Entry tags:
The Great Gatsby
We finally saw The Great Gatsby! (Thank you again for the gift certificates, ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
poeticknowledge!) It was SPARKLY. And SHINY. And Nick Carroway has kind of ridiculous crush on Gatsby - seriously, when they first meet there are fireworks going off around Gatsby's face, best entrance ever. It is a tragically hilarious crush, because Gatsby seems vaguely unclear that anyone in the world except himself and Daisy actually exists.
Seriously. It's entirely possible that Gatsby calls Nick "old sport" all the time because he can't quite remember his name.
To be fair to Gatsby, Nick Carroway's main quality seems to be that of transparency. (Also, that of being Daisy's cousin. It is entirely possible that Gatsby identifies everyone in the world by their connection to Daisy.) Nick is quite, quite incapable of self-assertion. So Gatsby asks Nick to invite Daisy over to tea, so Gatsby can just kind of drop in and be like "Hey Daisy, haven't seen you for five years! Let's run away to Monaco!"
But Nick's overgrown grounds clearly do not provide the proper mise on scene for Gatsby's romantic daydreams. So Gatsby sends over an army of retainers who remake Nick's entire garden. Without asking Nick.
Nick: (stares at his transformed yard with a shell-shocked expression)
Gatsby: Do you think Daisy will like your new yard?
Nick: I'm not sure I like my new yard...
Gatsby: Eh? Why should you have feelings about your own yard?
Of course Nick doesn't really mind that Gatsby has just overhauled his house without asking for permission. One rather gets the impression that Nick, having no definite plans of his own, finds it rather a relief when other people jump into the breach.
This sequence also shows the real hollowness of Gatsby. Gatsby asks Nick to have Daisy for tea, and he's all, "I could probably hook you up with some investments..."
Nick is like, "No no, it's just a favor, don't worry about it." And Gatsby looks totally stunned by the idea that sometimes people do things for their friends simply because they like them, not for material gain.
Later on, Nick is furious that no one attends Gatsby's funeral, but... of course no one goes; of course no one feels an emotional connection to Gatsby, because he doesn't have friends; he sees people as tools for getting close to Daisy. Many of the party-goers never even saw their host. Why should they come to his funeral? It shows his hollowness as much as theirs.
I think there's a sense that Nick's vision of Gatsby is ultimately a mirage - that Gatsby is just as rotten and hollow as the crowd that Nick decries, though Nick can't see it - and he's grieving, perhaps, for a person who never existed except in his own head.
A few other thoughts:
- Daisy's husband Tom Buchanan reminds me of Gaston from Beauty and the Beast. He has the same hulking build and mean cheekbones and sense that he's better than everyone else and the world ought to fall in line with his will. There's a scene where Tom actually picks Nick up and just kind of puts him where he thinks he ought to be.
- They cut out Nick's romance with Jordan Baker, I suppose on the grounds that it would crowd the movie, which already has quite a lot going on - actually I rather liked that Jordan was allowed to float through the story unattached, and rather untouched and aloof and entertained by it all. I'm thinking particularly of the scene where Daisy and Tom are fighting in the Plaza, and Jordan just sits there with this look of barely repressed excitement on her face, as if this is a play and she has front row seats.
I wouldn't want to know her in real life, but man, she was fun to watch. She and not Nick Carroway is the real observer here: he's too emotionally attached to see clearly, while she has no illusions.
- So Gatsby is kind of the uber-stalker, am I right? Literally everything in his life is about Daisy. She's maybe kind of lucky that he died when he did, because what would he do when it finally became clear even to him that Daisy wasn't going to leave Tom for him - or at least, wasn't going to leave Tom on the terms that Gatsby wanted?
If Gatsby could have just given up on the idea that Daisy must tell Tom she never loved him - if Gatsby could have just rested content with running away to Monte Carlo - oh, the trouble he could have saved everyone!
But I don't know if it would have worked out even then: I don't know if Gatsby could have squared living with Daisy, the real Daisy, with his idea of Daisy. And not even because Daisy is so lacking - he fell for her and idealized her as a vision of wealth and beauty ("Her voice is full of money" - I was sorry they cut that line), so the fact that she like him is ultimately hollow probably wouldn't matter too much to him.
