"There is Socialism in him. I can FEEL it."
July 7, 2010 9:29 AM Subscribe
I don't say this very often, but: Too much Ayn Rand vomit.
posted by Bromius at 9:40 AM on July 7, 2010 [2 favorites]
posted by Bromius at 9:40 AM on July 7, 2010 [2 favorites]
Was Ayn Rand racist? Seems like kind of a low blow, there.
posted by overeducated_alligator at 9:53 AM on July 7, 2010 [6 favorites]
posted by overeducated_alligator at 9:53 AM on July 7, 2010 [6 favorites]
Ayn's Vomiting Continues ...
I'd love to see this pick up steam as a graffiti-meme, particularly in downtown business districts. It would also work as a bumper sticker, even a t-shirt.
posted by philip-random at 9:54 AM on July 7, 2010 [4 favorites]
I'd love to see this pick up steam as a graffiti-meme, particularly in downtown business districts. It would also work as a bumper sticker, even a t-shirt.
posted by philip-random at 9:54 AM on July 7, 2010 [4 favorites]
I'm not one to defend Ayn Rand, but doesn't look like she was racist. However, I'm pretty sure objectivism allows for employment and custom discrimination as the government ought to have no authority to state that one must allow $RACE to work for them and must serve $RACE customers/clients.
posted by griphus at 10:01 AM on July 7, 2010
posted by griphus at 10:01 AM on July 7, 2010
overeducated_alligator: "Was Ayn Rand racist? Seems like kind of a low blow, there."
I'm pretty sure her face wasn't constantly melting, either.
posted by boo_radley at 10:04 AM on July 7, 2010 [2 favorites]
I'm pretty sure her face wasn't constantly melting, either.
posted by boo_radley at 10:04 AM on July 7, 2010 [2 favorites]
Bad writing, bad illustration, bad pacing.
posted by Scoo at 10:10 AM on July 7, 2010 [4 favorites]
posted by Scoo at 10:10 AM on July 7, 2010 [4 favorites]
Too much Ayn Rand vomit.
Too much Ayn Rand, vomit.
posted by Threeway Handshake at 10:15 AM on July 7, 2010 [6 favorites]
Too much Ayn Rand, vomit.
posted by Threeway Handshake at 10:15 AM on July 7, 2010 [6 favorites]
Objectively speaking, time travel apparently causes nausea.
posted by Blazecock Pileon at 10:18 AM on July 7, 2010
posted by Blazecock Pileon at 10:18 AM on July 7, 2010
Is that looming, Wizard-Of-Oz-style head in part 4 supposed to be Reagan? It needs... work.
posted by brundlefly at 10:21 AM on July 7, 2010 [1 favorite]
posted by brundlefly at 10:21 AM on July 7, 2010 [1 favorite]
I don't know, I say we give Vomiting Ayn a shot.
posted by Blazecock Pileon at 10:22 AM on July 7, 2010 [1 favorite]
posted by Blazecock Pileon at 10:22 AM on July 7, 2010 [1 favorite]
I don't know, I say we give Vomiting Ayn a shot.
I want this on a button like yersterday.
posted by The Whelk at 10:37 AM on July 7, 2010
I want this on a button like yersterday.
posted by The Whelk at 10:37 AM on July 7, 2010
The extended vomiting scene really works (enough time has elapsed since "Team America: World Police" to make it funny again). But really, all this strip shows is that any ugly, grotesque drawing identified as Ayn Rand would be nauseated by ugly, grotesque drawings of people identified as her followers -- in a comic. All on the basis of ... what? It doesn't refer to any evidence outside the panels -- especially baseless is the implication of racism.
You know, I could do an ugly drawing of Abraham Lincoln, and show him falling into the 21st century, and being disgusted by things being done in his name, and -- with a lot more evidence than is brought against Ayn Rand -- have him drop into a dead faint at the discovery that we have an African-American president. We have pretty solid proof that Lincoln was a casual white suprematist. What do you have on Ayn Rand?
posted by Faze at 10:44 AM on July 7, 2010 [5 favorites]
You know, I could do an ugly drawing of Abraham Lincoln, and show him falling into the 21st century, and being disgusted by things being done in his name, and -- with a lot more evidence than is brought against Ayn Rand -- have him drop into a dead faint at the discovery that we have an African-American president. We have pretty solid proof that Lincoln was a casual white suprematist. What do you have on Ayn Rand?
