The New York Post’s Kyle Smith gave “Atlas Shrugged: Part 1” a mixed review, but closes his must-read piece with a spot-on analysis of why the film still matters. Regardless of the reviews and even the box office, something remarkable happens tomorrow: The imperfect but important ideas of Ayn Rand, which heretofore have only been available in black and white on Turner Classic Movies and in written form, will now burst into a few hundred movie theatres and eventually make a mark on a lot more people through home video.
Because of the power of the motion picture and popular culture in general, there’s no downside at this point. And we have a few brave individuals with the kind of moxie it takes to risk their own money and buck Hollywood’s PC-infested political climate to thank for this. They did this all on their own. From the beginning, Hollywood talent agencies refused to let their clients consider a role, and tomorrow they’re self-distributing in as many theatres as they can.
However, just because it’s already a win for our side doesn’t mean we should sit back and bask in it. if you want another win in Part 2 and 3, this one has to succeed. And how great would it be to see Part 2 dropped right in the middle of a Obama’s re-election bid?
Yet whether the movie, which is set in 2016-17, has any resonance in 2011 depends on your answers to questions like these: Can you picture the government hiring a “Coordinator of Economic Planning”? Can you picture such a coordinator giving directives meant to correct the fact that “rich people are getting richer, poor people are getting poorer”? Do you see any instances of crony capitalism involving close ties between certain CEOs and certain political figures? Do you see any powerful unions out there? Do you worry that fuel prices could rise to unaffordable levels, and if so, do you think the government might have anything to do with that?Liberals will scoff, “Oh, that could never happen” of things that already are happening. Then they’ll scoff at the box-office receipts — as if the puny circulation of The New Republic or National Review meant either of these magazines should be dismissed.
Most movies, even movies that earn many times what “Atlas Shrugged” will make at the box office, don’t matter. “Hop” and “Sucker Punch” are not going to create any activists, stir any conversation, make people want to read more about the subject. Despite playing on only a couple of hundred screens (and only covering the first third of the novel), “Atlas Shrugged” is going to have an impact. It’ll make kids want to read the book, it’ll get argued about on widely read blogs, it’ll make some viewers question their assumptions: Why is it, exactly, that we are supposed to hate successful businessmen?And who is this mysterious John Galt, the shadowy figure not fully explained in the movie, who seems to be leading a pinstriped rebellion of the country’s business leaders?
Republican Congressman Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI), whose plan to restore sanity to federal budgeting made headlines this week, has reportedly ordered his staffers to read “Atlas Shrugged.” That leaves him open to being associated with the more distasteful elements of Randism.
Bring it on.
Read the full piece here.
You can find “Atlas Shrugged” theatres here and request your local theatre make it available here.
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