Latest news with #AynRand
Telegraph
5 days ago
- Business
- Telegraph
Maga's plot to restore Cold War era patriotism to ‘woke' Hollywood
In her 1957 novel Atlas Shrugged, Ayn Rand expounds her individualist philosophy by portraying a dystopian society in which titans of industry fight back against burdensome bureaucracy. Though widely panned by critics, the book has remained a cult favourite of the libertarian Right. Paul Ryan, the former Republican speaker of the House of Representatives, gave out copies to staff members as Christmas presents. Donald Trump, not widely known as a reader, has named Rand as his favourite author. It is perhaps unsurprising, then, that an adaptation of Atlas Shrugged is among a handful of projects proposed by Founders Films, a new Right-wing production company aimed at restoring patriotism to Hollywood. The planned venture, which is being pitched to potential investors, comes amid a broader shift to the Right across the US media industry as the return of Trumpian politics triggers a war on 'woke'. '[Founders Films] goes against everything that we know about Hollywood, which is that traditionally it is quite Left-liberal, it is quite compassionate, it is rarely associated with blood and thunder narratives,' says media analyst Alex DeGroote. 'It's a real punch in the face for woke.' Founders Films is being launched by a handful of figures linked to the Silicon Valley data giant Palantir, including chief technology officer Shyam Sankar, early employee Ryan Podolsky and investor Christian Garrett. The company's name is a play on Founders Fund, the tech-focused venture capital fund launched by Palantir founder Peter Thiel. Documents seen by the US news website Semafor outline the tech executives' vision for the project, with the ethos described as: 'Say yes to projects about American exceptionalism, name America's enemies, back artists unconditionally, take risk on novel IP [intellectual property].' In a post on Substack late last year, Sankar wrote nostalgically about all-American blockbusters of yesteryear including Red Dawn, Top Gun, Rocky IV, and The Hunt for Red October. He argued that the US had lost the ability to leverage its film industry as soft power and called for the resurrection of the 'American Cinematic Universe' largely, it seems, by portraying Chinese communists as baddies on screen. 'Breaking out of our cultural malaise will require the studios to wake up and choose America,' he added. Cultural warfare In many ways, it is a rekindling of cinema as cultural warfare in a way not seen since the Cold War. Alongside Atlas Shrugged, other slated projects include films about the evacuation of the World Trade Center on 9/11 and the assassination of Iran's Gen Qasem Soleimani, as well as The Greatest Game, a thriller spy series that 'lays bare China's plans to replace the United States as the dominant global power'. Sankar points to examples of Chinese-ordered censorship and the fact that Disney's Mulan was filmed in Xinjiang as evidence of Beijing's growing sway over Hollywood. 'The statement is that Hollywood's been captured by a foreign adversary and there's some good evidence there,' says Dr Dominic Lees, associate professor of film-making at Reading University. Another strain of the Founders Films philosophy is rooted in the culture wars. The new studio wants to bring an injection of unashamedly conservative thinking to an industry that has long been dominated by liberals. 'What they are taking a punt on is that there is a movie-going market for films that counter what they're calling a Left-wing agenda,' adds Lees. It builds on growing criticism of Hollywood from the Right, with criticism levelled at studios for introducing heavy-handed progressive politics into films or removing anything deemed offensive. Disney has found itself at the centre of this controversy, with critics blaming the House of Mouse's political leanings for a string of recent flops, including this year's live-action reboot of Snow White, starring Rachel Zegler. Disney itself has admitted that there might be a potential 'misalignment' between the films it is making and what consumers want after splurging almost $1bn (£740m) on a string of box office failures in 2023, while boss Bob Iger has outlined plans to cut the studio's output and refocus on quality. Meanwhile, Gina Carano, the actress who was dropped from Star Wars series The Mandalorian in 2021 over her political posts on social media, is suing Disney and Lucasfilm for wrongful termination and discrimination in a lawsuit backed by Elon Musk. Carano was sacked for a post on Instagram that equated the persecution of Jews by the Nazis to the persecution of Republicans in the US. Tinsel Town takeover There are already signs that conservative ideology is gaining commercial traction in Hollywood. Am I Racist?, a Borat-style mockumentary lampooning the diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) movement, became the highest-grossing documentary of 2024 after pulling in more than $12m at the box office on a budget of just $3m. Reagan, a biopic starring Dennis Quaid as the former US president, grossed $30m last year despite scathing reviews from critics. The streaming era has also opened up an opportunity for what once would have been niche sub-genres to break out and find their audience. Christian cinema, for example, has made something of a resurgence at the US box office in recent years thanks to hits such as The King of Kings and The Chosen, a