Althouse: Quentin Tarantino says something that reminds me of Ayn Rand.

August 28, 2009

Quentin Tarantino says something that reminds me of Ayn Rand.

Tarantino (in a 41 second clip):

Rand (in a long clip that will start in the right place, and you needn't watch all the way to the end, just until you see my point):

27 comments:

Fred4Pres said...: Clearly there is a strong spirtual similarity between the characters Jules and Howard Rourke.; 8/28/09, 9:22 AM
Fred4Pres said...: Honey Bunny/Yolanda and Dagny Taggart...not so much.; 8/28/09, 9:23 AM
Anonymous said...: ...and, didn't ol' Ayn drive a
"Pussy Wagon" too?; 8/28/09, 9:32 AM
traditionalguy said...: The assertion of one's accomplishments is better left to others, and Ayn Rand was an idealist that neede few friends. But as Deon Sanders said when playing for the Falcons, "It ain't bragging, if you can do it".; 8/28/09, 9:33 AM
chickelit said...: I'm proud of my comments.; 8/28/09, 9:33 AM
Fred4Pres said...: Ayn held a little back though, she did not tell Phil that he was the spirtual spawn of Ellsworth Tooley.

And speaking of telling the truth...

And if this is true, it reveals a cravenness about the late Senator Kennedy many of us suspected.; 8/28/09, 9:37 AM
garage mahal said...: I watched that whole clip and I don't recall seeing Tarantino or Kimmel in it.; 8/28/09, 9:52 AM
Dust Bunny Queen said...: We teach our exceptional children to 'hide their light under a bushel'. We tell them, don't talk about your accomplishments> Hide your brains. Try not to rise above the crowd because it will only make the 'others' not like you. "You won't be popular if you always answer the questions in class". Don't act "white", meaning learn things in school or try to rise above the ghetto mentality, if you are black.

Be ordinary. Be less than you are. Teach to the lowest common denominator. Don't excel at work or make too much money or you will be punished. Is it any wonder we are devolving into a society of serfs and peasants?

I love Ayn Rand and her philosophy Screw it. Be proud. If you are good, if you are exceptional don't hide it and don't be ashamed or repressed.

Don't let them drag you down. Shake off the blood sucking leeches.; 8/28/09, 10:18 AM
Tank said...: Charlie's Angels? Who knew?

I like Rand. I like her alot more than most of her objectivist followers. Reminds me of Milton Friedman (my hero). Always interesting, even when you don't agree.

I do think you should be proud of your accomplishments, but I'm not too fond of people crowing about themselves. No need to be falsely humble either.; 8/28/09, 10:26 AM
Amexpat said...: Tarantino has written some great scripts. "Inglorious Basterds" is not one of them. If he were less in love with his own words he could have edited it down to a good film.; 8/28/09, 10:34 AM
tim maguire said...: Dust Bunny, that always struck me as odd. Because it's true specifically for intellectual accomplishments. And as you could tell from the Deon Sanders quote (who could have used a little modesty), we apply no such standard to athletic accomplishments.

Somehow, thinking you're smart is more offensive (and more shameful) than thinking you're an athlete.; 8/28/09, 10:37 AM
Methadras said...: Good to see Ayn Rand again. It's been a long time and I remember her on the Phil Donahue Show. He's still a prick. He just hid his raving leftism better back then.; 8/28/09, 10:38 AM
Once written, twice... said...: God Any Rand was a kook. Having a cultivated sense of magnanimity goes back at least to ancient Greece. There is nothing attractive about being a braggart. Unless you are into the WWF.; 8/28/09, 10:55 AM
Bissage said...: I'm pretty sure I once administered "the shocker" to Ms. Rand. It was fun.; 8/28/09, 10:58 AM
Jason (the commenter) said...: Tarantino is on the business of taking out socially repressed feelings and examining them.

It's telling that someone like him writes the some of the best roles for women.; 8/28/09, 11:16 AM
Will Cate said...: "It ain't braggin' if it's true"; 8/28/09, 11:25 AM
The Crack Emcee said...: Ayn Rand said a lot of brilliant things - which most people ignore - many of which I said and thought before I ever heard her name (which only happened in April). People are always trying to shut me down, but fuck that! When they've done as much with their lives (starting out with one or two parents in a lower-middle class or suburban home) as I have with mine (starting with a string of foster homes in the ghetto) then I'll consider bowing, a little, but not until. And as long as they're spitting that NewAge Nazi Nonsense™ then I know I'm better, smarter, and a much nicer person than they are.; 8/28/09, 11:55 AM
Largo said...: A person can brag. They can point out that they can do something better than another person, when there is little purpose to do so. That is one thing.

