There's an Atlas Shrugged movie coming out today

[Robert D. Robot]

Ever seen It's A Wonderful Life--specifically, the final scene? When you help others out of the goodness of your heart, you encourage those around you to do as much for you.

It actually is a "marketplace", of sorts--goodwill from you to them, for goodwill from them to you.

I do love It's a Wonderful Life, but it is hard to take this as a serious response to criticism or supporting evidence in defense of your opinion. You do realize that this is a nice Christmas movie and not a documentary, right? Should we be expected to take your stand as a serious one? Using the events in a sweet and gooey piece of fiction isn't too convincing a bit of support, although it is probably just a bit more relevant than the touching events in Rudolph or The Grinch that Stole Christmas.

Regarding the concept that, in particular, Christians are going to take care of all "others" in need because of a sense of "duty" or "love" or as a consequence of convictions to their own beliefs, the fact that so many fail to refrain from lying, stealing, treating their kids well, and staying faithful to their spouse (to be fair, folks other than Christians fail on these points, too) shows that this is not sufficient motivation to keep them doing what God and their loved ones would wish them to do. I have no doubt their is goodwill out there being put into good works and charity, but it is not something that can be counted on to assist all who may need help, IMO.

 

[David cgc]

Using the events in a sweet and gooey piece of fiction isn't too convincing a bit of support, although it is probably just a bit more relevant than the touching events in Rudolph or The Grinch that Stole Christmas.

Rudolph is horrifying.

Horrifyingly horrifying.

 

[T'Girl]

Atlas Shrugged is currently the number fourteenth movie in America with $1,686,347 in box office, playing in 299 theaters. That's $5,639 per theater.

The number two movie Scream four open the same day (the 15th), $18,692,090 in box office, and in 3305 theaters, that's $5,655 per theater.

Rottentomatoes.com says that 85 percent of audiences "liked it." Ratings with critics was much lower at 8 percent, but then who buys more tickets.

We now return you to whatever it was you were discussing.

 

[Gaith]

Probably won't break even.

 

[Admiral Buzzkill]

Wonder who the investors were?

I'm sure that whoever said it will do well on DVD is right; this is tailor-made for that kind of thing.

 

[Professor Zoom]

Atlas Shrugged is currently the number fourteenth movie in America with $1,686,347 in box office, playing in 299 theaters. That's $5,639 per theater.

The number two movie Scream four open the same day (the 15th), $18,692,090 in box office, and in 3305 theaters, that's $5,655 per theater.

Rottentomatoes.com says that 85 percent of audiences "liked it." Ratings with critics was much lower at 8 percent, but then who buys more tickets.

We now return you to whatever it was you were discussing.

Boxofficemojo.com

Boosters of Atlas Shrugged: Part I might point to the movie's per theater average to spin it as a success (ex. "it did almost as much per theater as Scream 4!"), but spin is all it is. It's a common ploy to cling to per-theater average to rationalize a soft run. Obviously, it's easier for a small release to have a higher per-theater average than one at over 3,000 theaters (at any rate, Scream 4 was a disappointment itself).

If the people behind Atlas Shrugged: Part I claim success, they are invited to reveal the capacity the movie played to at each theater. If the movie only had screens with tiny capacites and sold a high percentage of the available seats, then that would be a legitimate positive point to latch onto.

Now we may continue...

 

[IndyJones]

Atlas Shrugged is currently the number fourteenth movie in America with $1,686,347 in box office, playing in 299 theaters. That's $5,639 per theater.

The number two movie Scream four open the same day (the 15th), $18,692,090 in box office, and in 3305 theaters, that's $5,655 per theater.

That means little though, doesn't it?

If there are 10 theatres within a 15 mile radius playing Scream 4 and 2 playing Atlas Shrugged, then the per screen average for Atlas Shrugged will be higher b/c there are less places for viewers who want to see it to go. But Scream 4 still made more than 11 times as much money.


ETA: Psssh, if my name were Zoom I'm sure my post would have shown up first!

 

[Robert D. Robot]

Using the events in a sweet and gooey piece of fiction isn't too convincing a bit of support, although it is probably just a bit more relevant than the touching events in Rudolph or The Grinch that Stole Christmas.

Rudolph is horrifying.

Horrifyingly horrifying.

Wow! What was I thinking?! Thanks for the fresher on the lessons in Rudolph, David cgc! Leave it to Cracked to point out how bad the messages were. I withdraw Rudolph as an example-- poor choice! I guess that I was in too much of a hurry to try to make a point with a joke!

 

[David cgc]

If I wasn't off to make dinner and then watch my stories that I missed last night, I might put forth the effort to compose an epic post tying in the assholism of the Rudolph holiday special with the assholism of Ayn Rand. Even if I did, I doubt I could top an especially delightful alternate version of Atlas Shrugged described in the TNZ counterpart of this thread.

 

[Admiral Buzzkill]

You know, you can spin that whole Cracked thing in another direction altogether (of course). There is no doubt from the very beginning of the show who the viewers identify as in the right, nor any doubt about who we're encouraged to sympathize with: Rudolph. And yes, everyone treats him horribly for being different: parents, "friends" when they discover his nature, even (especially?) the authority/quasi-religious leader that we're all used to uncritically loving as part of tradition.

