Atlas endured

Opinion: April 28, 2011 at 12:00a.m.

Chicago Tribune: She was a militant atheist who favored abortion rights and thought Ronald Reagan typified “the worst kind of conservatism.” Ayn Rand may sound like someone tea partiers and other conservatives would detest. In fact, they have been filling theaters to cheer a movie based on her novel “Atlas Shrugged.”

The critics panned it — the Chicago Tribune’s Michael Phillips called it “crushingly ordinary in every way” — but plenty of fans don’t care. They flocked to see the film, Part 1 of a planned trilogy, when it opened April 15. This low-budget, under-advertised movie racked up better box office numbers, on a per-theater basis, than director Robert Redford’s “The Conspirator.”

Why? Partly because Rand’s novel has a lot of ardent fans: Despite its 1,000-page length, it has sold 7 million copies since it was published in 1957. In a Library of Congress survey, the Bible ranked first on a list of most influential books named by readers. “Atlas Shrugged” was second.

Its celebration of unchained capitalism and defiant individualism has struck a chord among many Americans who are dismayed by the expansion of government.

Many in the tea party movement feel an affinity for Rand. One of its most-admired politicians, Wisconsin Republican Rep. Paul Ryan, has said Rand is “the reason I got involved in public service.”

But would Rand feel the same way about the tea party, if she were still around?

It’s an open question. She’d like the movement’s support for cutting federal spending and its hostility toward income redistribution. But given her reverence for systematic thought and intellectual rigor, she would bridle at the likes of Sarah Palin. The influence of Christian conservatives might send Rand, a sworn enemy of religion, fleeing to Galt’s Gulch.