Know any real-world Fountainhead examples?

[tonyr1988]

Which real-life people best resemble the characters in The Fountainhead?

Looking for politicians, actors, or anyone well-known that fits Roark, Keating, maybe Wynand, Toohey, etc etc etc.

If possible, throw in a little explanation on why you chose who you did, especially if it's a complicated one.

Thanks!

[Bourgeois]

I do not know very much about Nestle's chief executive Peter Brabeck-Letmathe, but his comments about "corporate citizenship" would seem to indicate that he is one of few men that are willing to stand for individualistic morality.

"Companies should not feel obligated to "give back" to the community, because they have not taken anything away. [...] What have we taken away from society by being a successful company that employs people? [...] Companies must be careful with what they give back because they are handing out money that belongs to shareholders. [...] Profits are "nothing to be ashamed of""

Shouldn't be too hard to find Toohey's:

"Allen White, director of the business and sustainability group of the Tellus Institute, a non-profit research and consulting group, agrees.

Brabeck's stance, he says, is "obsolete" and does not consider other obligations "responsible companies would not object to", such as paying taxes, preserving and protecting the local environment where they operate, and strengthening the community's reputation as a good place to work and live."

http://www.wbcsd.ch/plugins/DocSearch/deta...bjectId=MTM3NzA

[tonyr1988]

How about Keating? Are there that many people who fit his character? That seems, to me, to be a really hard one.

[Bourgeois]

I think it's harder to spot Keatings; it might be a lot of them out there, but few are so honest about their ideas as Keating was. When I saw the movie I remembered at first thinking that Rand was constructing a straw man - few people SAY that you should compromise your principles for practical reasons, and no one SAYS that "success" means "to be popular among the masses"!

But then I realized that even though few people talk like that, there's probably lots of people who actually believe this. Maybe you'll have to know a person pretty well before you can see similarities with Keating.

Edited April 4, 2005 by Bourgeois

[Melissa]

Which real-life people best resemble the characters in The Fountainhead?

What about buildings? Seen any stunning buildings lately?

[RoarkLaughed]

I think it's harder to spot Keatings; it might be a lot of them out there, but few are so honest about their ideas as Keating was. When I saw the movie I remembered at first thinking that Rand was constructing a straw man - few people SAY that you should compromise your principles for practical reasons, and no one SAYS that "success" means "to be popular among the masses"!

But then I realized that even though few people talk like that, there's probably lots of people who actually believe this. Maybe you'll have to know a person pretty well before you can see similarities with Keating.

Visit Capitol Hill: Most politicians are motivated by the need to be accepted or noticed very much like Keating. They define success by how many people like them (i.e. voters). Many modern novelists also resemble him — they take well-used themes and recast their stories in that template (not to mention most TV writers).

Edited April 18, 2005 by RoarkLaughed

[RoarkLaughed]

Speaking of new Fountainheadesque buildings, has anyone ever published a book of drawings depicting what Roark's buildings might have look like in reality? I would treasure that as my ultimate coffee table book (aside from Cosmo Kramer's coffee table book about coffee tables— complete with little table legs).

Edited April 18, 2005 by RoarkLaughed

[Bryan]

Speaking of new Fountainheadesque buildings, has anyone ever published a book of drawings depicting what Roark's buildings might have look like in reality?

Just take a look at some of Frank Lloyd Wright's buildings and drawings. It has been said that Ayn Rand based Roark's architecture loosely on his work.

[elk4586]

I personally know quite a few individuals who match just about every character in Fountainhead, and have a strong feeling that it is why I connect with it more yet enjoy AS more. I can only speak for myself but I'm willing to bet if you want to find these sort of people in real life, good and bad, just look closer to you than you think.

[Concerto of Atlantis]

A person that I went to high school and university with is pure Peter Keating. And he will openly admit that he studied what he studied (Finance and Engineering) because others (namely, his family) wanted him to study it. He was never particularly passionate about any of his work, but got good marks to not disappoint his family and others. To top it all off, he KNOWS that living like this is wrong, because he told me that he knew. But according to him, it's too difficult to live any other way so he keeps doing it. A couple of examples of his behaviour:

- He went out on a few dates with this very pretty girl, whom he began to like. But his mother did not approve of her because of race-related reasons and he promptly dumped her. She manipulated him to feel guilty by using his father's serious illness at the time, saying that this could lead to him having a heart attack, etc.