posted by Faze at 10:44 AM on July 7, 2010 [5 favorites]
Is that the end, or are there supposed to be additional installments? Because this is a little... thin.
posted by KGMoney at 10:45 AM on July 7, 2010
posted by KGMoney at 10:45 AM on July 7, 2010
especially baseless is the implication of racism
Are there any strong, objectivist black heroes in any of her books? They are long enough to fit at least one in, by statistical chance alone.
posted by Blazecock Pileon at 10:46 AM on July 7, 2010
Are there any strong, objectivist black heroes in any of her books? They are long enough to fit at least one in, by statistical chance alone.
posted by Blazecock Pileon at 10:46 AM on July 7, 2010
being disgusted by things being done in his name
People do stuff in the name of Lincoln?
posted by GuyZero at 10:46 AM on July 7, 2010
People do stuff in the name of Lincoln?
posted by GuyZero at 10:46 AM on July 7, 2010
I kind of like the Albrecht Durer Woodcut look. Makes me think of dunking witches.
posted by benzenedream at 10:48 AM on July 7, 2010 [1 favorite]
posted by benzenedream at 10:48 AM on July 7, 2010 [1 favorite]
Faze: "Abraham Lincoln, and show him falling into the 21st century, and being disgusted by things being done in his name"
May I recommend Bible Stories for Adults by James Morrow?
posted by boo_radley at 10:49 AM on July 7, 2010 [1 favorite]
May I recommend Bible Stories for Adults by James Morrow?
posted by boo_radley at 10:49 AM on July 7, 2010 [1 favorite]
People do stuff in the name of Lincoln?
People sure do.
posted by chavenet at 10:53 AM on July 7, 2010
People sure do.
posted by chavenet at 10:53 AM on July 7, 2010
We have pretty solid proof that Lincoln was a casual white suprematist
Yes. This is definitely completely accurate. He also invented the word "suprematist."
posted by drjimmy11 at 10:54 AM on July 7, 2010 [5 favorites]
Yes. This is definitely completely accurate. He also invented the word "suprematist."
posted by drjimmy11 at 10:54 AM on July 7, 2010 [5 favorites]
I could do an ugly drawing of Abraham Lincoln...
Would there be any other kind? I mean...the guy was great and all, but....damn.
posted by Thorzdad at 11:19 AM on July 7, 2010 [3 favorites]
Would there be any other kind? I mean...the guy was great and all, but....damn.
posted by Thorzdad at 11:19 AM on July 7, 2010 [3 favorites]
Given. The comic fucks up on the racism angle. And it's not that well drawn. But the central notion of Ms. Rand traveling in time to a moment (ie: now) shortly after her dreams and philosophies have had their play in world affairs ... and having no purer, no more honest response than uncontrolled vomiting. That's pretty damned funny.
And Faze, I'm still not sure exactly what you did there but turning this thing around into a riff on Lincoln and Obama (a big fan of Lincoln, no?) is either darkly brilliant, or darkly corrupt, or maybe both. It's certainly darkly hyperbolic. I recommend you get it into comic form.
posted by philip-random at 12:41 PM on July 7, 2010 [1 favorite]
And Faze, I'm still not sure exactly what you did there but turning this thing around into a riff on Lincoln and Obama (a big fan of Lincoln, no?) is either darkly brilliant, or darkly corrupt, or maybe both. It's certainly darkly hyperbolic. I recommend you get it into comic form.
posted by philip-random at 12:41 PM on July 7, 2010 [1 favorite]
(Former Randian, 10+ years removed here...)
I don't think Rand was a racist per se ("negros are an inferior race, the white race is genetically pure and perfect!" or whatever) but she definitely identified Western, white, male culture as the pinnacle of human achievement. Any sort of worldview that didn't value the complete technological mastery of nature in favor of industrial creation was primitive, inferior, blinkered, stupid, etc. The products of said cultures were also inferior and primitive. In The Romantic Manifesto -- her main work on the arts -- she condemns popular music (rock, jazz, blues, etc) as being the music of primitivism, jungle beats, etc., and far inferior to the sublime, thoughtful compositions of high European culture. So, yeah, there's definite room for calling her out on her racial politics.
