Ayn Rand Review Children Movies

[Riotbeard]

I really enjoyed this little piece.

“Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory”

An excellent movie. The obviously unfit individuals are winnowed out through a series of entrepreneurial tests and, in the end, an enterprising young boy receives a factory. I believe more movies should be made about enterprising young boys who are given factories. —Three and a half stars. (Half a star off for the grandparents, who are sponging off the labor of Charlie and his mother. If Grandpa Joe can dance, Grandpa Joe can work.)

http://www.newyorker.com/humor/daily-shouts/ayn-rand-reviews-childrens-movies

 

[Kieran]

You know, I never read anything by Ayn Rand but I heard she was quite philosophical, in a controversial way maybe.

If these parodies are in any way accurate, she'd be a hoot to sit beside at a party! :snigger

 

[Murat Baslamisli]

You know, I never read anything by Ayn Rand but I heard she was quite philosophical, in a controversial way maybe.

If these parodies are in any way accurate, she'd be a hoot to sit beside at a party! :snigger

Since I am a fan of some of her philosophy, I will give you , in a nutshell, what she is about:

-Hates all collectivism, believes in individualism.
-Hates communism, believes in laissez-faire capitalism
-Hates big government, believes in private enterprise
-Hates mysticism , supports objective reality.
-Hates welfare state, believes in individual accountability.
-She believes "You can't eat your cake and have it too"

..so on so forth. Just like most philosophies, Objectivism has its short comings but plusses too.


If you choose to read a book from her, I would recommend Fountainhead.

 

[shawnbm]

Murat gives sound counsel. After or along with The Fountainhead, I might also recommend Atlas Shrugged. Those two she is best known for, but a shorter work with many of her philosophical rumination are found in Anthem. As for what she seeks to see invthe world, Murat is spot on. She was fiercely anti-collectivism and, therefore, disdained communism. Her books are a decent read and worthy of being read as she has had significant influence on writers and thinkers over the years.

 

[Murat Baslamisli]

Shawnbm, I wanted to take it a bit easy on Kieran and left Atlas Shrugged for later. . Fountainhead would be a good warm up before he can handle questions like " Who is John Galt?"

 

[Kieran]

I heard of Atlas Shrugged. You have to be as strong as Atlas to lift it. I like what I'm reading about her philosophy, but why is she not more widely read and discussed nowadays, or is she? Would she be considered extreme?

 

[tented]

I studied at the University of Pittsburgh, which has one of the best philosophy graduate schools around. If you were to walk into that department, and state "Ayn Rand is a philosopher" you would not make it out alive.

I remember years ago (mid-80s) the head of the Ayn Rand organization came to Carnegie-Mellon University (CMU) to speak. (It's just a few blocks away from Pitt.) Several of Pitt's Philosophy Dept.'s faculty encouraged us to attend, so we did. It turned into one of the most memorable evenings of my academic career. By the time the faculty were through with this guy, he could barely form a coherent sentence, and had been cornered into realizing "objectivism" is not a philosophy.

The top section of her Wikipedia page even contains the illustrative sentence: "Literary critics received Rand's fiction with mixed reviews, and academia generally ignored or rejected her philosophy."

In truth, she is a mediocre writer, whose take on life can best be summarized by the "Greed is good" aphorism from Oliver Stone's "Wall Street". That's about it.

 

[shawnbm]

I'm not a philosopher but admire speaking with those folks about things. I did not know Rand was so villified at such a prestigious institution. I've not read anything by her in decades, but I don't recall coming away from her books with a feeling that greed is the save all for humanity. She obviously had influence as they even made films of her works. I'm going to check her out again.

 

[Murat Baslamisli]

I studied at the University of Pittsburgh, which has one of the best philosophy graduate schools around. If you were to walk into that department, and state "Ayn Rand is a philosopher" you would not make it out alive.

I remember years ago (mid-80s) the head of the Ayn Rand organization came to Carnegie-Mellon University (CMU) to speak. (It's just a few blocks away from Pitt.) Several of Pitt's Philosophy Dept.'s faculty encouraged us to attend, so we did. It turned into one of the most memorable evenings of my academic career. By the time the faculty were through with this guy, he could barely form a coherent sentence, and had been cornered into realizing "objectivism" is not a philosophy.




The top section of her Wikipedia page even contains the illustrative sentence: "Literary critics received Rand's fiction with mixed reviews, and academia generally ignored or rejected her philosophy."

In truth, she is a mediocre writer, whose take on life can best be summarized by the Greed is good" aphorism from Oliver Stone's "Wall Street". That's about it."

Way too simplistic brother. She sure does not apologise for someone who makes money, deservingly. She believes in hard work and if money comes from it, it is great. It is the work itself that she praises more than anything. One of my favorite quotes from her is this "


“Throughout the centuries there were men who took first steps down new roads armed with nothing but their own vision. Their goals differed, but they all had this in common: that the step was first, the road new, the vision unborrowed, and the response they received — hatred. The great creators — the thinkers, the artists, the scientists, the inventors — stood alone against the men of their time. Every great new thought was opposed. Every great new invention was denounced. The first motor was considered foolish. The airplane was considered impossible. The power loom was considered vicious. Anesthesia was considered sinful. But the men of unborrowed vision went ahead. They fought, they suffered and they paid. But they won.”

I agree she was not much of a writer, but I think the biggest reason her "philosophy" was rejected by many was she made people uncomfortable with it. As you can see in the world today, collectivism is everywhere, individuals are second thought. Nobody takes personal responsibility anymore because it is much easier to blame someone else. "Greater good" , a totally meaningless concept , is shoved down people's throats as if it is a good thing. Another quote from her I like :

"It only stands to reason that where there's sacrifice, there's someone collecting the sacrificial offerings. Where there's service, there is someone being served. The man who speaks to you of sacrifice is speaking of slaves and masters, and intends to be the master."

I do not think Rand was a philosopher in the traditional sense. But she had a concept , and I use some of it in my daily life every day. Others, not so much.

 

[tented]

She simply doesn't merit deeper scrutiny. Where I come from, objectivism is to philosophy what Scientology is to religion.

 

[Murat Baslamisli]

She simply doesn't merit deeper scrutiny. Where I come from, objectivism is to philosophy what Scientology is to religion.

Did you just talk smack about Tom Cruise???

At the end of the day , everyone has their own way of living their lives. I mean, Immanuel Kant would be considered a great philosopher, yet I disagree with almost everything he says. Ditto with Plato. Aristotle, on the other hand, is the greatest philosopher ever lived for me.

I take the individualism, personal accountability, using logic and reason to understand the world we live in, and anti-mysticism parts of objectivism, and I am comfortable with that.