Brad Bird on Ayn Rand

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.