The main problem with this cartoon is that Rand says she feels socialism in Obama. Come on. We all know he isn't anywhere near socialist, and Rand would know that too. She probably would despise the average Teabagger as a parasitic nobody (just as she would despise the average anybody), but I think apart from being surprised that a black man was actually elected president, I think she'd probably think about Obama the way she thought about the average pre-Reagan Republican or Democrat politician. If anything, she might appreciate that he doesn't speak, as Reid put it, in a "Negro dialect."
posted by Saxon Kane at 12:57 PM on July 7, 2010 [4 favorites]
I don't think Rand was a racist per se ("negros are an inferior race, the white race is genetically pure and perfect!" or whatever) but she definitely identified Western, white, male culture as the pinnacle of human achievement. Any sort of worldview that didn't value the complete technological mastery of nature in favor of industrial creation was primitive, inferior, blinkered, stupid, etc. The products of said cultures were also inferior and primitive. In The Romantic Manifesto -- her main work on the arts -- she condemns popular music (rock, jazz, blues, etc) as being the music of primitivism, jungle beats, etc., and far inferior to the sublime, thoughtful compositions of high European culture. So, yeah, there's definite room for calling her out on her racial politics.
The main problem with this cartoon is that Rand says she feels socialism in Obama. Come on. We all know he isn't anywhere near socialist, and Rand would know that too. She probably would despise the average Teabagger as a parasitic nobody (just as she would despise the average anybody), but I think apart from being surprised that a black man was actually elected president, I think she'd probably think about Obama the way she thought about the average pre-Reagan Republican or Democrat politician. If anything, she might appreciate that he doesn't speak, as Reid put it, in a "Negro dialect."
posted by Saxon Kane at 12:57 PM on July 7, 2010 [4 favorites]
Didn't read the link to the aynrandlexicon, but the last entry, from The Return of the Primitive, pretty much spells out why she may not have been an overt racist, but her racial politics were rather suspect.
posted by Saxon Kane at 1:07 PM on July 7, 2010
posted by Saxon Kane at 1:07 PM on July 7, 2010
I thought she fainted because her spooky Objectivism senses were overwhelmed by the waves of socialism emanating from Obama.
posted by vibrotronica at 1:16 PM on July 7, 2010
posted by vibrotronica at 1:16 PM on July 7, 2010
she may not have been an overt racist, but her racial politics were rather suspect.
In 1971, a majority of the country's racial politics were rather suspect.
posted by MiltonRandKalman at 1:18 PM on July 7, 2010
In 1971, a majority of the country's racial politics were rather suspect.
posted by MiltonRandKalman at 1:18 PM on July 7, 2010
“There are two novels that can change a bookish fourteen-year old’s life: The Lord of the Rings and Atlas Shrugged. One is a childish fantasy that often engenders a lifelong obsession with its unbelievable heroes, leading to an emotionally stunted, socially crippled adulthood, unable to deal with the real world. The other, of course, involves orcs.”
I could swear I've seen this comment somewhere before...anyone know it's origin?
posted by JaredSeth at 1:22 PM on July 7, 2010 [7 favorites]
I could swear I've seen this comment somewhere before...anyone know it's origin?
posted by JaredSeth at 1:22 PM on July 7, 2010 [7 favorites]
JaredSeth, it's a quote from a guy named John Rogers on the blog Kung Fu Monkey.
posted by Evangeline at 1:44 PM on July 7, 2010 [1 favorite]
posted by Evangeline at 1:44 PM on July 7, 2010 [1 favorite]
Wow, who knew that making fun of Ayn Rand could be as humorless as Ayn herself?
posted by DevilsAdvocate at 3:50 PM on July 7, 2010 [2 favorites]
posted by DevilsAdvocate at 3:50 PM on July 7, 2010 [2 favorites]
I say we give Vomiting Ayn a shot
The Tea Party have been vomiting Ayn Rand for the better part of the past two years.
I'd like to be shot of that.
posted by Herodios at 4:14 PM on July 7, 2010
The Tea Party have been vomiting Ayn Rand for the better part of the past two years.
I'd like to be shot of that.
posted by Herodios at 4:14 PM on July 7, 2010
I don't mind the art style, but Jesus, the puking Ayn Rand gag was beaten to death. It's worse than Family Guy.
