What happens in the movie The Fountainhead?
The movie, The Fountainhead, starts with small snippets of Howard Roark being brought down by individuals in his life for not conforming to standards and expressing his individuality. The movie is set in New York in the 1940s and tells a story about a young man named Howard Roark, an architect who does a modern style of architecture during a time of conformity. Clients of Howard's try to conform his modernist style of architecture to a more traditional style of architecture, but Howard will not budge, which leads to Howard needing help finding clients who are attracted to his style of architecture. Because of Howard's originality and high-power individuals' inability to conform to him, Ellsworth Toohey becomes one of Howard's enemies by using his Banner paper column to disgrace Howard's work and exploit public opinion. Peter Keating, another architect who conforms to society's trends, needs help on a Cortlandt project and asks Howard for help with the design. Howard agreed after Peter and Howard signed a contract disclaiming the design and construction of the building needs to the original plans that Howard had designed. Unfortunately, Peter and Ellsworth breached the contract, so Howard used dynamite to blow the structure down. Roark setting dynamite at Cortlandt and blowing up the whole project leads to Howard being arrested and brought to court, where he defends his modernist style and protects his right to individuality and independence. Howard Roark is found not guilty.
How was The Fountainhead entrepreneurial?
The movie, The Fountainhead, is entrepreneurial based on the main character, Howard Roark. Howard Roark is unwilling and strives to "not think the way of a company man," making him have one of the most needed characteristics of an entrepreneur. Entrepreneurs need the characteristics of innovation and individuality because they are willing not to do whatever one else is doing. Another way the movie The Fountainhead is entrepreneurial is by constantly repeating and showing the audience what independence looks like in entrepreneurship. Multiple times throughout the movie, the word "independence" is brought continuously into dialogue, like Howard Roark explaining to Peter Keating why he does not conform to the style of societies architecture and constantly states, "my clients come to me, they want my work" even if it would bring him fame and wealth. No matter how difficult Howard's situation or how challenging other individuals made the architecture industry for Howard, he still stuck to his beliefs.
Why is it interesting?
Even after the movie ended, one thing that stuck with me individually was the conversation between Ellsworth and Peter Keating. During this scene towards the end of the movie, Keating is anxious, sitting in a chair while Ellsworth stands before him, asking him repeatedly who design Cortlandt. Peter asks Ellsworth why he wants to ruin Howard Roark so severely, and Ellsworth states how he wants Roark in Jail and tells him when to move and work. Ellsworth says that in Jail, Howard Roark will at least obey and take orders almost like a job. Peter asks Ellsworth what he is after, and he replies with "power." Ellsworth continues to tell peter that you cannot turn men into enslaved people unless you break their spirit, kill their capacity of being able to think individually and teach conformity while going on about how he has preached this manipulative method of "power" for years by praising fellow confirms like Peter Keating. Ellsworth then states a compelling choice of words "great men cannot be ruled." Ellsworth's method of enslaving employees without them being aware of it by promoting individuals who conformed made me think about our society today. When one graduates high school, everyone is told that they should go to college, get a job, save up their money, and work from 9-5 every day of the week, five days a year or more. That routine seems very sad and unentrepreneurial. While listening to Ellsworth state how to enslave a man reminded me immediately of what society tells everyone to do. It is interesting because, for decades, humans have been confirmed and not even know it. Year after Year, there is a decline in positions being held for jobs because our generation is not attracted to the traditional ways of society which is working a nine-to-five job.
How does this aspect of entrepreneurship affect society?
How did society stifle/affect society?
The interaction between entrepreneurship and society?
The desire for independence and individuality is the central aspect of entrepreneurship shown and stated throughout the movie The Fountainhead. The aspect of independence and individuality affects society by allowing individuals to use their independence not only stated in the constitution but within themselves to bring their style into the world, hoping that others can benefit from them out of the box thinking and innovation to better society and move us towards to future as a whole society. During the movie The Fountainhead, society was the one who stifled the aspect of entrepreneurship by multiple corporation firms wanting to fit society's conformity style of traditional old English architecture. Conforms of society affected the whole innovation process of being an entrepreneur. It took Howard Roark multiple tries and court trials for Howard's modernist architecture to be displayed in New York City as the highest skyscraper at the time. Multiple characters like Ellsworth and Peter Keating were subjecting Howard Roark to standing out and being independent in decision-making and take of action. The interaction between society and entrepreneurship shifts throughout the movie. At first, Howard Roark is not allowing himself to conform to other people's opinions on his architecture since his style was newly introduced at the time and modern in a world where the traditional way was the only "successful" way. No matter what challenges Roark faced, he stuck to his beliefs and independence even though he had close friends and colleagues trying to encourage him to conform to society. Conformity was even seen in Roark and Dominque's relationship. However, towards the end of the movie, Howard Roark speaks about the importance of innovation by giving an example of the first man who discovered fire, seen as a demon by others, but the innovation of fire helped millions of people with food, warmth, and light. The judge, jury, and all the people in the courtroom finally get Howard Roark's side of what he stands for and help explain the importance of individuality in a world that wants one to conform. As a result, Mr. Wynand hires Howard Roark to build a skyscraper for him as a tribute to what a man is capable of, anything possible.