A person can say without hesitation, if asked about their ability to so some thing, that they do it well. A person can be proud of their work, and even present it as an example of excellence -- if the context calls for an example of excellence. This is another thing.

The first person lives for the approval of others. The second person lives for himself.; 8/28/09, 12:23 PM
Anonymous said...: Every time I look at Tarantino's jaw I can't help wondering if he is related to Jay Leno and that both of them have a Hapsburg somewhere in their lineage.; 8/28/09, 12:30 PM
bagoh20 said...: I think Rand's point was that the false humility was not fooling anyone and that it reduced ambition in others.

I think we do it for:

1) To not impune those who have been less fortunate or successful.
2) To avoid being despised for being boastful.

I'm fine with people just being honest and saying: "Thanks for saying that."

But we should drop the: "Golly shucks it was nothing." routine.

Personally, I'm fabulous!; 8/28/09, 12:45 PM
G Joubert said...: This comment has been removed by the author.; 8/28/09, 1:49 PM
Dust Bunny Queen said...: I'm fine with people just being honest and saying: "Thanks for saying that."

But we should drop the: "Golly shucks it was nothing." routine.

Personally, I'm fabulous!

Hey....me too!!

It is like the woman who knows she looks good, takes time to look fabulous and when getting a compliment feels the need to denigrate herself. I drives men, and mild Asperger women types like myself crazy.

He: "You look nice in that dress."

She: "Oh this old thing. It makes me look fat"

He: "No really, you look nice"

She: "Oh this color is terrible on me"

He: "Well, it looks nice, like that green dress you wore the other night"

She: "Seriously? Do you like me in that green dress better than this blue one. Really? The green is even worse. It is so shabby. Don't you like this dress anyway even though it makes me look fat?"

He: (WTF??) "Nevermind"

Why can't she just shut up and say.... Thank you?; 8/28/09, 2:57 PM
BJM said...: The clips reinforce my opinion that Donahue is a colossal asshole and how likable is Tarantino.; 8/28/09, 4:47 PM
Crimso said...: Just out of curiosity, L.E. Lee, have youm read any of her work? If so, what? If not, try "For the New Intellectual." Rather than being fiction, it is largely a nonfiction explanation of objectivism (and is much shorter than "The Fountainhead" or "Atlas Shrugged"). You may end up with an even lower opinion of her after that, but that's your problem.; 8/28/09, 6:44 PM
rcocean said...: I just want to thank Cable TV and Oprah was getting that pompous Twit Donahue off the air. Damn he was boring.

Sorry, I could get through it - hope Rand got a word in.; 8/28/09, 7:02 PM
kentuckyliz said...: False humility does not educate those who are frustrated with envy. It confirms their destructive biases.

People who do not accomplish things think other people are successful through luck. This protects their self esteem but at a terrible price.

Study, hard work, networking, taking risks--these make you lucky only in the sense that "Luck Is Preparation Meeting Opportunity."

If people are aw-shucks bashful about their accomplishments, then the lazy unproductive luck-attributers never get schooled on how to make the same things happen for themselves.

We live in a cause and effect world.

Good on Tarantino. BTW great joke, in context. One upmanship so sharp, the pretty actress just stated her refusal to speak to him any longer and did the "talk to the hand" gesture.

His reaffirming his pride in his work was even greater. Good on him for not backing down.

Love how Ayn pins Donahue.; 8/29/09, 6:40 AM
Anonymous said...: I just loved the part where she criticized President Carter. As soon as she disagreed with Phil and said Carter's smile was fake and he was a weak personality Phil's whole demeanor changed. His face sort of went blank and he started in with the non-committal "uh-huhs". You could see how it rocked him.

Then suddenly he changed tack and started talking about how dangerous it is analyzing people via television - as if his opinion of President Carter wasn't largely gained by analyzing him on television. In the end, of course, Ayn Rand was proven right. There's near universal agreement, and certainly the voters believed so, that Carter was a very weak president.; 8/29/09, 10:04 AM