RoR: Forum

Fabulous! I love what you said, Gods never go through puberty. The "pure good" character is rarely as interesting as the one who struggles. It makes me value the times I overcome obstacles a bit more.

Thanks,

Julia

Post 1

Monday, August 1, 2005 - 11:39am

I don't want to be some caped crusader with a big "O" on my chest, quoting precise and wonderfully apropos Objectivist tidbits.

Why not?

A big "O". You know what the girls will think it means dog-man? ;-)

Post 2

Monday, August 1, 2005 - 11:57am

Really good piece, Ross. I agree with your sentiments completely.

Thanks.

David

Post 3

Monday, August 1, 2005 - 2:18pm

Marcus, more important is what they'll do for it. ;)

Julia

Post 4

Monday, August 1, 2005 - 2:34pm

Good sentiments but I always thought Francisco was the real super hero of the bunch. Galt chose the action to be taken and set the course for the others but Frisco is the one whom we see answer the call (and how).

Coming from a guy who spends waaay too much time thinking about super-heroes.

---Landon

Post 5

Monday, August 1, 2005 - 5:04pm

Marcus

Yes, I see your point....[mind works feverishly]... I do, I do...

Ross: "Darling, have I ever told you that I've got an enormous Sense of Life?"

Maiden in Distress: "Oh, Objectivism Man, you say the most wonderful things!"

Ross: "Thank you, my Dear, now let's get that dress off so I can reintegrate that nasty mind-body dichotomy."

Maiden in Distress: "Holy epistemology, O-Man! Oooh!"

Or something like that.

Ross

Post 6

Monday, August 1, 2005 - 5:10pm

Yeah - something like that.

Post 7

Monday, August 1, 2005 - 5:17pm

Landon

Sure, but my point was that Rand so constructed things that we learned about Galt's struggle somewhat after the fact. He had his own pain and had come to terms and set his course. That isn't how Francisco was portrayed. Certainly not, Henry Rearden. Rand did that on purpose, she had to. The story had to have a Galt.

Eddie Willers (also a good guy) on the other hand ended up sadly pathetic, not by his own hand, but by circumstances. 'Frisco and Hank triumphed despite the circumstances.

It's personal. Art stylises. I can imagine being Francisco or Hank. I can't see myself as Galt. But, it's vital that a Galt exists, if only in art.

Ross
(Edited by Ross Elliot
on 8/01, 5:19pm)

Post 8

Monday, August 1, 2005 - 5:34pm

Julia:

"The "pure good" character is rarely as interesting as the one who struggles."

Mmm, yes, drama is about conflict. Struggle. It simply isn't about anything else. No conflict, no story. Ultimately, no satisfaction. That's what Mick and the boys sang about...

Plus, our nature is defined by struggle, the grinding of reality against needs and wants. Perhaps that's why Galt is not as appealing. His struggles appear almost academic, removed.

Superman would not have been half as interesting without the possibility of kryptonite... or Lois Lane, his other debilitating influence :-)

Ross

Post 9

Monday, August 1, 2005 - 5:54pm

(must resist urge to hijack)

Actually Kryptonite was added when Supes was liscensed out as a radio drama... Seigel and Schuster never needed that particular crutch.

But as to Galt's struggles I'll agree. It's like he got miffed about a bunch of seemingly unconnected things and then found the connection and instantly knew what to do about it... missed out on getting the girl for a few years but even that finally fell into place for him... what struggle? Well there is the torture thing.

The reason I think superheroes are so profound is because they're people faced with a metaphysical frontier and a tough choice. Do they view themselves as their namesakes, Nietzchean "Supermen" beyond good and evil, taking anything they want from those below them? Do they use it for a productive endeavor in order to enrich themselves (this option I don't think has been explored enough)? Or do they acknowledge that for them the idea of "low risk" help in lifeboat situations has now become infinitely larger and they could enrich the enjoyment of their lives by helping people for whom "It is so much for them and so little for me."?
At which point any accidental details that would identify them become meaningless and the only identity they allow for themselves is their chosen values emblazoned on their face and chest.

The weird thing is I think the world is full of good guys like Ronald Reagan, Ayn Rand, Issac Newton, Albert Einstein and Aristotle like John Galt who set the course of mens' lives for the better. But it's men like Francisco, Henry Ford, Bill Gates, Bruce Lee, Michael Jordan, The Wright Brothers, Thomas Edison whom are the real super-heroes of the world.

---Landon

Post 10

Monday, August 1, 2005 - 8:14pm

--"Come in!" he said aloud, in answer to the knock on his door. The door opened and he lay still. The man standing on the threshold, with disheveled hair, a soot-streaked face and furnace-smudged arms, dressed in scorched overalls and bloodstained shirt, standing as if he wore a cape waving behind him in the wind, was Franscisco d'Anconia.'

Man, what a great moment.

Post 11

Monday, August 1, 2005 - 8:48pm

Bosch

Just checked out your website for the first time.

"I walked into a crowded room... not a soul in sight."

That's a sledgehammer line. Mickey Spillane would have been proud.

I like your style. You should pick a BIG image from one of Rand's books and draw it up, large. It'll sell here. Seriously. Do a series. Not sure about copyright issues, but where there's a will there's way :-)

Ross

(Edited by Ross Elliot
on 8/01, 8:48pm)

Post 12

Monday, August 1, 2005 - 9:03pm

Thanks for the generous words, Ross, appreciate it. I've thought of doing what you've suggested in the past, just haven't done it yet. I apologize in advance to get off topic, but I do sell commissions of my work to anyone interested. I've posted some of them on the illustration part of my website's forum, with a few of them still available for sale, like the Michael Jordan portrait and the Star Wars ones.

Post 13

Tuesday, August 2, 2005 - 3:26pm