Atlas Shrugged: Part I drew a respectable $1.7 million this weekend considering it was only available in 300 theaters and received decidedly mixed reviews. The New York Post‘s Kyle Smith wrote: “‘Atlas Shrugged’ is like the Bible (the only title that outscored it in an unscientific 1991 survey that asked readers which books had most influenced them). Neither is to be taken literally.”

But what if, just for a moment, we did take it literally? How would we classify some of today’s top titans of industry through a Randian lens? Take, for example, General Electric CEO Jeffrey Immelt. Would Rand cast him as a heroic “producer” like steel magnate Henry Rearden, or a dastardly “looter” like Wesley Mouch? Consider that GE does produce a mountain of wealth for its investors every year. In 2010 alone, the company produced $14.2 billion in profits. But as The New York Times reported last month, and ProPublica later confirmed, GE paid little taxes on that $14.2 billion in taxes and even was able to book a $3.2 billion tax benefit.