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"Atlas Shrugged" Movie

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I'm watching "Charlotte Gray" right now and all I can see is Dagny. Especially when she is on the train at the start of the movie.

Cate Blanchett=>

http://www.imdb.com/gallery/ss/0245046/Ss/...ath_key=0245046

I actually thought of Cate Blanchett myself, and that picture goes a long way to convincing me that she could play Dagny.

Good call!

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I was too tired to move, and started flipping throught channels, and when I saw Tyra Banks talking on America's Top Model, Dagny! She's smart (runs her businness) and beautiful in the ruthless sense we need. Of course I din't watch too long, the girls that she was judging were as mentaly activiated as a tomato.

Tyra Banks info

Even better pictures.

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:lol: This is the second Atlas Shrugged movie thread that I have crashed simply by saying that one of the characters could be black.

It's not as if Tyra Banks is nothing more than a pretty model, she is very smart and runs her own company.

Edited by orangesiscool
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:lol: This is the second Atlas Shrugged movie thread that I have crashed simply by saying that one of the characters could be black.

Not sure what you mean by "crashed." Are you referring to the lack of any further posts after yours? Be patient; sometimes months go by between posts on this topic.

As for black characters, post #77 (nearly a year ago) suggested Denzel Washington as John Galt (not a bad idea at all, IMO).

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  • 3 months later...
Not sure what you mean by "crashed." Are you referring to the lack of any further posts after yours? Be patient; sometimes months go by between posts on this topic.

As for black characters, post #77 (nearly a year ago) suggested Denzel Washington as John Galt (not a bad idea at all, IMO).

I also think Denzel Washington could make a good Galt. He'd be far preferable to me than Brad Pitt.

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Call me racist, but I don't think Galt should be played by a black man. Firstly, he wasn't black in the book. Secondly, most people would see that as a politically-correct move, intended to appease the racists at the NAACP. I think that is one of the last things Ayn Rand would have wanted to do.

I wouldn't object to a black man playing a different role, like Eddie Willers...just not one that screams "affirmative action."

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I also think Denzel Washington could make a good Galt. He'd be far preferable to me than Brad Pitt.

:alien: I like the idea of opening up a story written by a European white woman to an African American actor. Rand looked at mind not at skin, and with all those funky names in AS, maybe she was playing around with ideas for characters not necessarily anglo. Many names sound down right Hindi. The character of Dwight Sanders who runs an airplane factory, and his metamorphosis from captain of industry to a shad tree mechanic in Galt's Gulch always struck me as a great role for Washington. He can be classy and down to earth, and after all, Rand wanted her characters to be of this earth, though able to soar.

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Call me racist, but I don't think Galt should be played by a black man. Firstly, he wasn't black in the book. Secondly, most people would see that as a politically-correct move, intended to appease the racists at the NAACP. I think that is one of the last things Ayn Rand would have wanted to do.

I wouldn't object to a black man playing a different role, like Eddie Willers...just not one that screams "affirmative action."

But what if Washington is the best man for the role? It is racist to take a person's race into account when choosing them for a role where the character's race is non-essential, which I believe John Galt's to be.

Edit for typo

Edited by IAmMetaphysical
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But what is Washington is the best man for the role? It is racist to take a person's race into account when choosing them for a role where the character's race is non-essential, which I believe John Galt's to be.

:alien: The intensity of a liaison between H. Rearden and D. Taggart portrayed by Washington and Jolie may have met its time in American cinema. If the idea is to generate buzz, that ought to do it. If the chemistry between the two could build the tension that is required between these two strong personalities, within a context of braking down old assumptions about people, institutions and living that seems the core of Rand’s personal struggle, well then more power to the producers at Baldwin Entertainment! I would try to avoid Francis Fanon references though, as that would probably take away from the story, though they would be implicit to the audience in such a match up.

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Call me racist, but I don't think Galt should be played by a black man. Firstly, he wasn't black in the book. Secondly, most people would see that as a politically-correct move, intended to appease the racists at the NAACP. I think that is one of the last things Ayn Rand would have wanted to do.

I wouldn't object to a black man playing a different role, like Eddie Willers...just not one that screams "affirmative action."

Why would a black man playing Galt scream "affirmative action?" What's the difference between a black man playing Galt and one playing Willers?

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Since Atlass Shrugged has its own sort of reflection of a time period, I don't think the race of the actors would matter much in the movie adaptation... except for Rand's descriptions. For Galt:

[p. 643]The angular planes of his cheeks... his skin was suntanned, his body had the hardness, the gaunt, tensile strength, the clean precision of a foundry casting, he looked as if he were poured out of metal, but some dimmed, soft-lustered metal, like an aluminum-copper alloy, the color of his skin blending with the chestnut-brown of his hair, the loose strands of the hair shading from brown to gold in the sun, and his eyes completing the colors, as the one part of the casting left undimmed and hardly lustrous: his eyes were the deep, dark green of light glinting on metal.
Denzel Washington has not an angular face, brown-golden hair, nor green eyes. Nor does any black person I know, unless they are of mixed ethnicity. I read Galt as mostly Caucasian with perhaps some Italian genes mixed in, for the skin tone.

Also, I may be biased, since I dislike Denzel Washington as an actor.

Edited by JASKN
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When I first read AS, I read Ellis Wyatt as black. When I reread it, I found that this didn't quite match with her description of him, but nonetheless I maintain my initial impression. Actually, now that I think about it, I can't exactly figure out why. A combination of not paying close enough attention and a subconscious association with the dark color of oil, perhaps? I dunno. Beyond Galt and Dagny, I'm not as concerned about the movie getting every detail right as I am about getting the underlying philosophy right.

_Q

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An absolute amazing marketing move would be to cast various actors for different roles but never publically disclose who plays what till showtime. That way everyone will be asking, "Who is John Galt?" While I do not like Angelina Jolie as a person, I find her tolerable as an actress. My chioce of Kate Beckinsale for Dagny was better.

EDIT: I really should read all the posts in a topic before posting. Rex Little has the right idea.

Edited by CmdrBretz
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