multi-series drama about the life of Jesus. In one week earlier this year, three of the top 10 US box office spots were faith-based titles. Tinsel Town's rightward shift is just one part of a broader assault on the US media heralded by Trump, who earlier this year appointed Sylvester Stallone, Mel Gibson and Jon Voight as 'special ambassadors' to Hollywood, tasked with reversing what he deems to have been a period of decline. Meanwhile, controversy is growing around an $8bn takeover of Hollywood giant Paramount by Skydance, the US media group run by David Ellison, which was approved this week. Paramount's recent decision to reach a $16m settlement with Trump for a lawsuit filed against its broadcaster CBS has been widely condemned as an effort to make concessions to the president. This disquiet was fuelled by CBS's shock decision last week to cancel The Late Show With Stephen Colbert, just days after the long-serving host branded the settlement a 'big, fat bribe'. Trump has since poured more fuel on the fire after claiming Skydance had promised to give him $20m worth of free advertising and programming in a side deal. Democrat senators have opened an investigation into potential corruption. The president's sway over the Paramount deal suggests he could exert pressure over the studio's output too. It is fuelling concerns about the threat to freedom of expression across the Atlantic. DeGroote describes Trump as 'lacerating the bit of the media universe which he doesn't like', adding: 'It's a dual pincer movement. You're going after the politicians, but you're also going after the media platforms.' Patrick Spence, the TV producer behind Mr Bates vs The Post Office and The Hack, an upcoming drama about the phone hacking scandal, says: 'It feels like we're living in a Batman movie because the villains are so cartoon-like. But the trouble is it's real. It's actually happening in front of us.' Ultimately, however, a Right-wing takeover of Hollywood will depend on making hits. Lees casts doubt on whether the gun-toting style of propaganda film-making proposed by Founders Films will be effective. 'My sense is that these guys at the moment are not very culturally sophisticated,' Lees says. 'If they want to really make an impact it's going to be how they subvert the different existing genres.'
The Guardian
03-07-2025
- Entertainment
- The Guardian
Give Me a Word: The Collective Soul Story review – hyped-up account of nice-guy 90s mainstream rockers
Unless you are a big fan of what the American charts call 'mainstream rock' and entering late middle age round about now, you may never have heard of 90s outfit Collective Soul. And yet this clearly band-endorsed documentary hypes them so much, you may question your own remembrance of things past. For instance, much is made of Collective Soul's first big hit, Shine from 1993, which first broke out via airplay at an Atlanta college radio station, with the film giving the impression that everyone was humming this tune back in the day. This may not in fact have been the case: you might associate the time more with the likes of Whitney Houston, Nirvana and dancefloor fillers like Rhythm Is a Dancer. It turns out that Collective Soul, named after a phrase in Ayn Rand's The Fountainhead, is a classic rawk outfit with a guitar-heavy, chunky-riff and wailing-vocals sound, somewhat generic but enjoyable. The group is built around Stockbridge, Georgia, brothers Ed Roland (the lead singer and songwriter) and his rhythm guitarist brother Dean; they are the sons of a preacher man and father figures and old friends feature very heavily in their story. The film works its way through the band's pre-history and story methodically, with Ed Roland dominant throughout as literally and figuratively the group's loudest voice. Give Me a Word hits every station of the rock band cross, from the years of toil in obscurity, working in music shops and trying out different sounds and collaborators, then the aforementioned big break, and the years when they should have been making bank but were getting ripped off by poor contract reading skills. At one point they even play Woodstock (the 1994 edition, not the big '69 event) in front of nearly half a million people, and yet they were still sleeping four people to a room and taking home about $150 a week. Soon, the inevitable musical differences and fallings out reshuffle the line-up. But they're all such nice guys, despite the flamboyant swearing and boasting about the partying, that the film only barely mentions that the bust-up between Ed and lead guitarist Ross Childress had something to do with a romantic betrayal. Indeed, the film seems rather ripe with pendulant silences on certain subjects and areas of the band members' lives. We meet no current wives or girlfriends, although their existence is often invoked. And yet one of the people Ed gets most weepy about is a gay friend from high school who died of a drug overdose back in the day, leaving the singer with an enduring and overwhelming sense of loss. Apart from Ed and Dean's still living mother and one or two others, there are practically no women in the movie, except for the great Dolly Parton, who covered Shine. Somehow it says it all about the slippery nature of fame when Ed mentions – with amusement, rue and just a tiny trace of resentment – that people just assume that Shine was written by Parton rather than himself. Give Me a Word: The Collective Soul Story is on digital platforms from 8 July.
