Atlas Shrugged: The Making of a Movie! In NYC, 12/7/2010!


Ed Hudgins

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[in case you missed it.]

Previewing the Atlas Shrugged Movie

By Walter Donway

Dear Friends:

To Ayn Rand, the New York City skyline spoke of the highest achievement of man's productive mind–of the best within us–and Tuesday night, December 7, that skyline seemed to blaze with a brighter, cleaner light. No one can say, of course; but I think and hope that Ayn Rand would have accepted the tribute to her represented by that radiance. (Continued here.)

Thanks Ed:

Does anyone have any idea why Eddie Willers was cast as a black man?

Adam

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Does anyone have any idea why Eddie Willers was cast as a black man?

Adam

Oh, oh. That's a mistake. The character becomes too close to the idea of "the house nigger" and is completely distracting. It re-enforces the worst single aspect of the Eddie Willers character as written by AR.

--Brant

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Does anyone have any idea why Eddie Willers was cast as a black man?

Adam

Oh, oh. That's a mistake. The character becomes too close to the idea of "the house nigger" and is completely distracting. It re-enforces the worst single aspect of the Eddie Willers character as written by AR.

--Brant

Brant:

That is the way I saw it, just wanted to see if anyone else did.

Agree completely.

Adam

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[in case you missed it.]

Previewing the Atlas Shrugged Movie

By Walter Donway

Dear Friends:

To Ayn Rand, the New York City skyline spoke of the highest achievement of man's productive mind–of the best within us–and Tuesday night, December 7, that skyline seemed to blaze with a brighter, cleaner light. No one can say, of course; but I think and hope that Ayn Rand would have accepted the tribute to her represented by that radiance. (Continued here.)

Thanks Ed:

Does anyone have any idea why Eddie Willers was cast as a black man?

Adam

perhaps so he can be humble and lovable.

If I remember AS correctly, Eddie conceived himself to be a serf to Taggart Transcontinental. His life had little meaning outside of the railroad. We are not surprised when Eddie tugs his forelock in front of his Betters.

Ba'al Chatzaf

Edited by BaalChatzaf
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[bob Kolker:] Perhaps so [Eddie Willers] can be humble and lovable.

An opinion seen as uninformed by those who saw the scene from the movie where Eddie confronts Jim Taggart.

That's quite likely. We shouldn't underestimate how acting skills, when practiced, can transcend casting decisions.

Nonetheless, this whole discussion is problematic, because except for those who actually attended the New York preview, it's an argument about the unseen. (Reviews, even detailed synopses, are no equivalent for those taking this in second-hand.)

We who were not at the New York event can really have no detailed sense of how well these actors work together, as that material hasn't been made available on the Net. (A publicity preview is, itself, no equivalent to a piece of footage four times its typical length, which the TAS guests saw.)

I'd suggest that detailed speculation about acting qualities be held in abeyance for now. Even judging how these actors will perform based on their past credits is fraught with pitfalls. Actors may rise, or fall, to the level of their material and their direction, quite apart from what they've already portrayed.

To react, specifically, to the Willers actor having dark skin and being a "feudal serf," as Rand did describe that character, strikes me as being skittish about Political Correctness — and long before the usual purveyors of it weigh in for themselves.

If Objectivist types and sympathizers are this fearfully censorious four months before the movie premieres, maybe it doesn't augur well for any successful movie ever being made from Atlas.

Edited by Greybird
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Adding a black person to the film as a major supporting character is a terrific marketing move. AS is devoid of black folks, and they are a good chunk of the movie-going market.

I don't see any racial undertones in casting Willers as a black man, although I expect the film's critics (especially the left) will zero on on this. Imagine if Galt were cast as a black person. Then all hell would break loose in the blogosphere! :)

I don't see a high-ranking executive in a company as a token position at all. He has plenty of white folks under his supervision.

I believe an unintended effect will be a lot of free publicity for the movie among the black community and I expect to see Edi Gathegi on a lot of talk shows rebutting the racism stuff.

As to Bob K... well... he's just being Bob. I'm reminded of the film, What About Bob?... :)

Michael

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Incidentally, has anyone looked at the IMDB site: Atlas Shrugged (2011)?

