Failure of "Atlas Shrugged: Part 1" Celebrated As a Triumph of the Free Market

by Miles Alport-Haypp, Associative Press Culture Writer

This weekend saw the long-awaited release of the film Atlas Shrugged: Part 1, which has been hailed by some as "the first tea party movie."

The film is based on Ayn Rand's 1957 novel of the same name, which presents the philosophy of objectivism, a central plank of which is laissez-faire, free market economics with no government regulation. The book has been cited as being as a huge inspiration to many right-wing political figures, from Alan Greenspan to Paul Ryan.

Alan Greenspan, who served as Federal Reserve chairman from 1987 to 2006, was a member of Rand's inner circle while the novel was being written. In 2001 Greenspan supported George W. Bush's proposal for major tax cuts, primarily to America's wealthiest citizens. Greenspan argued that doing so would ensure that the country didn't pay off its debt too quickly. Then in 2004 Greenspan supported drastic cuts to social security and medicare in order to alleviate the country's debt burden. In 2005 Greenspan dismissed the idea of a national housing bubble as only a "little froth."

Wisconsin Representative Paul Ryan, whose recent budget proposal was hailed by beltway insiders as "serious" and "courageous" before being dismissed by economists as a fraud, would supposedly cut $4 trillion from the national debt by projecting an unrealistically low 2.8% unemployment rate and magically make tax cuts increase revenue, among other things. Even in the unlikely event that those savings materialized, however, the plan would uncontroversially implement $3 trillion in tax cuts, primarily for corporations and the wealthiest Americans, along with $3 trillion in cuts to government services which many Americans rely on, such as Medicaid and Medicare, which would be phased out over time. Nonetheless, on April 15, Ryan's budget passed in the Republican controlled House on a near party-line vote of 235-193.

"Despite numerous clear instances of their economic philosophy failing in reality, they still hold it to be true, perhaps even more so after each failure. So after the disaster that is this movie, they'll probably hold it more true than ever before," said Roxanne Porter, a professor of political science at an area university.

According to weekend box office receipts, the film earned approximately $1.67 million over its opening weekend in limited release across the United States. The film's poor performance cast doubt on whether Parts 2 and 3 would ever be made.

Critics were nearly unanimous in panning the film, which only had 2 positive reviews out of 21 on Rotten Tomatoes as of this writing. However, critics were divided over what exactly was the film's chief failure. Some critics cited the cast's wooden acting, others cited the film's script and stilted dialogue, while still others cited the imbecilic worldview presented in the movie.

Nonetheless, tea partiers, objectivists, libertarians, and other devotees of free market economics around the country celebrated the complete financial and critical failure of the film.

"The invisible hand of the free market has spoken loud and clear, and it is an honor and a privilege for all of us to be here and be a part of this historic event," said tea party leader Michael Whittaker at one event celebrating the film's failure. He continued, "Although Atlas Shrugged: Part 1 failed miserably, we know that this was the will of the invisible hand, which is never wrong, and must always be celebrated, regardless of the outcome."

This is not the first time celebrating such a failure for some tea partiers. Samuel Hooper owned a dry-cleaning business for 6 years before he was forced out of business after his clientele was drawn away by competing dry-cleaning businesses which offered better service and lower rates.

"Personally, it was devastating, but at the same time it was beautiful to be touched by the Hand. I can only hope the celebrations for the failure of this movie are half as awesome as when I celebrated the failure of my business," Hooper said.

Meanwhile, liberal activists also tried to raise awareness of the film. Area residents Neal Hamilton and his fiancée Carla Robertson even went so far as to buy up dozens of tickets for the movie showing at the cineplex in a local mall and then walked around for hours giving away the tickets for free.

"There's been a lot of talk about the tea party over the last couple years, but not everyone is really sure what that means. So here's a movie based on one of their most influential works which depicts how they see the world," Hamilton said.

Robertson continued, "We hope that everyone sees this movie and then the next time they see a news report about the tea party, they'll remember that this film portrays their ideals. Giving away tickets for free is our little way of helping make that happen."

The potential irony of giving away free tickets to Atlas Shrugged: Part 1 was not lost on either of them.

"Trust me, there is nothing remotely altruistic about giving away free tickets to Atlas Shrugged: Part 1," said Hamilton, who paused, then added, "If anything, it's sadistic."

Stephen Colbert and friends sing Friday

Last night (April 1, 2011), Stephen Colbert and friends sang Friday by Rebecca Black on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon. Here's the video:



As great as that is, I think it might have been even better if it would have just been Colbert singing it seriously the whole way through, like he did at the beginning. That would be awesome if Colbert did a solo studio version and made mp3s of it available on ColbertNation.com for $5 or however much more people wanted to give, with proceeds going to DonorsChoose.org or RedCross.org, although of course people don't have to wait for that to happen to donate.

Until then, here's an mp3 of the live performance:

Stephen Colbert & Friends - Friday (Rebecca Black Cover) (2011-04-01 - Live On Late Night With Jimmy Fallon).mp3