Has anybody read her article
http://www.capmag.com/article.asp?ID=3247
What do you think?
I always thought Ayn didn’t think beauty was important. But in this article she does. Where did I read that?
I was in 1964 Playboy magazine. Not what I call Rand approved magazine.. really, what do you think? AM I mistaken?
I’ve certainly read it, it was reprinted in The Voice of Reason, after all. And how would you come to the conclusion that Ayn Rand didn’t think beauty was important? Why should she disapprove of Playboy? Where are you getting this from?
Beauty is of great spiritual value, and all values are important. It may not be *more* important than some other values, but it should be on the list *somewhere*.
AM I mistaken?
You are totally mistaken. Rand published an book of essays on aesthetics called “The Romantic Manifesto” . Being a novelist herself, she thought literature was the most ambitious form of art but this is not to be taken as demeaning the visual arts.
I don’t know what to say…
I’ve been duped.
Every single article, documentary or opinion I’ve ever heard about Miss Munroe has painted her as a vacuous air head, bimbo or slut…
Except this one.
I’m actually quite angry…
The damndest thing is that I had never thought of her that way until I just read Ayn Rand’s article. Fascinating stuff, and it does make one think of how much force the media can conjure up under the words “legacy”.
I’ve been duped.
Every single article, documentary or opinion I’ve ever heard about Miss Munroe has painted her as a vacuous air head, bimbo or slut…
Except this one.
I’m actually quite angry…
That is the Hollywood version of her. She was forced into a mold, and that’s what eventually destroyed her.
That is the Hollywood version of her. She was forced into a mold, and that’s what eventually destroyed her.
Do you mean, she allowed herself to be forced into a mold and she eventually destroyed herself?
Do you mean, she allowed herself to be forced into a mold and she eventually destroyed herself?
Yes. The conflict between what she was inside, and how she was protrayed externally caused her to be in conflict with herself, leading to dispair and destruction. Like Rand says in the article, she did not realise her own power, unlike people such as Joan Crawford did. There was a certain vunerability in her character that likely was caused by the way she was raised.
Would things be different today? Actresses have more control over thier own carrers now than under the studio contract model, but I think that Hollywood still hates the good for being the good. And celebrates still, to a much larger degree, the vulgar over beauty.
That is the Hollywood version of her. She was forced into a mold, and that’s what eventually destroyed her.
Maybe a sidenote, but this reminded me of the Andy Warhol prints of Monroe…
On this topic, you might want to read Ayn Rand’s article "Through Your Most Grievous
Fault" published in one of Miss Rand’s periodicals (I think The Objectivist but I’m not sure).
[added on edit: Oops…that was the original article, in full, I think…didn’t follow the link before writing]
I wrote a brief article about it on my website in support of Marilyn Monroe, and I have a beautifully framed poster of her in that elegant gold dress, and a copy of the original Life Magazine interview of her.
She wanted to play more serious roles, but Hollywood prevented that; and this unfortunately led her to become unraveled at a fairly young age. She was beautiful and intelligent, but Hollywood would never let her shine, and Ayn Rand thinks they actively tried to destroy her spirit.
Evidently, Time magazine’s last interview of Marilyn Monroe is available on-line by an admirer of hers. Don’t know right of hand if it is complete, or if is a violation of copyright, but the copyright notice is given at the bottom. It’s hard to read with the background, and I suppose you could order copies of the original from Time-Life or your local library.
This reminds me of what happened to Britney Spears. God I love that woman.
Well, I know they’re not the same woman, but still
Given how Rand describes the main characters in her novels, I’d think it would be obvious she found high value in beauty.
This reminds me of what happened to Britney Spears. God I love that woman.
Well, I know they’re not the same woman, but still
No friend, they’re certainly not the same woman.
The Fox News website is currently featuring AR’s obit/essay on Marilyn Monroe. Tomorrow’s the anniversary of her death. It’s showing up prominently on the main page.
http://www.foxnews.com/opinion/2012/08/04/ayn-rand-loved-marilyn-monroe/
It’s timely in connection with the now-infamous “You didn’t build that.”
Well… whoever says that Ayn Rand was heartless and cruel should be shown this article.
Could it be maybe that she saw in Marilyn Monroe pride in being beautiful in a time when modesty was required and expected from women. (pride in one own’s body is the opposite of modesty, but not as far opposite as to constitute non subtle exhibitionism; very much like Howard Roark who admired his own body but was also jealous of it, and who enjoyed nudism so long as he was alone by the quarry, the lake, or Wynand’s yacht)
Ayn Rand explicitly condemned Pornography while defending its right to be legal (Capitalist Manifesto), but I highly doubt that she considered Playboy ‘Pornography’ since it doesn’t show any sexual act, it simply celebrates the beauty of woman.
Back to The Fountainhead, the novel that deals with beauty, let’s remember the Temple of the Human Spirit. As a central object (of worship or admiration) is the shape the sculpture of a beautiful naked woman. The (misled) public interprets this as pornography, when in the architect’s and the author’s mind it was a celebration or ode to the most honorable and downright objectively beautiful qualities.
@Suvine, Read or re read The Fountainhead and you’ll find a renewed pride in having posed for Playboy.
@Suvine, Read or re read The Fountainhead and you’ll find a renewed pride in having posed for Playboy.
I’m pretty sure that was supposed to read “It was in 1964 Playboy magazine,” referring to the Rand article. I doubt Suvine was even alive in '64 if her avatar is her photo.
Historical / bibliographical note: “Through Your Most Grievous Fault,” on the death of Monroe, ran originally in the LA Times in 1962. The Objectivist reprinted it the same year, and it’s available today in The Ayn Rand Column. The 1964 Playboy interview did not talk about Monroe.