But Gatsby doesn't seem to be very good at having things. Nick Carroway says Gatsby has a talent for hope - because he is always hoping for more - which reflects, perhaps, the fact that he is incapable of enjoying what he has.
poeticknowledge!) It was SPARKLY. And SHINY. And Nick Carroway has kind of ridiculous crush on Gatsby - seriously, when they first meet there are fireworks going off around Gatsby's face, best entrance ever. It is a tragically hilarious crush, because Gatsby seems vaguely unclear that anyone in the world except himself and Daisy actually exists.Seriously. It's entirely possible that Gatsby calls Nick "old sport" all the time because he can't quite remember his name.
To be fair to Gatsby, Nick Carroway's main quality seems to be that of transparency. (Also, that of being Daisy's cousin. It is entirely possible that Gatsby identifies everyone in the world by their connection to Daisy.) Nick is quite, quite incapable of self-assertion. So Gatsby asks Nick to invite Daisy over to tea, so Gatsby can just kind of drop in and be like "Hey Daisy, haven't seen you for five years! Let's run away to Monaco!"
But Nick's overgrown grounds clearly do not provide the proper mise on scene for Gatsby's romantic daydreams. So Gatsby sends over an army of retainers who remake Nick's entire garden. Without asking Nick.
Nick: (stares at his transformed yard with a shell-shocked expression)
Gatsby: Do you think Daisy will like your new yard?
Nick: I'm not sure I like my new yard...
Gatsby: Eh? Why should you have feelings about your own yard?
Of course Nick doesn't really mind that Gatsby has just overhauled his house without asking for permission. One rather gets the impression that Nick, having no definite plans of his own, finds it rather a relief when other people jump into the breach.
This sequence also shows the real hollowness of Gatsby. Gatsby asks Nick to have Daisy for tea, and he's all, "I could probably hook you up with some investments..."
Nick is like, "No no, it's just a favor, don't worry about it." And Gatsby looks totally stunned by the idea that sometimes people do things for their friends simply because they like them, not for material gain.
Later on, Nick is furious that no one attends Gatsby's funeral, but... of course no one goes; of course no one feels an emotional connection to Gatsby, because he doesn't have friends; he sees people as tools for getting close to Daisy. Many of the party-goers never even saw their host. Why should they come to his funeral? It shows his hollowness as much as theirs.
I think there's a sense that Nick's vision of Gatsby is ultimately a mirage - that Gatsby is just as rotten and hollow as the crowd that Nick decries, though Nick can't see it - and he's grieving, perhaps, for a person who never existed except in his own head.
A few other thoughts:
- Daisy's husband Tom Buchanan reminds me of Gaston from Beauty and the Beast. He has the same hulking build and mean cheekbones and sense that he's better than everyone else and the world ought to fall in line with his will. There's a scene where Tom actually picks Nick up and just kind of puts him where he thinks he ought to be.
- They cut out Nick's romance with Jordan Baker, I suppose on the grounds that it would crowd the movie, which already has quite a lot going on - actually I rather liked that Jordan was allowed to float through the story unattached, and rather untouched and aloof and entertained by it all. I'm thinking particularly of the scene where Daisy and Tom are fighting in the Plaza, and Jordan just sits there with this look of barely repressed excitement on her face, as if this is a play and she has front row seats.
I wouldn't want to know her in real life, but man, she was fun to watch. She and not Nick Carroway is the real observer here: he's too emotionally attached to see clearly, while she has no illusions.
- So Gatsby is kind of the uber-stalker, am I right? Literally everything in his life is about Daisy. She's maybe kind of lucky that he died when he did, because what would he do when it finally became clear even to him that Daisy wasn't going to leave Tom for him - or at least, wasn't going to leave Tom on the terms that Gatsby wanted?
If Gatsby could have just given up on the idea that Daisy must tell Tom she never loved him - if Gatsby could have just rested content with running away to Monte Carlo - oh, the trouble he could have saved everyone!
But I don't know if it would have worked out even then: I don't know if Gatsby could have squared living with Daisy, the real Daisy, with his idea of Daisy. And not even because Daisy is so lacking - he fell for her and idealized her as a vision of wealth and beauty ("Her voice is full of money" - I was sorry they cut that line), so the fact that she like him is ultimately hollow probably wouldn't matter too much to him.
But Gatsby doesn't seem to be very good at having things. Nick Carroway says Gatsby has a talent for hope - because he is always hoping for more - which reflects, perhaps, the fact that he is incapable of enjoying what he has.