Honeyed Words: Atlas Shrugged Movie

Atlas Shrugged Movie · 17 February 2007

I recently received an e-mail tip off from an unexpected source. A friend I haven’t talked to in years popped me a one line message titled “Atlas Shrugged Movie” that was simply this link.

Atlas Shrugged may have been the most influential book of my teen-age years and is on the short list for my favorite book of all time. I read it at a time of unrivaled emotional upheaval, during a forced vacation that to this day remains my worst holiday experience ever. During this period of what I perceived as no less than betrayal, I drew some less than kind parallels between the antagonists in the book and the people in my life.

Suffice to say, my perception of Atlas Shrugged is tinged with the comfort it brought me as an escape to that weekend, with the hope that it inspired in me, and with the angry bravado that drove the “rebellion” of my late high school experience. I generally re-read the book every few years and it never fails to motivate me to strive towards exaction and excellence.

Since the book is such a lodestone of emotion for me, I greeted the news that it would be adapted to film with slight trepidation. Many books make successful transitions into the world of visual media, but few retain the precise quality of the books. Upon reading that Atlas Shrugged was to be adapted, my initial reaction was mixed due to concern that the movie couldn’t do justice to the book.

Atlas Shrugged is essentially the product of a philosophy to which the story is secondary. It’s a behemoth of a book at over 1,000 pages. As such, a lot of the subtlety is bound to be cut in the movie adaptation, even assuming the current plans to release the story as a trilogy go forward.

To all outward appearances, the producers of the Atlas Shrugged movie appear committed to retaining as much of the original method and message of the book as possible, but I believe the nature of the message is best presented in the repetition of Rand’s philosophy as she slowly builds a world in which the protagonists (the objectivists) are seemingly defeated by those who do not follow her philosophy. Only by incrementally unfolding the consequences of following an anti-objectivist path does the reader gain full insight into the climatic and catastrophic end product of that path.

Much like the repetition in Bolero by Ravel is a necessary part of the song, the repetition of key elements in Atlas Shrugged is a necessary part in the understanding of Rand’s message. In my experience, this technique is better suited to the written word than to film and my concern is that even the most dedicated producers may succumb to Hollywood's pressure to make a movie that will appeal to an increasingly impatient public. However, even an abbreviated version of Atlas Shrugged, if embraced by a mainstream audience, may have positive benefits.

The recent disturbing news from Venezuela regarding the nationalization of “key industries” by the Venezuelan government (and this week’s threats by the same government to nationalize grocery stores that are electing not sell staples rather lose money by selling them at the government fixed prices) isn’t making many waves in the U.S. public debate. It is hopeful that a narrative illustration, like Atlas Shrugged, of the eventual outcome of such socialist actions may raise the public consciousness of the issue, and inspire further examination of socialist policies being promoted in our own government.

If the movie raises these questions to its audience and inspires that audience to participate in meaningful and educated discourse about them, I will consider it a success.

Searchable keywords/ Technorati tags: Fiction Literature Modern Classics Objectivism Politics Ayn Rand