The EnlightenMeFree (EMF) Online Debate Forum

http://www.legendoftheseeker.com/

Anyone following this new series on tv?
I watched a few episodes on line. reminds me of my days with Liz Prophet's group when fighting evil forces with magic was ordinary reality.
The series is produced by the same folks that brought us the recent Xena and Hercules tv fantasies. There is erotic tension between the main characters, a cute witch with an enticing bosom and a well-cut hero called the Seeker and, of course, an old wizard like the Gandalf archetype from Tolkien's trilogy. Lots of swordfight scenes, mythic creatures and psychic power clashes around every corner of the plot. Aging New Agers and fantasy buffs of all ages will like The Seeker but some critics find it too predictable, derivative of Star Wars, the bible, and Harry Potter, and sorely in need of improved dialog between characters.

The scenery is superb---filmed in New Zealand.

The reason the Legend of the Seeker series intrigues me is its weird exposition of Ayn Rand's philosophy of the individual as prime entity. Rand, the author of Atlas Shrugged and The Fountainhead had a devoted following that resembled any self-sealing system that we often call a cult. The Seeker's inspiration is the wizard books of Terry Goodkind who bases his writing on Ayn Rand's teaching and the Objectivism of Rand. Goodkind calls himself an Objectivist:
http://www.terrygoodkind.com/the_author/philosophy.html
http://www.terrygoodkind.com/the_author/

http://www.lewrockwell.com/rothbard/rothbard23.html
"The rereading of Atlas [Atlas Shrugged] was also important to the cult because the wooden, posturing, and one-dimensional heroes and heroines were explicitly supposed to serve as role models for every Randian. Just as every Christian is supposed to aim at the imitation of Christ in his own daily life, so every Randian was supposed to aim at the imitation of John Galt (Rand?s hero of heroes in Atlas.) He was always supposed to ask himself in every situation "What would John Galt have done?" When we remind ourselves that Jesus, after all, was an actual historical figure whereas Galt was not, the bizarrerie of this injunction can be readily grasped. (Although from the awed way Randians spoke of John Galt, one often got the impression that, for them, the line between fiction and reality was very thin indeed.)"

In the Seeker series the hero is Richard Cypher, the last name a variant of cipher which is a largely obsolete English word for "zero." All this has meaning in the Rand Objectivist system.

Objectivism [a form of utterly subjective rationalism--to me an oxymoron] translated is in sync with RSE's idea that the individual is not only responsible for everything that happens in his or her life but that he has the god potential within that can be exploited for personal gain and immortality. All one needs to do is follow the teaching absolutely and pay for it.

It is interesting to note how well this philosophy works only in books and films of fantasy.

Joe, great ending point about the fantasy or potential being mistaken for reality.

That's one of the areas of maturity I gained from my RSE experience... to look to see if a philosophy has consistent application AND accomplishment.