The Fountainhead - Roark's Courtroom Speech

[paweleve]

Great movie, great book, and great speech!

[remoman]

If I was the judge I would say "nice speech... You are hereby sentenced to 25 years imprisonment with a no parole period of 20".

[krishbrish]

I strongly believe that Gary Cooper did not justify the power of Howard Roark...

[JustBme87]

It feels good to see something that speaks my cup of tea, I very much relate to this as an happily unemployed artist w odd jobs jus making ends meet

[virginboy92]

3 people are too fuckin stupid to understand this

[tuxguys]

7/4/11, 12:38 AM...

Happy Independence Day, all, and what better way to celebrate it than with Howard Roark's (Gary Cooper's) Testimony/Summation regarding the Individual vs. the Collective. At 3:49 he references the Last Best Hope of Mankind (we crazy Americans).

Although I find what I've heard about Ayn Rand, personally, to be repulsive, the Libertarian, and Theist, in me (which is just about all of me), finds her ideas to be Intellectual Pornography of the Highest Order.

(This is good.)

[superBernard49]

Toohey looks ready to kill.

[Grasslander]

"Every new invention was denounced." False. "No creator was prompted by a desire to please his brothers, his brothers hated the gift he offered. His truth was his only motive. His work was his only goal. His work - not those who used it. His creation - not the benefits others derived from it." -- False. Typical of human-hating Ayn Rand, an amateur who knew nothing of business OR innovation, and who was just as hateful as the communists.

[rsimpson69]

@Grasslander I think that means that though he recognized the potential demand there would be for his creation, he does not create it solely, or even mostly, for that demand to be met, but more for his own needs to be met. Those needs can be tangible like a reward he'll receive in exchange for his creativity, or intangible like the satisfaction of seeing his idea come into existence. In either case, the meeting of the demands of others is secondary, at best.

FWIW, I am not a Randian

[rsimpson69]

@Grasslander But additionally, it would seem logical that political interests, always consumed with maintaining the status quo, and not at all with making real improvements, and likely made up of established businessmen whose fortunes would suffer from the new competition offered by those new inventions, would probably denounce those new inventions, at least initially.

What do you see? I see irony, since the 'selfish' creators actually do more for humanity than the 'selfless' public servant.

[caarvaak]

Heard about The Fountainhead in my student life. This video, perhaps, is the last word AGAINST altruistic ideologies and FOR individualism. Thanks for uploading.

[BlueRoseRocketBand2]

Obama the parasite!

[johnskel002]

seeing this video clip a few months ago inspired me to go out and buy the fountainhead and atlas shrugged. im like half way thru the fountainhead and i fucking love ayn rands ideas. shes amazing. o and i think im in love with howard raurk lol :)

[theporksicle]

Absolutely true.

[nixsogutstudios]

this movie is old black and white from the past not good needs color and effect fast scenes like a clip from transformers with real movie

[TheDahliaTelegraph]

@nixsogutstudios very drôle.

[confoundtheidols]

This is to this day, one of the best movies I've ever seen.

[Tarafriend33]

What ever happened to common sense? Anyone else remember it? Does it really take a courtroom scene in a movie, and a great movie I might add, to remind us of common sense? I guess so, because a friend posted this video to my Facebook wall today.... LOL God bless our good friends and the common sense they share. :)

[thekingofsports69]

i wish i was that smart...

[ken200090024]

I love this scene!

[ken200090024]

I love this scene!

[Edwardbrooklyn]

This is one of the greatest movies of all time.

Economic Freedom is the most important part of Freedom.

If one person comes and takes your property is call stealing, but if thousands do it, its call tax. Nobody has the right to take the product of your work.

You and I spend most of our time working, if they (government) take 20% percent of our work, they made us a slave for 20% percent of our time.

"I do not reconice anyone's right to one minute of my live,... no matter who makes the claim"

[doughtymqan]

I will not be assimilated. Roark is a stud.

[KapitanoStuff]

A strawman argument, a provably false series of assertions, a badly written tantrum. Like everything else Rand wrote.

[Wraith23]

@KapitanoStuff

Care to elaborate a little?

Or is that too hard for you?

