| | Jon,
Oh, I wouldn't say it's bizarre at all... at least if you're defining "bizarre" as meaning "incomprehensible". On the contrary, I would say it's absolutely comprehensible: my appreciation for the drawing seems to me an authentic and loving response to the whole Ayn Rand, rather than just the intolerant and sanitized idealization of her that so many objectivists would rather promote, finding the whole Ayn Rand unappetizing to face in its entirety. In short, the reason this caricature works for me, is that it happens to capture the whole Ayn Rand for me, warts and all. And it's the warts and all that ultimately make her human and connectable to me.
Rand, to me, was a creature of such unbridled, superhuman intelligence as to be supremely intimidating and, yes, even scary because of it. I don't think there was a single person who ever read her work, who didn't get the sense that she basically held the world itself in her hands, to do with as she pleased. Many people were enraptured by that aspect of her, and others were horrified by it. A given person's response to this "scary smart" nature of hers is, I tentatively feel, basically an indicator of how fully compatible they feel ideologically with what she stood for, and how safe they would ultimately feel in a Randish world.
I believe that those who felt on some level like they were at odds with her ideas, feared subconsciously that they might be on the receiving end of harsh consequences meted out by an emerging objectivist presence in the world. Thus, her scariness was experienced more purely negatively. On the contrary, those who believed they would have gotten along very well with Ayn Rand, had they ever been able to meet her, due to a feeling of kindredness, would likely have processed her "scary" aspect as "scary super cool", as I do.
I happen to fall into the second category. I don't think I would ever have feared Rand, had I met her in person. I might probably even have argued with her on several points. But I would always have felt a sense of safety around her... the kind of safety that comes from knowing you're in the presence of a kindred spirit, no matter what. And what is certain is that I would not have felt the need to avoid her full reality and scariness, in order to feel comfortable about her. I could have accepted her as is, warts and all. I would suspect that's where you and I are different, at least off the top of my head.
Perhaps you're just not as comfortable with the dark side of things. But I've learned that facing the dark side of things is essential, because unless you're willing to be fully present for everything, you don't really know what you're really dealing with, enough to really appreciate it as you might.
So, yes. I'm laying it all out on the table here: Rand was scary. But, to me, she was super scary, super cool. And I think that's the feeling these other folks are having, and is why they also find the drawing as delightful as I do... because I think that all the thoughts and feelings I've just described are also happening to them in the blink of an eye, almost too fast for the mind to sort out, and for words to properly convey.
(Edited by Mr. Jeremy M. LeRay on 2/18, 4:27pm)
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Ayn Rand Caricature
