubler: It’d be hypocrisy if Rand hadn’t been saying for decades that it was perfectly ok to use government services when they had taken the money from you in the first place and that it made no sense to cut off your nose to spite your face.
Chris Sandvick (2a57ee) — 11/16/2011 @ 6:31 pm