(Warning: spoilers)
I really enjoy movies.
Most people do I think. We
love story, and it’s pretty easy to sit back and let the movie tell you the
story. Sure the book is almost
always better, but the movie is quicker.
I read the Great Gatsby years ago. I really didn’t remember much about the story, other than it
was about the “roaring 20’s” and there was something significant about a big
yellow car hitting someone, though I couldn’t remember who it hit or why it
became so significant.
Written in 1925 by F. Scott Fitzgerald, The Great Gatsby is
considered by many to be “The great American Novel”. I had been looking forward to watching Baz Luhrman’s movie
based on the book. I really like
Leonardo DiCaprio as an actor.
Ever since I saw him in “The Basketball Diaries”, I have been really
impressed with him. I also enjoyed
what Baz Luhrman did with Romeo and Juliet a few years ago. So I was looking forward to watching
“The Great Gatsby” with my wife, but I have to say that, overall, I was
disappointed.
Luhrman’s movies always have a bit of “weirdness” to them,
but that is part of what I like about them. I love the way he remixes modern songs to better fit the era
he’s set his movie in (Jay-Z produced the soundtrack). I think he did a great job
directing. Although I’m not a fan
of Tobey Maguire, I think the cast did a fine job acting.
Where I think the movie failed, was
that it was based on the book, which ultimately is flawed.
I’m not sure who I think I am to call “the great American novel”
flawed, but it is.
I realized the truth of this as I was watching the
movie. In the final moments, Tobey
Maguire’s character, Nick, says this:
“I remembered how we had all come to Gatsby’s and guessed at
his corruption, while he stood before us concealing an incorruptible dream”
I imagine that what he meant by “incorruptible” was that
Gatsby wouldn’t allow anything to get in the way of his dream, which would
normally be an admirable trait. But the problem is that Gatsby’s dream was corrupt to begin with; it was
an immoral dream. Gatsby wanted to
steal another man’s wife. Forget
the fact that he loved her first (and arguably better); she was still married
to another man.
That simple fact eliminates Gatsby as a likeable character.
The fact that Nick did not see that this was immoral
eliminates him as a likeable character.
Daisy, the woman in question, would rather be with Gatsby
and cheats on her husband.
Daisy’s husband is cheating on her. He only wants her as a possession; to
keep Gatsby from having her.
There is no possible outcome that you can cheer for; no
character that you want to see win.
The one character that you might feel pathos for becomes a murderer in
the end.
For all the discussion of Gatsby being the “most hopeful
man” that Nick had ever met, the viewer is left with a sense of hopelessness at
the end of the movie.
You feel as dirty as the inhabitants of the valley of ashes,
for being mixed up in this story.
Someone might argue that this is what makes the story
“great”. That it is realistic, as
opposed to being too idealistic.
And while that may be true, it doesn’t make it great. By that standard, the evening news is “great”.
More than anything else, it is the suggestion itself that
Gatsby is “great” that leaves the viewer so disappointed.
Immorality is definitely realistic, and it may certainly be
forgiven, but it should never be celebrated.
