5 Things the DW Needs to Do to Adapt Atlas Shrugged
Well, as is now (mostly) common knowledge, the Daily Wire plans to adapt Ayn Rand’s Atlas Shrugged into a television series. While adapting this behemoth of a novel will certainly be a herculean task, it is, in my view, certainly possible to pull off. With that in mind, here are my top five guidelines the DW needs to stick to in order to create a great television series adaptation of Atlas Shrugged!
#5: Move it Forward
While some have suggested that the adaptation should be set in the fifties when it was written, no less of an authority than Ayn Rand herself said that Atlas was supposed to be set around ten years into the future from time of reading (see Ayn Rand Answers). Atlas is a warning, a prediction of what will come. To keep true to this aspect of the story, the DW should set it in the (near) future.
#4: The Right Score
One thing that sets iconic shows like Netflix’s Stranger Things and HBO’s Game of Thrones apart are their respective theme scores. The Daily Wire should hire a great talent to compose the Atlas Shrugged theme and other scores for the most dramatic scenes of the book (preferably Ramin Djawadi if they can get him).
#3: Know What to Cut
By far the most infamous aspect of the novel is its two main monologues: Francisco D’anconia’s money speech in book two and the John Gault speech near the end of book three. While the money speech is not actually that long…the Gault speech is a bit much—around seventy pages, depending on the copy of the book. Quite frankly, that is too long for television. In this speech, Rand included not only passages that were relevant to the actual plot and characters of Atlas, but also passages that more specifically explained her own philosophy (which she described later in her non-fiction books anyway). Given this—presumably in the eventual third-or-so season of the show—whosoever is in charge of writing that episode (if anyone from the DW is reading this, I’m available) should cut out all passages not actually relevant to the plot. A decent example of what a trimmed down Gault speech would look like can be found here.
#2: Know What Not to Cut
One of the most talked-about theories regarding the adaptation is the worry that the Daily Wire’s adaptation will ultimately excise Ayn Rand’s philosophy and morality from the show, in favor of solely focusing on “economic freedom.” In my highly biased opinion, this would be a grave mistake. Atlas Shrugged has sold millions of copies as it is; to change a core aspect of the novel like this would seriously endanger the show’s success. What is more, the original morality behind the economic freedom in the book is rooted in Rand’s idea of rational self-interest, so to divorce that from just “economic freedom” would be an…odd creative choice.
#1: Get a Great Cast
By far the most pressing issue the Daily Wire must be concerned with is the casting. The show’s acting will make or break it, so it is crucial that the DW finds the best actors possible, a task that will be even harder than normal for them due to the fact that almost certainly some conservative actors who would otherwise be interested in collaborating with the Wire will be turned off by the idea of playing (morally good) selfish characters. Furthermore, Atlas has a very large cast, so simply finding enough actors might be a challenge.
In particular, whosoever is ultimately cast as Fransisco and Gault should preferably be actors with stage experience (Shakespeare would be ideal). That would certainly help them deliver their respective monologues convincingly.
America Forever,
Socrates Finch