When Fitzgerald chose to refer to Gatsby as
the Great Gatsby what did he mean
exactly? Was he referring to the amount
of vice in Jay Gatsby’s character and life, was he referring to the bulk of
money in Gatsby’s life or was he attempting to eulogize Gatsby? What did film director Baz Luhrmann and the
filmmakers of the recent film, The Great Gatsby intend when they
entitled their film in the same way? The word ‘great’ is not one I would use to describe Jay Gatsby or
Luhrmann’s film.
One thing I respected about Luhrmann’s The
Great Gatsby was having an African-American executive producer, Jay-Z. So few people of color have positions of
decision-making power in Hollywood film, good for Jay-Z. Another thing I respected about the film was
casting the excellent and esteemed actor, Leonardo DiCaprio, who happens to be
one of my favorites. However, the film
and Gatsby left me feeling disappointed and sad.
Around the world, greatness has a positive
connotation. In Arabic, greatness is عظمة, magnificence or splendor. In French, greatness is grandeur,
nobleness. In Korean, greatness is 고귀, grandeur or nobleness. Even in the English language, greatness is
something positive and to be desired, magnificence. By contrast, Gatsby’s behavior was emotionally and mentally unstable, he was a
charlatan-like character, obsessive, and misguided. One of the scenes in the film that I found
terribly unappealing was when Gatsby became nearly violently angered by Daisy’s
husband. Daisy herself seemed appalled. An intended and near violent act toward one
humin being is not love for
another humin being nor is it greatness it is emotional instability. The film makes references to Gatsby’s
connection to the 1920’s underworld.
Being involved in crime or exhibiting criminal behavior is not greatness
it is illegal and it is mental instability.
Lastly, Gatsby spends years of his life obsessively achieving financial
success to please a married womin who didn’t want him as a poor man, shi
embarks on loving another man, and, in the end, seriously betrays Gatsby
again: He incurs trouble for a crime shi commits, gets killed in the
process, and shi never owns-up to the truth publicly nor does shi ever go to
Gatsby’s funeral. How awful shi
was! I would say his “love” was severely
misguided not an act of greatness.
In addition, the femel
lead, the flapper Daisy, lacks depth and dimension. Shi seems shallow, doesn’t seem to know what
shi wants, and shi doesn’t show any genuine love for Gatsby. Which is why I couldn’t understand what about
Daisy Gatsby loved. A connection was
never made in the film. In my opinion,
there wasn’t any femel character (flapper) in this film who had depth and
dimension. Some believe that
Fitzgerald’s story does not do justice to flappers (read Gatsby's Flappers, Ms. Magazine). Either
Fitzgerald failed to fully and fairly develop Daisy or the filmmakers did. Maybe both symbolically annihilated wymin as
is common in American culture.
To further disappoint and
sadden me, some of the music played during the film sounded like the music I
sometimes hear walking around New York City which sounds loud, aggressive,
hateful, and degrading toward wymin. I
could not get into the 1920’s mood I expected having read Fitzgerald’s
novel. As a womin and a humin being, I
was turned-off by Gatsby and the film and could not see, or hear, anything
great.
Instead, some things I
find magnificent, grand, splendid, and noble in a humin being (and in a film) are
positive experiences like music which doesn’t offend but uplifts the humin
spirit, mental and emotional stability, xplring a healthy, loving and equal
partnership, obeying the law, respect for another persin’s relationship, femel
characters with depth and dimension, and integrity. Hollywood, why not create a film about all
that jazz?
