‘Atlas Shrugged’ DVDs Recalled Because of Ideology Error

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Well, we find this sort of hilarious. The first part of the film adaptation of Ayn Rand’s controversial 1957 novel Atlas Shrugged recently came out on DVD, to not much aplomb. However, the DVDs are now being recalled, and Atlas Productions LLC announced yesterday that they would replace more than 100,000 title sheets from DVD and Blu-ray discs. Apparently, part of the marketing copy on the package reads “AYN RAND’s timeless novel of courage and self-sacrifice comes to life…” That doesn’t seem so offensive, unless you have, oh we don’t know, even a rote understanding of what the novel is about.

As the film’s producer Harmon Kaslow stated, “As we all well know, the ideas brought to life in Atlas Shrugged are entirely antithetical to the idea of ‘self-sacrifice’ as a virtue. Atlas is quite literally a story about the dangers of self-sacrifice. The error was an unfortunate one and fans of Ayn Rand and Atlas have every right to be upset… and we have every intention of making it right.” Ah, irony. If it makes anyone feel any better, the new and improved line is set to read “AYN RAND’s timeless novel of rational self-interest comes to life,” which seems about right.

[via /Film]