The (Inescapable) Fountainhead

Although the actual content of Rand’s The Fountainhead and he ongoing work in definition and proliferation of objectivism is a testament within itself, the enduring lifespan of the text has been extended by its less than oblique and unabashed allegiance to selfish conservatism, or so its contemporary symbolism suggests.

While Rand’s work offered a viable counterpoint in the environment in which it was written, where the population was disenfranchised the leadership of the time offered little answers to the abundant turmoil. Turning to oneself was an applicable alternative. However over the years, The Fountainhead has mutated from a symbol of self esteem into some of a political shortcut in popular culture.
Consider the below examples as illustrations of this trend:

A Scanner Darkly



As the token paranoid character clings to a copy of the Fountainhead, the novel serves as a proxy suicide note. It says everything he wants to say. This headstrong self-belief is juxtaposed with the gravest act of self doubt, or perhaps it is arguing that the character is performing the most self-assured act he can, take the ultimate control of life and take it. Either interpretation you find, the implementation of the book as part of the frame is a deliberate attempt to drench an otherwise notable suicide scene with a quick shortcut to subtext and in turn invite speculation as above.

The Simpsons



Once again, The Simpsons adaptation of Fountainhead plays upon the commonly held conception of the novel as a gesture of distilled self-service. The curse of “mediocrity rules!”, is a ironic cry against the novel and film’s ham-fisted construction of irrational counter-characters. Roark’s court room speech is the only occasion that Maggie finds a voice, and the brief monologue is pictured as an impotent attempt that manages to change a worldview in sentences.

Pakistani adaptation of The Fountainhead



As one commenter on the video suggests:

“This drama was made during the dark days of martial law in Pakistan, when the access to foreign ideas was restricted and a media was totally controlled by government. This was a way to give people some light from outside under disguise of such dramas.”

While American audiences recalled the text as an overly politicized text with dubious undertones, those who were sheltered from outside politics grasped the concepts and consumed it as though it were a more sophisticated and Western alternative to their domestic politics.

Bonus rap music video inspired by The Fountainhead:

Being Eames

While the greatest legacy of Ray and Charles Eames may be their part in the design of the world's most ubiquitous and uncomfortable school chairs, I would say that their true gift to humanity is not something they designed or filmed. Their greatest asset was their unrelenting curiosity that drove the pair to capture the world for what they saw it: as a collection of accidental artworks. From leaves to their own children, their catalogue of films and the infinite compilation of original and incomparable design were nothing in comparison to the pairing of minds (in a marriage no less) that lived to see and improve.

I am in awe of their ability to reconcile such a staunchly commercial business with their altruistic pursuit of filmmaking. Their appearance in early television suggested a celebrity-esque stature, yet their body of work alluded more to two carefree kindred spirits who would be just as satisfied to film nothing in particular as they are to film everything but.

While cinema may be a technically accurate term to use to describe the filmic work of Charles and Ray Eames, I’d argue that it is the opposite. Their embrace of home recording; to not pursue grandiose mega-plex replicas and instead explore the spaces they inhabited everyday was a movement towards the domestic and participatory status quo for modern content development. The sheer possession of the insight to extract such beauty from the everyday is made even more enviable by the fact that this was a couple who created the domestic space for others every other minute of the day.

Perhaps they possessed a greater natural artistic pedigree than the average artist. Their involvement in early television commercial development reflects a sophisticated ability to promote but simultaneously push the envelope of art. The kaleidoscopic advertisement shown in class was a single example of a tireless work that was just effective as it was affective.

I am unable to draw a parallel with a modern figure. The closer I think would be Spike Jonze.

Spike Jonze has a respected cinematic portfolio as director of Being John Malkovich ,Adaptation, and the upcoming Where the Wild Things Are. But before that, he developed a reputation as a music video director where he leveraged the necessity for commercial appeal with suitable doses of quirk in order to break the conventional mold and almost singlehandedly revitalize the music video medium as an art form in its own right. Music videos were not the only commercial media that Jonze used as a vessel for artistic expression, his experience in promotional skateboard videos had the same composition of avant garde expression as the celebrated Adaptation.

Even so, the Eames achieved the same while promoting their own products, which either took saintly self control or a genuine love for art for art’s sake.