[greylight42]

what thats not the end, got the book in front of me. wtf?

[deZengo]

A friend recommended this clip as we study and discuss greek mythology and the allegory i this movie to Prometheus Bound. From what I have read Albert Einstein felt similar betrayal. Those who seek to benefit from great inventions and vision : but refuse to use them for the good of humankind. I enjoyed the clip and thank you for posting it.

[PeterFirthFan]

Cooper was a talentless CUNT.

[locheelad2]

Then what was Rock Hudson?

[PeterFirthFan]

Hudson was better than the ugly, stupid cancer-ridden CUNT Cooper.

[The6000Sabre]

PeterFirthFan must die

[lordhighexecutioner]

Roarke also shows that he is mad when he claims that people invent things not to solve problems, but only to feed their egos. He also claims that everyone hates new inventions and inventors. What nonsense. These are the ravings of a lunatic, not a hero.

[GumpyJumptooth]

Spoken like a true Brit.  Someone from a conquered nation still reeling from the collapse of a supposed Empire.

Roark's words are for the world's achievers. Which you'll find in America.

[PeterFirthFan]

China and Russia are far more powerful than the American Empire.

[bdp6740]

China is really good at making cheap copies of American ideas/products and mass producing them.

Russia is a laughing stock.

Neither have ever produced anything of note except folly and murder on a unknown scale. The majority of their population is poor, illiterate, and has a standard of living less than most zoo animals in the US. Don't worry, the "moochers and looters" will bring the US down to their level soon.

[bdp6740]

You are ignorant. Solving problems does feed egos. Furthermore, what happened to Galileo?!?!

[lordhighexecutioner]

That is. what makes an architect worthy of being one of the supermen? Why not write a book about the plumber destroying a building because the toilets are not arranged as he likes them... What if Mr. Roarke was working for Donald Trump and Trump changed the plans of the Trump tower being planned... would Rand have approved of his destroying a Trump tower? Or is it OK because it's public housing for the poor commissioned by government?

[lordhighexecutioner]

Roark is clearly mad. Not only is he a terrorist and a vandal, but he divides the world between Creator and Looter when no one can possibly be a Creator (his description suggests a super-inventor sitting on a quadrillion dollars) - so everyone is a Looter of low consideration. Moreover, as an architect, he is paid for his work. Destroying work commissioned by his boss is an act of supreme arrogance ... he casts himself a something he can't possibly be...

[mortivik]

lordhighexecutioner: You haven't read the book, it seems.

The contract he had specifically says they had to agree to his design, as-is. They broke the contract, thus not "paying" him as was the deal -- *they* initiated force against *him* (stealing), and he refuses to let them steal from him, thus blowing up Cortlandt.

[LordZontar]

@mortivik Except that very point is made in the movie and it still makes no difference as to how wrong Roark's action was and how absurd the entire premise of it is in the first place. Even if we grant the idiotic notion that any such contract would have been agreed to in the first place (impossible as the needs and desires of a client change over time), breach of contract is not "force". Roark has a lawsuit. He has no right to commit terrorism.

[mortivik]

@LordZontar By breaching the contract, they have abrogated any rights to Cortlandt, as the rights were Roark's, and Roark's *alone*, until he transfered them via contract.

Contracts are a conditional transfer of ownership rights -- if the contract is broken, the rights are returned to the original owner.

As the sole rights holder of Cortlandt, Roark can do as he pleases. Terrorism implys initiating force, whereas Roark was retributive.

[LordZontar]

@mortivik Wrong. Roark is doing a work-for-hire job. He does not own the building, the people who commissioned him do. They own the property on which it is to be built and they're supplying the materiel and crews to do the job. At no point does Roark have any ownership share in the physical property itself, since those commissioning his work at no point agreed to any transfer of subsidiary rights to the building.

[Harpenfarker]

@LordZontar: Would there be need for the property, the materials or crews without the "vision?"....twhat of "intellectual property", would your position encompass the entertainment industry as well?

[LordZontar]

@Harpenfarker — immaterial. The plain fact is that Roark is being commissioned by somebody else to build THEIR building, not his. And the law does encompass that position in the entertainment industry. Look up "work-for-hire" sometime. In any case, Roark's philosophy does not justify committing sabotage and endangerment of the lives of others. He's guilty of actual, tangible crimes and in the real world (a realm Rand had little contact with), that's what he'd be going to prison for.