- At the moment, he is looking for a job as he is just about to finish his two degrees. Recently, he was applying for a graduate position at Ford, and one of the questions on the online application was "Describe a time when you had to sacrifice (yes, this for-profit corporation actually used THAT word) yourself for a greater good". Anyway, he calls me to ask me for my advice on how to answer this question. So I tell him that he should actually question the question - say that helping someone is not necessarily a sacrifice, and that a true sacrifice is never admirable, that helping people could be a result of a person's benevolent nature. He listens patiently, and then simply goes: "That all sounds great, but I want to get this job, not stick my neck out."I point out that illustrating that you are an independent thinker capable of questioning would be more beneficial for an employer than someone's ability to sacrifice. He agrees, but says that he doesn't want to sound "too arrogant".

It's quite sad really. He does have a mind capable of great things, but I don't think he'll ever reach that potential.

Edited May 2, 2005 by Concerto of Atlantis

[drewfactor]

I think that Peter Keating is an easy one to spot. The second-handedness of a character like Peter Keating is so pervasive in our society. I think about all the "popular people" in high school and I see plenty of Peter Keating in them. I think of all the twits who run all the campus clubs in University and run for student politics as well (that is a broad generalization of course). I hate to say, but some people I even grew up with as "close friends" turned out to be quite Keatingesque.

[redfarmer]

I think that Peter Keating is an easy one to spot.  The second-handedness of a character like Peter Keating is so pervasive in our society.  I think about all the "popular people" in high school and I see plenty of Peter Keating in them.  I think of all the twits who run all the campus clubs in University and run for student politics as well (that is a broad generalization of course).  I hate to say, but some people I even grew up with as "close friends" turned out to be quite Keatingesque.

Agreed. It's not hard to spot Keatings and Tooheys. The difficult one to spot are Roarks.

[redfarmer]

Speaking of new Fountainheadesque buildings, has anyone ever published a book of drawings depicting what Roark's buildings might have look like in reality? I would treasure that as my ultimate coffee table book (aside from Cosmo Kramer's coffee table book about coffee tables— complete with little table legs).

Frank Lloyd Wright was originally to make the drawings of the buildings in The Fountainhead movie but he wanted too much money and control over the movie. It's a shame. I would have liked to see his depiction of Roark's buildings.

[Rogue]

I think that Mel Gibson is a very Howard Roarkish or Hank Reardenish Character. I think the way he handeled the liberal media's hounding of "The Passion of the Christ" was very sophisticated and affective. I admire him because he refused to compromise his movie to please everyone else, and he did it the way that he wanted to do it. He stood by his principles and came out on top, and i think that is a very admirable quality.

[BurgessLau]

I think that Mel Gibson is a very Howard Roarkish or Hank Reardenish Character.  I think the way he handeled the liberal media's hounding of "The Passion of the Christ" was very sophisticated and affective.  I admire him because he refused to compromise his movie to please everyone else, and he did it the way that he wanted to do it.  He stood by his principles and came out on top, and i think that is a very admirable quality.

What would you say is Mel Gibson's philosophy -- and is that the philosophy of an ideal man, such as Howard Roark, Dagny Taggart, or John Galt?

Another approach is to ask why Mel Gibson appears intransigent. Because he knows it will contribute to his happiness here on earth -- or because he believes he is doing God's work?

[whatisjohngalt]

Personally, I have never felt that Roark's buildings were based on Wright's. Wright pioneered the "Prairie Style", which emphasized that a building should blend in with its surroundings. Many of his "Prairie houses" were meant to be nothing more than the rolling hills of the Great plains, which is not quite the style Roark utilized.

Also, "Fallingwater", probably Wright's most famous piece, was meant to blend in with the surroundings, its rectangular outcroppings were meant to be nothing more than jutting-out rocks, blending in with the waterfall.

Last summer, I had the pleasure of visiting Wright's summer home "Taliesin West", out in Phoenix, Arizona. This building was also another seemingly inconspicuous construction; it was built of the stone surrounding the site, and Wright declined to use glass for the windows claiming that glass was too reflective, and there wasn't anything shiny in the desert. Also, he wished to move the city's power lines underground, as he felt that they ruined the beauty of nature.

Wright strove to achieve a balance between nature and technology, a balance that Howard Roark did not even attempt to obtain. It is my opinion that Rand did not so much take the architectural style from Wright, but instead took his fiercely individualistic, uncompromising nature. (Wright once built a house for a woman who despised the color red. But as his favorite color was red, the house became red) Wright helped to break the mold, and served as a transition from the classical style of architecture to the more modern, functional style.