After decades of false starts, it appears that a movie version of Ayn Rand's Atlas Shrugged is finally underway. Principal photography commenced last month. And yet the whole project is very odd. After years of rumors about a big-budget spectacle featuring Angelina Jolie, Brad Pitt, and other A-list stars, the production now going forward has a no-name cast, a TV director, a 5-week shooting schedule, and a paltry $5 million budget. All of which has inspired speculation that the movie is a mere placeholder intended to extend the producer's option (which would have expired in June if cameras hadn't rolled).
I don't know if this penny-ante project is the real deal or only a variation on Roger Corman's unreleased Fantastic Four movie. One thing I do know is that the director, Paul Johansson, is doing double duty by also essaying the pivotal role of Randian ubermensch John Galt.
Long before his involvement with Atlas, Johansson was a regular on One Tree Hill, a show I never watched. Today, reading some snarky comments about the Atlas movie, I came across a link to what is apparently Johansson's finest moment in the now-canceled series. Immediately upon seeing it, I had what I can only describe as an epiphany. I felt deeply connected to all living things, indeed to the beating heart of the universe itself. I understood the circle of life, the tragedy of mortality, and the ultimate meaning of the apparent absurdity of existence.
Deep in my soul, I knew I must do everything in my power to ensure that all people on Earth share in the life-altering and spiritually transcendent experience of watching this video. In fact, I now feel it is my mission in life - my destiny, if you will - to expand public awareness of this towering moment in television history. Quite simply, it is what I was put on this Earth to do.
First, I need to set the scene by explaining that Johansson plays a man with a terminal heart condition, anxiously awaiting the arrival of the donor heart that will save his life. He sits in a hospital waiting room (though one would think a man in such dire condition would be confined to bed), with a therapy dog for companionship. Tension is high. The stakes are life and death. This is drama at its finest.
What follows is an overpowering dramatic moment, surely the equal of the best of Shakespeare.
I now present the YouTube clip in all its glory.
You're welcome.
I like this observation from one of the YouTube Commenters. I think we can all learn from him as to how to deal with such a tragic event:
"Shit happens. Sometimes a dog will be loose in a hospital and eat your transplant organs."
Posted by: Bruce Siegel | July 05, 2010 at 09:53 PM
I had an unpleasant encounter with a Randroid a few years back, such narcissistic smugness and casual sociopathy I have yet to witness again, I ended up laughing heartily in his face like he'd just told me the punchline to the funniest joke in history, he hated that. :D
Judging by the above, this flick looks like it's going to be for Objectivism what "Battlefield Earth" was for $cientology, a recruitment tool backfire of epic proportions.
Posted by: Markus Hesse | July 06, 2010 at 01:01 AM
Tonight (Tuesday) at 10pm--2am Pacific time on the Coast to Coast talk radio show:
"Professor Stephen Braude will discuss his lifelong interest in the paranormal, including examples of psychokinesis and evidence for the survival of death."
Posted by: Roger Knights | July 06, 2010 at 05:27 AM
The clip was hilarious. I love the Golden Retriever. What a fun dog! It was an actual pigs heart. I wonder where they got it? Probably from a local slaughterhouse?
I used to work in an abbatoir and dropped out of college for a few years and worked as a meat cutter. After going back to school and graduating from the University of Georgia with a degree in Animal Science I worked for about 20 years in biomedical research before retiring.
Posted by: Art | July 06, 2010 at 06:49 AM
"The clip was hilarious."
I think it gives new meaning to the expression, "The dog ate my homework."
I mean, I've heard of eating your heart out, but ...
"Shit happens. Sometimes a dog will be loose in a hospital and eat your transplant organs."
Words to live by, Bruce. Just the other day, I watched in dismay as a chihuahua chowed down on a freshly donated spleen.
I also like the fact that the heart is being carried in a Styrofoam box with no latch or clasp.
Posted by: Michael Prescott | July 06, 2010 at 08:54 AM
That was hilarious.
Posted by: dmduncan | July 06, 2010 at 11:49 AM
I hate myself, but I found that hilarious.
Posted by: Michael Duggan | July 06, 2010 at 12:06 PM
Roger, thanks for the heads up.
Posted by: Michael Duggan | July 06, 2010 at 12:13 PM
I'm not a Randian, nor have I played one on tv. Heck, I didn't even stay at a Holiday Inn Express last night. I'm sure, though, there are fans of Ayn who display that "narcissistic smugness and casual sociopathy" which the commenter above experienced.
But when I read those words, the image which instantly came unbidden to my mind was not that of an Objectivist, but rather a "Scientismist" in full bellow, supremely unaware of all those motes and beams.
Posted by: jum1801 | July 06, 2010 at 03:06 PM
If that was satire, that is hte greatest joke in the history of television!
(But I'm afraid it was actually supposed to be serious...)
Posted by: Tony M | July 06, 2010 at 04:06 PM
No. Tell me it ain't so. It couldn't have been serious. It's just too funny.
It's like something Joss Whedon would have written.
Posted by: dmduncan | July 06, 2010 at 09:12 PM
I agree with this YouTube poster---->
"Wtf.....how the fuck could something stupid like that happen, why the fuck is there a dog in the hospital? Why the fuck, WHY THE FUCK??! Going to explode raging on the stupidity that is the writers of that show.
I'd fucking kill that dog! Unrealistic or not! Why the fuck would there be a guy waiting for his heart in the lobby? Why is it the guy isn't even holding onto the leash anymore? No one even stops the dog! GOD DAMN I AM GOING TO BE IRRITATED FOR SO LONG!!! "
Posted by: Cyrus | July 06, 2010 at 09:21 PM
I guess I was wrong when I called One Tree Hill a "now-canceled series." I just saw it in the TV listings.
Somehow this thing is still ON ....?
Posted by: Michael Prescott | July 06, 2010 at 10:06 PM
Michael, maybe it's supposed to be funny?
Posted by: Sandy | July 06, 2010 at 10:35 PM
Well, the poor dog probably hadn't had a good hearty meal for weeks.
Posted by: Trev. | July 07, 2010 at 01:35 AM
Oh and thank goodness it wasn't a heart AND lung transplant. That would've been just too much to swallow.
Apologies in advance.
Posted by: Trev. ( pass the sick bucket) | July 07, 2010 at 04:53 AM
The blond guy looks like he wandered off the set of a daytime soap opera. He almost looks smug about the whole thing. No shock, only a slight move toward the dog, and then a long, deep peering into the eyes of this dude that is gonna die now.
Somehow the guy who tripped over the dog's leash must have also needed urgent medical care since he couldn't move for several seconds after falling.
Posted by: Goonch | July 07, 2010 at 09:32 AM
Your intro made it twice as funny.
Posted by: Susan | July 09, 2010 at 07:53 PM
I checked with Google News and learned that not only is "One Tree Hill" still on, it has been renewed for an eighth season!
Ya gotta hand it to 'em - their show has heart!
Posted by: Michael Prescott | July 12, 2010 at 11:01 PM
"Somehow the guy who tripped over the dog's leash must have also needed urgent medical care since he couldn't move for several seconds after falling."
He was stunned into immobility by the inanity of the script.
Posted by: Michael Prescott | July 12, 2010 at 11:02 PM