The Guardian
02-07-2025
- Entertainment
- The Guardian
Give Me a Word: The Collective Soul Story review – hyped-up account of nice-guy 90s mainstream rockers
Unless you are a big fan of what the American charts call 'mainstream rock' and entering late middle age round about now, you may never have heard of 90s outfit Collective Soul. And yet this clearly band-endorsed documentary hypes them so much, you may question your own remembrance of things past. For instance, much is made of Collective Soul's first big hit, Shine from 1993, which first broke out via airplay at an Atlanta college radio station, with the film giving the impression that everyone was humming this tune back in the day. This may not in fact have been the case: you might associate the time more with the likes of Whitney Houston, Nirvana and dancefloor fillers like Rhythm Is a Dancer. It turns out that Collective Soul, named after a phrase in Ayn Rand's The Fountainhead, is a classic rawk outfit with a guitar-heavy, chunky-riff and wailing-vocals sound, somewhat generic but enjoyable. The group is built around Stockbridge, Georgia, brothers Ed Roland (the lead singer and songwriter) and his rhythm guitarist brother Dean; they are the sons of a preacher man and father figures and old friends feature very heavily in their story. The film works its way through the band's pre-history and story methodically, with Ed Roland dominant throughout as literally and figuratively the group's loudest voice. Give Me a Word hits every station of the rock band cross, from the years of toil in obscurity, working in music shops and trying out different sounds and collaborators, then the aforementioned big break, and the years when they should have been making bank but were getting ripped off by poor contract reading skills. At one point they even play Woodstock (the 1994 edition, not the big '69 event) in front of nearly half a million people, and yet they were still sleeping four people to a room and taking home about $150 a week. Soon, the inevitable musical differences and fallings out reshuffle the line-up. But they're all such nice guys, despite the flamboyant swearing and boasting about the partying, that the film only barely mentions that the bust-up between Ed and lead guitarist Ross Childress had something to do with a romantic betrayal. Indeed, the film seems rather ripe with pendulant silences on certain subjects and areas of the band members' lives. We meet no current wives or girlfriends, although their existence is often invoked. And yet one of the people Ed gets most weepy about is a gay friend from high school who died of a drug overdose back in the day, leaving the singer with an enduring and overwhelming sense of loss. Apart from Ed and Dean's still living mother and one or two others, there are practically no women in the movie, except for the great Dolly Parton, who covered Shine. Somehow it says it all about the slippery nature of fame when Ed mentions – with amusement, rue and just a tiny trace of resentment – that people just assume that Shine was written by Parton rather than himself. Give Me a Word: The Collective Soul Story is on digital platforms from 8 July.
Fast Company
27-06-2025
- Business
- Fast Company
A rare Frank Lloyd Wright house hits the market
For architecture enthusiasts, a longtime dream may have just come within reach: A Frank Lloyd Wright home just hit the market, and it could be yours for a cool $2.5 million. The home, located in Jackson, Mississippi, was designed by Wright in 1948—when the late architect was 81—for a local oil speculator named J. Willis Hughes and his family. Originally called the Hughes House, the home has since adopted the nickname 'Fountainhead,' courtesy of an elaborate backyard water feature and pool. (Wright was also said to have served as inspiration for Ayn Rand when she wrote her classic novel of the same name.) The three-bedroom home has more than 3,500 square feet of interior space and a scenic view from its position tucked into the wooded hillside. And, while Fountainhead may boast a hefty price tag today, it was originally made to be affordable. The home is one of just around 60 houses that are considered ' Usonian,' a style created and coined by Wright in the 1940s and '50s. Usonian homes were Wright's answer to the postwar era: Designed to be accessible to the American middle class, they tend to make use of simple layouts, open floor plans, and natural materials. Given that Wright's total portfolio of designs includes more than 1,000 buildings, this style is now considered quite rare. When approaching the home's design, Wright took his cues from the surrounding environment. The contours of the building site determined the home's parallelogram form, which is characterized by a multitude of low, horizontal leading lines. Furnishings like sofas, tables, beds, and dressers are all seamlessly built into the home's auburn wood walls. 'The parallelogram design is etched in the floors, and dictates the placement of walls, the size of the doors, and the shape of the spaces,' the home's listing on Sotheby's International reads. It goes on to note that Fountainhead was built with no stud walls in the house, no Sheetrock, brick, tile, or paint and 'boasts of exquisite, exceptionally durable Heart Tidewater Red Cypress wood for the walls and ceilings.' According to a report from The Wall Street Journal, the house saw some fairly significant wear and tear during the 25 years that it served as the Hughes family residence. However, the most recent owner, architect Robert Parker Adams, alongside his former wife, Mary, devoted years to restoring the home to its former glory. Adams has lived at the property since 1979. 'I've been here 40-something years; I've had my experience,' Adams told The Journal, adding that he hopes to share his experience and knowledge with the next owner.