The idea of a time traveling Ayn is cool, but this is... not done as well as it could have been.
posted by suburbanbeatnik at 6:19 PM on July 7, 2010
The idea of a time traveling Ayn is cool, but this is... not done as well as it could have been.
posted by suburbanbeatnik at 6:19 PM on July 7, 2010
In other lolobjectivist news, check out this conservative columnist's response to a girl giving her a cup of lemonade. And here's the reddit link I found it on.
posted by mccarty.tim at 7:37 PM on July 7, 2010
posted by mccarty.tim at 7:37 PM on July 7, 2010
I'll give Ayn this. At a time before Thatcher, before Indira Nehru, before before Golda Meier, before Gloria Steinem ... a contemporary of Eleanor Roosevelt and Anais Nin ... Ayn was living proof that the male (particularly the cigar-chomping land-raping male) estimation of womanhood as a cross between Marilyn Monroe and Al Capp's Daisy Mae was a fabrication.
I remember a time when a lady friend asked me "Why are there no famous women composers?" I'm happy to say that there have been so many since then that I hardly remember what that was like.
So, to the extent that Ayn made it thinkable that women could be highly intelligent, self-confident, brass-ballsy enough to have strong opinions and defend them as well as conservative darling William. F. Buckley (he of the flicking tongue), I have to give her -fame- some credit for giving a generation of young women the notion that they could escape bras, kitchens, and maternity rooms and be all that they could be. Young women like Jane Fonda, for example (the Barbarella performance being the exception that proves the rule).
Al Capp took regular pot-shots at Joan Baez, and Al lost his stupid comic strip as a result. Yes, indeed, the times they WERE a-changin.
posted by Twang at 9:11 PM on July 7, 2010 [3 favorites]
I remember a time when a lady friend asked me "Why are there no famous women composers?" I'm happy to say that there have been so many since then that I hardly remember what that was like.
So, to the extent that Ayn made it thinkable that women could be highly intelligent, self-confident, brass-ballsy enough to have strong opinions and defend them as well as conservative darling William. F. Buckley (he of the flicking tongue), I have to give her -fame- some credit for giving a generation of young women the notion that they could escape bras, kitchens, and maternity rooms and be all that they could be. Young women like Jane Fonda, for example (the Barbarella performance being the exception that proves the rule).
Al Capp took regular pot-shots at Joan Baez, and Al lost his stupid comic strip as a result. Yes, indeed, the times they WERE a-changin.
posted by Twang at 9:11 PM on July 7, 2010 [3 favorites]
I say we give Vomiting Ayn a shot
I meant we should give Ayn a shot of rye, rotgut, antifreeze or something that will make her throw up for a few more chapters. Vomiting Ayn is a force of good for the comic industry.
posted by Blazecock Pileon at 9:27 PM on July 7, 2010
I meant we should give Ayn a shot of rye, rotgut, antifreeze or something that will make her throw up for a few more chapters. Vomiting Ayn is a force of good for the comic industry.
posted by Blazecock Pileon at 9:27 PM on July 7, 2010
check out this conservative columnist's response to a girl giving her a cup of lemonade
What a total bitch(*). She'd probably lecture kids that Halloween trick-or-treating gets them into welfare.
(* Sorry, I've been watching RuPaul Drag Race reruns.)
posted by Blazecock Pileon at 9:30 PM on July 7, 2010
What a total bitch(*). She'd probably lecture kids that Halloween trick-or-treating gets them into welfare.
(* Sorry, I've been watching RuPaul Drag Race reruns.)
posted by Blazecock Pileon at 9:30 PM on July 7, 2010
Twang: All true, but of course Rand also believed that what women really wanted was a strong, cruelly heroic man to treat them like property and conquer their bodies and minds. She was, to put it mildly, a complicated woman.
posted by Saxon Kane at 10:15 AM on July 8, 2010 [1 favorite]
posted by Saxon Kane at 10:15 AM on July 8, 2010 [1 favorite]
Saxon: I'm not defending Ayn's -thinking-. Nobody can do that because nobody can possibly sort it out. An indomitable force can, in fact, be completely witless. I sure I needn't share any examples.
I'm sure that's what she wanted in her fantasies. But in real life ... preying mantis.
Pileon: It was clear what you meant. I'd say give it to Krikfalusi. No, wait: Woodring.
posted by Twang at 7:49 PM on July 8, 2010
I'm sure that's what she wanted in her fantasies. But in real life ... preying mantis.
Pileon: It was clear what you meant. I'd say give it to Krikfalusi. No, wait: Woodring.
posted by Twang at 7:49 PM on July 8, 2010
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posted by The Whelk at 9:35 AM on July 7, 2010 [1 favorite]