Angelica Walker-Werth's Articles
Arts & Culture, Philosophy
Individualism in Anthem, Jane Eyre, and The Giver
Angelica Walker-Werth January 12, 2024
Many literary works depict individualist heroes struggling against collectivist societies, but three brilliant examples are Charlotte Brönte’s classic Jane Eyre, Lois Lowry’s award-winning young-adult novel The Giver, and Ayn Rand’s dystopian novella Anthem.
Arts & Culture, Reviews
Wonka, Directed by Paul King
Angelica Walker-Werth December 15, 2023
Despite Wonka’s unfortunate confusion about greed, Wonka is a joyful film that celebrates innovation, entrepreneurship, and win-win relationships. If you’re looking for a fun movie to enjoy with the whole family this holiday season, this is a great pick.
Arts & Culture, Reviews
The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes, Directed by Francis Lawrence
Angelica Walker-Werth December 7, 2023
The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes fails its source material in two major ways: It barely touches on the control-versus-freedom conflict central to the book, and it fails to establish Coriolanus as the Hobbesian power luster he appears as in the later films.
Arts & Culture, Reviews
The Great Escaper, Directed by Oliver Parker
Angelica Walker-Werth November 8, 2023
The Great Escaper is a touching tribute to important aspects of a life well-lived: honoring your friends, cherishing your spouse, doing the things you want to do even when no one thinks you can, and celebrating the pleasure of being alive.
Arts & Culture
The Creator, Directed by Gareth Edwards
Angelica Walker-Werth October 13, 2023
Instead of dealing with serious and timely issues in a thought-provoking manner, The Creator rehashes familiar tropes and common fears to convey a shallow anti-America story that ignores the moral issues it raises.
Politics & Rights, Science & Technology
GMOs: Good, Man-Made Organisms
Angelica Walker-Werth August 29, 2023
Contrary to decades-long, well-financed efforts to discredit and prohibit GMOs, gene editing is a profoundly life-enhancing technology. GM crops can and have saved lives, improved health, enhanced the soils they are planted in, freed up land, and increased profits for farmers—especially in the developing world.
Arts & Culture, History, Reviews
Oppenheimer, Written and Directed by Christopher Nolan
Angelica Walker-Werth July 28, 2023
Oppenheimer was a key mind behind the invention and development of the bombs that ended World War II. He was also haunted by the question of whether producing these bombs was the right thing to do. This question runs throughout Christopher Nolan’s recent biopic, Oppenheimer, hailed by some as “the most epic WWII film yet."
Arts & Culture, Reviews
What’s Love Got to Do With It? Directed by Shekhar Kapur
What’s Love Got to Do With It? is a well-written and refreshingly thoughtful film that shows the crucial importance of honesty and independent thinking in achieving happiness. It is a sensitive yet incisive study of the clash between Islamic and Western cultures—and between collectivism and individualism.
Philosophy, Reviews
Knock at the Cabin, Written, Produced, and Directed by M. Night Shyamalan
Knock at the Cabin depicts the vile notion that it is moral to sacrifice the person you love most—your highest value—for the benefit of others and/or to appease God.
Arts & Culture, Politics & Rights
Are Filmmakers Finally Standing Up to Chinese Censorship?
Angelica Walker-Werth December 12, 2022
The Chinese Communist Party perpetrates some of the worst censorship in the modern world. Film companies have a moral responsibility not to sanction the CCP and its horrors by capitulating to them—much less collaborating with them.
Arts & Culture, Reviews
Hocus Pocus 2, Directed by Anne Fletcher
Angelica Walker-Werth November 4, 2022
Unfortunately, Hocus Pocus 2 (2022) features only the trappings of the original, with watered-down characters, a weak plot, and no moral message.
Education & Parenting, Politics & Rights
Does Abortion Violate Rights?
Angelica Walker-Werth October 4, 2022
To understand whether abortion violates rights, we need to understand what rights are, where they come from, and how they apply in this context.
Announcements, Ayn Rand & Objectivism
New Reading Group on Ayn Rand’s The Virtue of Selfishness
Angelica Walker-Werth September 15, 2022
Should you live for others, or for yourself? Is morality a set of rules that hold you back, or a system of principles to help you thrive? Ayn Rand offered radical answers to these and related questions in The Virtue of Selfishness. Join Angelica Walker-Werth and other active-minded readers for a deep dive into this powerful book.
Economics, Politics & Rights, Science & Technology
Johan Norberg on Openness, Innovation, and Flourishing
“The key to remaining an optimist,” says Norberg, “is to ignore politics, at least a little. . . . Read a science magazine to look at the interesting research and the innovations that are taking place. You’ll realize that even under the worst of circumstances, the worst politics and the nastiest tempers, people continue to improve the world.”
Reviews
Brazen: From Long Sleeves to Lingerie by Julia Haart
Angelica Walker-Werth August 10, 2022
Brazen, the story of how Julia Haart became an independent-minded, life-loving woman, is a welcome reminder of how rich and beautiful the world is—and why everyone should be free to enjoy it.