IOL News
20-06-2025
- Business
- IOL News
Are we inviting the World Bank's interference or seeking genuine support?
Later this year the World Bank Group will launch the second pilot edition of its B-READY report, a new benchmark for assessing global business climates. Image: Wikipedia Has the World Bank's flagship business index already been hijacked — from a South African perspective — even before the country's debut in the pilot phase? Money, as Ayn Rand wrote, is the barometer of a society's virtue. In her 1957 novel Atlas Shrugged, Rand observed: 'When you see that trading is done not by consent but by compulsion, when you see that to produce, you need permission from men who produce nothing, when money flows to those dealing in favors rather than goods — when corruption is rewarded and honesty becomes self-sacrifice — you may know your society is doomed.' Nearly seven decades later, her words remain chillingly relevant. Later this year (September–October 2025), the World Bank Group (WBG) will launch the second pilot edition of its Business Ready (B-READY) report, a new benchmark for assessing global business climates. South Africa is set to join the third pilot in 2026, alongside 184 economies, before the project's full rollout in 2027. B-READY, an evolution of the discontinued Doing Business survey, evaluates regulatory frameworks and public services affecting firms. For South Africa, the index focuses on 10 key areas — business entry, utilities, labour, financial services, taxation, dispute resolution, and more — spanning four departments: Employment and Labour; Finance; Small Business Development; and Trade, Industry, and Competition. Video Player is loading. Play Video Play Unmute Current Time 0:00 / Duration -:- Loaded : 0% Stream Type LIVE Seek to live, currently behind live LIVE Remaining Time - 0:00 This is a modal window. Beginning of dialog window. Escape will cancel and close the window. Text Color White Black Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Background Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Transparent Window Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Transparent Semi-Transparent Opaque Font Size 50% 75% 100% 125% 150% 175% 200% 300% 400% Text Edge Style None Raised Depressed Uniform Dropshadow Font Family Proportional Sans-Serif Monospace Sans-Serif Proportional Serif Monospace Serif Casual Script Small Caps Reset restore all settings to the default values Done Close Modal Dialog End of dialog window. Advertisement Next Stay Close ✕ The WBG has already critiqued South Africa's 'hard regulations', including BEE policies, local content rules, and collective bargaining, arguing they stifle implementation and breed corruption. A February 2025 WBG report, Driving Inclusive Growth in South Africa, also highlighted weak market competition as a critical flaw. Notably, the report's contributors included prominent South African economists and private-sector representatives — Tania Ajam, Haroon Bhorat, Mcebisi Jonas, and others. While the World Bank is a respected institution, its reports often reflect local biases rather than impartial Washington analysis. South African policymakers are well aware of this — and of attempts to influence policy through institutions and 'experts' of perceived gravitas. B-READY's methodology relies on firm-level surveys and confidential expert input, raising questions about transparency. In a country with low internet penetration and a gatekeeping culture, how representative will these surveys be? The selection process — scouring LinkedIn, conferences, and embassy directories — hardly guarantees objectivity. The Doing Business report's demise in 2020 followed data manipulation scandals involving China, Saudi Arabia, and the UAE. Is South Africa immune to such interference? With competing economic agendas, disjointed governance, and external pressures (including from Trump-aligned figures), the risk of distortion is real. Domestically, the DA is challenging labour laws in court, while AfriForum lobbies foreign governments against B-BBEE. Meanwhile, institutions such as the CIPC, Competition Commission, and SARS — though theoretically capable of enabling business — remain inefficient and disjointed. Consider recent examples: CIPC's mass deregistration of 'non-compliant' companies, under the guise of FATF compliance, ignores South Africa's unemployment crisis. Private-sector exploitation of undocumented workers (Uber, SPAR franchises) flouts labour and tax laws. Tshwane's revenue crackdown exposes rampant illegal utility connections by businesses. Will the World Bank's surveys capture these realities? Or will its findings — like past reports — be skewed by advocacy masquerading as research? A 2005 evaluation of WBG research (led by Nobel laureate Angus Deaton) found that the Bank elevated favourable studies and ignored inconvenient ones, blurring the line between analysis and agenda. South Africa doesn't need external interference — it needs will. Regulatory bodies must function cohesively. Policies should enable, not strangle. And if B-READY is to be Rand's 'noble medium', it must resist becoming another tool of coercion. The question lingers: Is the World Bank's index a genuine reform tool—or a new frontier of influence against South Africa? * Makgwathane Mothapo is a marketing and communications practitioner. ** The views expressed here do not reflect those of the Sunday Independent, IOL, or Independent Media. Get the real story on the go: Follow the Sunday Independent on WhatsApp.
