The Great Gatsby - Movie Review Example

The Great Gatsby Movie: Gatsby as Materialistic, and Social during Gatsby period compared to today’s living standards Introduction The directed, Baz Luhrman solicits heavily from F Schott Fitzgerald’s novel and brings out a plausible affection story that effectively presents the Gatsby as a complete mess characterized by self inventions, and delusions. In addition, the movie introduces drugs like cigarettes, dishonest, deceitfulness and frequent jazz-linked associates that work well in fussing ancient-movie theatrics and discriminatory camera work. In addition, the movie blends contemporary pop and age music, fast-paced pleasantry and physiological drama, and imaginary scenery and genuine sets. The film’s opening brings in numerous upsurges of visual excesses including many boozing and shouting merrymaking visitors, city spaces characteristic of New York in the 1920s, and lengthy expository dialogue between Nick and Gatsby, to reconcile into an ancient furrow of scenes, medley , aggression, and meditation. The outcome is a misapprehension fabricated mostly through voice and body language in the characters. The choice of each character makes the movie to bring out the perception that Gatsby is man he yearned to be and that his absence eliminated all other characters. Consequently, Gatsby hides his schemes from most of the characters and always appears to know something unknown to the audience, and as if omnipresent. These attributes work well in driving the theme of love, greed and materialism, and corruption. The discussion in this paper explores the materialistic nature of the society presented in this movie and sets out to compare the social class back then with that of modern day society. Materialism The setting of the Great Gatsby Movie and Novel is in the American Jazz age of 1920s coupled with America’s mass consumption and mass culture era. The Jazz age characterized a period where modernism differentiated by individual success and the desire for wealth substituted the customary values entrenched independence affirmation (Berman 30-33). Conversely, America’s mass utilization and mass invention culture led to elevated wages for the middle class living in urban centers while prosperous financiers celebrated over enhanced profits. Consequently, there was a rise in pursuit of wealth resulting to cupidity. Additionally, mass commodity brought in Hollywood cinema and mass radio broadcast, with tickets sold to the mass for similar films, while advertising promoted the selling mass commodity. According to Luhrmann, the movie is set at time when people are too much in pursuit of the American dream especially Gatsby whose death results to the death of his dream (Berman 33). Evidently, the movie defines the American Jazz age through its utilization of jazz music, and the numerous parties thrown by Gatsby. The motivation is Gatsby a strong desire to possess as much wealth as possible and remain in the highest social status while flaunting his money all around to win over Daisy who he does not only love but also adores hence motivates him to believe that he must live a materialistic lifestyle (Malkmes 45). Materialism goes with consumerism that goes with the idea that purchasing costly materials, or items associated with consumer satisfaction can result to happiness. For instance, Gatsby takes Daisy to a tour around his house to show her that she could be happy by making up her mind to leave Tom, and get married to him. However, despite the search for happiness and materials, Gatsby forgets to create personal relationships as evident after Gatsby’s death. After his death, the poor funeral attendance shows that his American dream of getting Daisy’s love, acquiring a high social status, and being wealthy remain corrupted by his materialistic lifestyle (Malkmes 46-47). In pursuit of mass wealth, the society loses it value for morals that then corrupts Gatsby’s dream (Kate 21-23). Most evidently, Gatsby’s romantic view of life may partly blame for his failed efforts to achieve his American dream. Unlike in Fitzgerald’s story, the movie takes up a conventional adaptation characterized by sumptuous melodramatic emotion’s merriment and reckless spending of material. Gatsby whose life is stimulated by the attractiveness of a gorgeous wealthy girl called Daisy finds himself living not for himself to for his dream to live a good life that could match Daisy’s class. To gain more wealth, Gatsby engages suspicious business deals and racketeering and his heart is not concerned by the moral evil immediate him (Kate 24). In addition, Gatsby believes that winning Daisy over would bring him vast riches especially based on her voice. However, Daisy is not compassionate with him and is very self-centered and careless with the lives of others as seen in her on Gatsby for unintended manslaughter of Wilson that eventually results to Gatsby’s death. Social class during America’s 1920s compared to the current today During the 1920s, social status is symbolic through the role of social status. Social emulation is common through extravagant personal display and conspicuous consumer trends as in Gatsby (Malkmes 15-20). Social class is crucial and families with high social standing needed to retain their class even by the choice partners their children chose for marriage. According to Daisy’s parents, Gatsby is not wealthy to the level of her social status and was not worthy marrying her. On the other hand, the less fortunate strive to move from rags to wealth to the extent of engaging suspicious businesses to have more material, more power and higher social standing. Like is in the movie, Americans retain the civilization of love for indulgence and liberation hence the society is money-addled and always in search of social status. In order to bring out materialism, the movie uses excessive materialism to emphasis the irony in the Fitzgerald’s title where the word “great” was to the point in defining an American culture. In the movie, the target is more of young people and kids in the current American generation as evident in the choice of sound track. The audience is crucial given that reading the book only acknowledges materials like clothes, parties, and jewels but without any acknowledgement of the destructive materialism presented. Unlike the Fitzgerald, Luhrmann openly blends iconography of 1920s self-indulgence with the plunder of hip-hop and high-end consumerism present in modern day America. Like Gatsby, many young Americans want to accumulate as much wealth as is possible to earn social standards, power, and class and extravagantly display their consumerism trends (Malkmes 15). Extravagant consumer patterns involve purchase and consumption of items of valuable material power like fancy cars and extravagance in parties and over the bar. However, like is with Jay-Z, young people can identify with legal and uncorrupt means to earn their wealth, social status, and class that are unlike the case of Gatsby whose sources are those of mystery, potential ruin, and shame. The movie’s choice of characters informs young Americans today that it is possible to remain faithful to the source material by decisively analyzing and identifying persons portraying modernistic representation of magnificence self-indulgence and being honest (Sanchez-Ubanell n.p). Towards this cause, the movie’s use of young talents like Jay-Z is an inspirational starting point to show that talents are a great source of wealth, status and money and not linked to unpleasant past or obsessive by status angst (Dowd n.p). Conclusion In The Great Gatsby, what makes the world is money, as it can buy materials like Rolls Royces and happiness. Like in the 1920s, the movie feels fresh especially in its aspect of pursuit of materialism, and surplus and false luxury. While some characters demonstrate lack of appreciation of social norms and proceed to influence, tremble, or mock them, other characters desire to distance themselves from the evil of the society. This clearly matches with the young Americans who are today searching for their American dream in an environment characterized by enchanting indulgence of wealth, social status, and power that comes with signs that prove it. What the movie tries to reveal to the targeted young audience is that wealth and power are not always through scrupulous means and the young people have to be aware of susceptibility proportions around them (Dimock n.p). Works Cited Berman, Ronald. The Great Gatsby and modern times. Urbana: Uiversity of Illinois Press, 1996. Dimock, Wai, Chee. What’s Left to Say? Four Fitzgerald Scholars on Baz Luhrmann’s Gatsby by T. Austin Graham, Caleb Smith, John Irwin & Wai Chee Dimock. 6 June 2013. 20 June 2014. . Dowd, Maureen. In a Gaudy Theme Park, Jay-Z Meets J-Gatz. 4 May 2013. 20 June 2014. . Kate, Maurer. The Great Gatsby. Foster City, CA: Wiley Publishing, 2000. Malkmes, Johannes. American consumer culture and its society : from F. Scott Fitzgeralds 1920s modernism to Bret Easton Ellis1980s blank fiction. Hamburg: Diplomica-Verl.,, 2011. Sanchez-Ubanell, Eduardo. materialism theme in the. 24 May 2013. 20 June 2014. . Read More