In other words, the story is a surprisingly unvarnished look at How Things Really Work, dressed up as a fairy tale. Everybody in charge, everyone you depend on, everyone whose job is to teach you right from wrong and how to get on in life may turn out to be brutally narrowminded if you don't conform to certain socially accepted norms. Everyone who matters can be narrowminded in the service of "tradition" and smugly certain that they're right - neither authority or tradition in itself confers any wisdom or morality at all.

Really, which part of this is not true in the experience of millions of people?

The "message" of the show, of course, is that those people are wrong - flat-out, unequivocally wrong. I think that's got Care Bears beat all to hell as worthwhile entertainment for kids.

The author of the Cracked piece ends by being offended that Santa and company never recognize that they're wrong or apologize for being assholes, of course. Well, there's a fairy tale for you.

 

[Davros]

Better food and water, yes. Surely we don't need the red tape of government bureaucracy to slow such advances down. Untainted food and water is more profitable than tainted, because what would you prefer to buy?

People buy what is available. History shows that business didn't clean up their act because of any market forces, they cleaned up their act because they were forced to do so by the government. Throw your Ayn Rand books on the back shelf and read something based in actual reality like The Jungle.

 

[datagal]

Wow, all this over a movie.



I saw the trailer. I wasn't impressed. Ayn Rand is not my cup of tea.

 

[Awesome Possum]

Atlas Shrugged is currently the number fourteenth movie in America with $1,686,347 in box office, playing in 299 theaters. That's $5,639 per theater.

The number two movie Scream four open the same day (the 15th), $18,692,090 in box office, and in 3305 theaters, that's $5,655 per theater.

That means little though, doesn't it?

If there are 10 theatres within a 15 mile radius playing Scream 4 and 2 playing Atlas Shrugged, then the per screen average for Atlas Shrugged will be higher b/c there are less places for viewers who want to see it to go. But Scream 4 still made more than 11 times as much money.


ETA: Psssh, if my name were Zoom I'm sure my post would have shown up first!

I wonder how much repeat business it'll get. The entire target audience has already seen it.

 

[Professor Zoom]

ETA: Psssh, if my name were Zoom I'm sure my post would have shown up first!

Just get struck by lightning while standing next to a wall of chemicals. Happens all the time.

 

[Thestral]

Who uses the term "dole" anymore, really? I mean, what's next, is "Mohammedan" going to make a comeback?

Ever seen It's A Wonderful Life--specifically, the final scene? When you help others out of the goodness of your heart, you encourage those around you to do as much for you.

It actually is a "marketplace", of sorts--goodwill from you to them, for goodwill from them to you.

This "marketplace" idea is despicably counter to the Christian teachings and is why there's a fundamentally unbridgeable gap between the Gospel message and Randian thinking. You're suggesting that every person should be looking out for themselves, putting number one first, in the name of "enlightened self interest" and that emotional attachment is a failing.

Fine - but you can't then say "oh, and any stragglers will be taken care of by this merciful organization" - in a properly functional Randian society, the Church would have no place and would be a pitiable if not outright persecuted group that proudly flaunts society's values. The two mindsets are fundamentally opposed - one based on the primacy of the self, the other based on giving of the self to the other.

When you help others out of the goodness of your heart, you often encourage them to return the favor (or "pay it forward" just as often) - but that's not the reason for it. That's your disconnect - the message of charity isn't "the system works, the system called reciprocity" but that people should give of themselves to make the world a better place regardless of whether they get something in return.

Ah, but you're using an obsolete definition of Christianity. The giveaway is the phrase "Christian morality." Being a Christian doesn't have anything to do with morality, it has to do with volunteering to take part in the transaction wherein God accepted the life of Jesus, taken by violence, in exchange for not damning everyone who ever lived for our abominable human natures. To butcher Hillel the Elder, "No one shall come to the Father except through belief in Christ Jesus; that is the whole Bible. The rest is commentary."

I think I need to wash my hands after typing that last paragraph. The whole thing makes me sick.

Yeah...

 

[David cgc]

Who uses the term "dole" anymore, really? I mean, what's next, is "Mohammedan" going to make a comeback?

I believe it's still fairly common in Canada and the UK, at least.

 

[Admiral Buzzkill]

You're suggesting that every person should be looking out for themselves, putting number one first, in the name of "enlightened self interest" and that emotional attachment is a failing.

Actually, the basic premise is that human beings have the right to look after their own self interest except where it violates the rights of another human being and that it's moral to do so. If someone freely chooses to be generous there's not a thing "wrong" with that.

That said, generosity didn't hold a notably honored place on Rand's personal list of admired qualities.

 

[Squiggy]

Speaking of companies doing what's best for the public good: Happy 1st Anniversary of the Gulf Oil Spill!

 

[Admiral Buzzkill]

Hey, now - the government has spent oodles of our tax money regulating BP.

 

[Professor Zoom]

Hey, now - the government has spent oodles of our tax money regulating BP.

SEE, that's the problem they should have spend a WHOLE lot LESS. In fact, regulation probably led DIRECTLY to the oil spill.

It wasn't BP's fault. It was the Government's!


FREEDOOOOOMMMMM!