If you click on Taylor Shilling (Dagny) and go to her page, you see that the very last thing she did before AS was a TV show, Mercy. The episode is called "That Crazy Bitch Was Right."

I'll just leave that right where it's at, but how's that for a talking point?

:)

Michael

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Adding a black person to the film as a major supporting character is a terrific marketing move. AS is devoid of black folks, and they are a good chunk of the movie-going market.

I don't see any racial undertones in casting Willers as a black man, although I expect the film's critics (especially the left) will zero on on this. Imagine if Galt were cast as a black person. Then all hell would break loose in the blogosphere! :)

I don't see a high-ranking executive in a company as a token position at all. He has plenty of white folks under his supervision.

I believe an unintended effect will be a lot of free publicity for the movie among the black community and I expect to see Edi Gathegi on a lot of talk shows rebutting the racism stuff.

As to Bob K... well... he's just being Bob. I'm reminded of the film, What About Bob?... :)

Michael

Michael:

I wish you were correct, but since he is apparently the only black actor in the movie as far as I can tell, it just leaves the opening for the savaging of Ayn as a fascist.

The knee jerk marxists will drag up ole Whittaker "review" and cite the "to the gas chambers go!" line.

It is survivable and hopefully, Edi Gathegi will be able to stand up to the Oreo cookie slurs. The paucity of blacks in the objectivist movement was always a problem since the 60's.

As I observed, why cast the Taggart "serf" with a black actor. Tactically bad move.

Adam

hope I am wrong

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I wish you were correct, but since he is apparently the only black actor in the movie as far as I can tell, it just leaves the opening for the savaging of Ayn as a fascist.

The knee jerk marxists will drag up ole Whittaker "review" and cite the "to the gas chambers go!" line.

Adam,

This is nothing new, and it is great publicity.

In the context of a film like AS, here is Corollary No. 3 from Hollywood's Oceans of Greed Marketing Playbook:

Controversy = Money in the bank.

:)

I hope it happens as you predict (and it probably will). My prediction is that the sheer number of people saying, "No it isn't!" against the ones saying, "Yes it is!" will drive more folks to the theaters than otherwise.

Michael

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Michael:

I hope you are right. I would like to have a rapid response team set up to take advantage of the irrational attacks and engage in philosophical Tai Chi or jujitsu with the marxists.

However, I just cannot see Marshal Peikoff, with his asinine statements, not being "dug up" as the poster child face of Atlas Shrugged and Ayn's ideas.

George:

Agreed. They will drag up a typical sequence of quotes, the amphetamines and the other personal crap, but that will actually increase viewership. The race card just muddys the waters.

Sadly, her ideas never took root with the Roots generation. However, the Tea Party could utilize this as a recruitment tool since we have a large contingent of Atlas Shrugged folks in it's ranks.

Adam

Post script:

Does anyone have any information yet as to what theaters it will be showed in?

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The old line about no such thing as bad publicity comes to mind here, and it gives me hope. On the other hand, politically messagey movies almost always fail commercially. Fair Game is a recent case in point, plus all those anti-Iraq-war movies that came and went during the Bush years.

The Chambers review didn't change anything, so much less will quoting it 50+ years later. I predict that the Los Angeles Times will review the movie unfavorably and that none of its surviving readers will go to see it.

We'll just have to wait and see.

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The old line about no such thing as bad publicity comes to mind here, and it gives me hope. On the other hand, politically messagey movies almost always fail commercially. Fair Game is a recent case in point, plus all those anti-Iraq-war movies that came and went during the Bush years.

The Chambers review didn't change anything, so much less will quoting it 50+ years later. I predict that the Los Angeles Times will review the movie unfavorably and that none of its surviving readers will go to see it.

We'll just have to wait and see.

"We'll just have to wait and see" is exactly right. Luckily, we get to sit on our duffs and wait and see while others are in the trenches, spending their blood and treasure to make this movie a reality. Good faith and a decent regard for such "producers" would seem to favor withholding judgment.

As for Eddie Willers being played by a black man, I just suffered through A Christmas Carol production in which Bob Cratchett was played by a black man, and it didn't even occur to me to read anything into it, other than the possibly scandalous notion that ole' lilly-white Mrs. Cratchett had been "getting around" in her youth (the Cratchett children were all lilly-white too, you see...).

Edited by PDS
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