February 21, 2005
The Aviator
Ok, so I’ll just add my voice to the chorus of objectivists singing the praises of this movie. I would even venture that several scenes in the Aviator, as I’ve argued for the Incredibles, could have been written by Rand herself, at least vis-a-vis the sense of life and moral themes they present. The most obvious example is in the conflicts between Maine Senator Ralph Owen Brewster, played uncannily by Alan Alda, and Howard Hughes. Senator Brewster represents a real-life version of some of the worst Ayn Rand villains, closest perhaps to Atlas Shrugged’s Mr. Thompson:
“The Head of State, Thompson is pragmatic and driven only by the immediacy of the moment. He cynically believes that everyone, including Galt, is willing to cut a deal in exchange for power. He is genuinely stunned when Galt rejects his offer.” (from sparknotes.com)
Indeed Senator Brewster is portrayed as similarly pragmatic, seeing power over others as the ultimate currency. He cannot comprehend that the integrity and self-respect of Hughes could be any match for his populist point of a gun. He is the “might makes right” mentality that has motivated thugs throughout history, in a much more slick and self-righteous package.
DeCaprio, who also served as an executive producer on the film, had an interesting perspective on this conflict:
“…more so than anything, what I was worried about the most in this film was saying, “Okay, here’s the first American billionaire. He’s handsome, he sleeps with the best women in the world, he’s an American hero and how the hell do you make this situation with Juan Trippe and Pan American Airways and this Senator become a sympathetic situation towards Howard Hughes?”
“I was going through my head and churning constantly, and then I realized, for exactly what you’re talking about specifically, it has to do with corporate takeover and the involvement of huge corporations with our government, and they’re in cahoots and it’s going on today with the Enron scandals and numerous other things. That’s what really made me say, “Okay, here’s this one man, he’s his own boss, he is rich but he is a stand-up individual and here he is with all these horrible things going on with himself mentally, standing up in front of the Senate and battling the Senate to stop the monopoly on international travel.” I think, ultimately, people kind of got behind that and lost all the other pre-thoughts about who Howard Hughes was or whether he would be a sympathetic character. And as far as history is concerned, a lot of people I spoke to said they really wanted Howard Hughes to be President after that. They really loved this one individual taking on the entire system, taking on the government, taking on huge monopolies and corporations. And that’s what, in other words, struck a chord emotionally for people, or me at least anyway.” full interview at oscar.com
That a peaceful individual who is being attacked by parasitic businessmen and the federal government, for the simple fact of his ability to create wealth and beat the competition, should have to be portrayed in a certain light in order to be sympathetic is disturbing. Thankfully Hughes comes off as a hero of the utmost integrity in these scenes. His empassioned self-defense seems to capture the fire that was so egregiously lacking in Gary Cooper’s robotic courtroom defense speech as Howard Roark in the movie version of the Fountainhead. And unlike the woefully flat scene in the Fountainhead movie, one can actually imagine how the public could be swayed by Hughes’ appeal to basic rights and justice.
Another memorable scene portrays Hughes accompanying Katherine Hepburn (played by Cate Blanchett) to the Hepburn Family estate in Connecticut. The entire family does its best to tear down Hughes’ greatness, sniping at the idea of achievement with smug innuendo and interrupting him when he finally sees a chance to honestly discuss what they so contemptuously refer to as “airplane stuff". They pretend to be surprised when he finally stands up and accuses them of being spoiled patrician brats, responding to their haughty distaste for discussing finances with a curt “You don’t care about money because you’ve always had it".
But clearly the best sense of life is presented in scenes that deal with Hughes’ achievements and business dealings and his passion for flying, both literal and figurative. Watching DeCaprio and Blanchett flying over LA in Hughes beautiful custom prototype monoplane is breathtakingly poetic. The relaxed playful masculine-feminine interplay between them hits it peak when he challenges Blanchett to take the helm of the plane, wonderfully reminiscent of complex romantic interactions between Rand’s heroes and heroines.
All in all, the fact that hollywood is focusing it’s best resources and talent on making movies such as this -perhaps even taking a break from writing love letters to “humanitarians” like Fidel Castro- is more than encouraging.
Posted by exaltron at February 21, 2005 05:25 PM
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