[Wraith23]

@LordZontar

"breach of contract is not "force""

Care to define "force"?

[LordZontar]

@Wraith23 -- Force is actual physical restraint or an actual physical attack. It does not extend to nebulous pseudo-definitions covering legal issues or disputes. If anybody is "initiating force", it is Howard Roark himself with his act of terrorism.

[Wraith23]

@LordZontar

I see, I believe you have a confussion between force and agression.

Agression extends to physical and non physical violations of an individual's rights.

This movie was about the violation of the Non Agression Principle and the defense of individual rights.

[LordZontar]

@Wraith23 -- No, the movie was about trying to justify a model for sociopathic behaviour. It's logic is horribly flawed and, in any real world, would have gotten Howard Roark sentenced as a terrorist, not as an individualist. Furthermore, the very axiom you are attempting to put forth in Roark's defence defines aggression as the use or threat of physical force or of fraud. Roark's own actions qualify under the first definition.

[Harpenfarker]

@LordZontar: Based upon YOUR misconception it would be my guess you feel the same is true of the US constitution and its authors?

[LordZontar]

@Harpenfarker — since neither the U.S. constitution or its authors have anything at all to do with the issue, your so-called "point" actually makes no point whatsoever.

[Harpenfarker]

@LordZontar: It appears you have the same difficulty distinguishing "rationale?" 

[LordZontar]

@Harpenfarker — no, it appears you have a cartoon view of U.S. history. The American revolutionaries were not in any way, shape, or form fighting for anything like Rand's goofy no-government "philosophy". They were not fighting for the right to be "left alone" but for a common union based on democratic republican principles. So no, Howard Roark doesn't qualify for comparison, but it's comical of you to try to make it so.

[Harpenfarker]

@LordZontar: CARTOON?......COMICAL?......No question however it is (in my view) anger fueled, hateful, elitist twits who (lacking the slightest degree of humor) take themselves SO seriously......GET OVER YOURSELF!

[ThunderboltSnake]

~Humanity is put on Earth to Innovate NOT Imitate~

~This was the best part of Ayn Rand's book of this name~

~Rand's best whole work is her "Anthem" to this day~

[Petrionvitunkomea]

I just love this whole movie :)

[perytonn]

I love this scene; I am glad it was included in the movie intact. He makes a persuasive speech.

[videobrownsville]

My ears have just been open to Ayn Rand and egoism, I'm still struggling with her philosophy---for example, would i not take any job until i get my dream job? Based on her egoism philosophy one should not settle for less...ok sounds good but what about feeding your family? All that goes out the window real quick.

[WOMCProductions]

You should read the book. The protagonist of the novel, Howard Roark, DID take a job that was "beneath" him when he was prevented from doing what he cared about.

[bowlingballout]

Thanks for sending this over!

[milfrie]

I think the idea is that you live for yourself.. create yourself.. find her interview with Mike Wallace and Donahue on here. The idea I get (and I am no high achiever) is that I own myself.. no one can lay a greater claim on you than you can or use you in some way. And, we are not to impose our will or steal the fruits of labor.. also look at some of the videos here on individualism v. collectivism by Griffin or STOP and LOOK

[LuisEduardoGalindo]

I will always love this speech, this movie got me for its approach to architecture of 40-50's ambience, but this final speech about freedom of individual creativy and respect for it is magistral

[Felix1085]

This country has drifted so far from the truth, that this video will seem alien to them.

But, Thank you, I understand.

[LordZontar]

@Felix1085 Read the preamble to the United States Constitution. What it states as the purposes of the American republic are diametrically in opposition to Ayn Rand's so-called "truths".

[worldtechguy]

Forget the current slate of political movies. The Fountainhead needs to be shown to every schoolkid, adult, and politician. I doubt very many will understand it, but even if a few do, it will be an improvement.

[WordOfTheLivingLie]

IMO Cooper did a terrible job of delivering this. Besides annoying clicking sounds he keeps making, he sounds like he's just regurgitating memorized text.