Atlas Productions LLC announced today its plan to replace more than
100,000 title sheets appearing on the Atlas Shrugged Part 1 DVD and
Blu-ray versions sold through major retail outlets. These retail
versions were packaged with an inaccurate synopsis of Atlas Shrugged.
Not affected were the “Special Edition” versions sold online at
AtlasShruggedMovie.com.
The 1957 novel, Atlas Shrugged, is known in philosophical and political
circles for presenting a cogent argument advocating a society driven by
rational self-interest. On the back of the film's retail DVD and Blu-ray
however, the movie’s synopsis contradictorily states “AYN RAND’s timeless novel of courage and self-sacrifice comes to life...”
“It’s embarrassing for sure and of course, regardless of how or why it
happened, we’re all feeling responsible right now.” says Scott DeSapio,
Atlas Productions’ COO and Communications Director “You can imagine how
mortified we all were when we saw the DVD but, it was simply too late -
the product was already on shelves all over the Country. It was
certainly no surprise when the incredulous emails ensued. The irony is
inescapable.”
DeSapio continued “Ultimately, the responsibility falls on us, Atlas
Productions. We are putting policies in place now to ensure we avoid
these types of unforced errors in the future.”
Harmon Kaslow, CEO of Atlas Productions and Producer of the film stated
“As we all well know, the ideas brought to life in Atlas Shrugged are
entirely antithetical to the idea of ‘self-sacrifice’ as a virtue. Atlas
is quite literally a story about the dangers of self-sacrifice.
The error was an unfortunate one and fans of Ayn Rand and Atlas have
every right to be upset... and we have every intention of making it
right.”
Here's my request--Instead of replacing the cover insert, can they just replace the DVD with a movie that's about the value of self-sacrifice? Something a normal, well-socialized adult human being can relate to?
This movie could hardly be less timely! I guess they thought the 1% would attend in droves. Or maybe they thought it could warn us of the future we're in danger of creating with all of these attempts to equalize wealth distribution a bit.
ReplyDeleteDid you read Roger Ebert's review? Here's my favorite paragraph:
"But you’re thinking, railroads? Yes, although airplanes exist in this future, trains are where it’s at. When I was 6, my Aunt Martha brought me to Chicago to attend the great Railroad Fair of 1948, at which the nation’s rail companies celebrated the wonders that were on the way. They didn’t quite foresee mass air transportation. "Atlas Shrugged" seems to buy into the fair’s glowing vision of the future of trains. Rarely, perhaps never, has television news covered the laying of new railroad track with the breathless urgency of the news channels shown in this movie."