By Diana Hsieh @ 8:10 AM
Brad Bird, the director of The Incredibles, commented on the often-proposed connection between his film and Ayn Rand's philosophy in a recent interview:
Q:"The Incredibles" generated quite a lot of ink on op-ed pages, where pundits debated the film's thesis that mediocrity is celebrated in America and that people with special abilities were being discouraged from being quite so special. Were you surprised?
A:The idea that "The Incredibles," a mainstream animated feature, was thought of as provocative was wonderful to me. I was very gratified, though I thought some of the analysis was really kind of goofy.
Q:Such as?
A:Some pieces compared the viewpoint to the objectivist philosopher Ayn Rand. I thought that was silly and the writers were humorless. I was into Rand for about six months when I was 20, but you outgrow that narrow point of view. Some compromise is necessary in life.
Of course, I would have been surprised if he had been influenced by Ayn Rand. But I was hoping for something a bit less banal than that. Oh well.
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