Baz Luhrmann's Wonderworld, The Great Gatsby (2013)
The American Dream
While there are many reincarnations of the famous novel, written by F. Scott Fitzgerald, there's one that stands out the most. In this section, we take a brief dive into how Baz Luhrmann's flashy world of Gatsby resonates with today’s society.
My Take.
The biggest theme that resonates with today’s society is the “American Dream.” This movie touches on all the aspects of the dream — positive and negative. For example, there’s greed, lust, wealth, and selfish desire. All factors that are present in today’s world. With our current political climate, it’s evident how The Great Gatsby can be a metaphor for all people. Although Gatsby’s main focus is Daisy and she’s the reason he goes off to the military and jumps through chutes and ladders to get rich, he can still be a model for people who are/were in the same unfortunate state that he was in — poor/not financially stable (to their own standards). If we take Daisy out of the equation and assume Gatsby got rich for his own benefit, he just looks like another average Joe Shmoe that’s main focus was to get rich quick. If we think of this hypothetical Gatsby situation in today’s world, I can easily equate this get rich quick Gatsby to all of the random locals from my hometown who send me Facebook messages asking if I want to make “fast money,” which, of course, means “join my illegal pyramid scheme where I empty out Edna-from-down-the-road’s bank account and transfer it to you!” Additionally, Tom (Joel Edgerton), even takes a jab at Gatsby’s new money lifestyle, reducing him to nothing and just merely another socialite scammer. This reference and the constant subtle jabs at the difference between old and new money are easily seen in our current times. There’s a divide between the older generation who “worked hard” (not degrading or mocking here) and the younger generation who have been fortunate enough to find other means of fast and large income (look at social influencers, bloggers, and vloggers, some of them make bank off of a mere social media post.) I’ve come across many discussion where the main topic is millennials and their work ethic, or lack thereof. But, is it really us being lazy? Not necessarily. Now, I’m not condoning Gatsby’s illegal get rich quick methods, but if you’ve got the opportunity…? And that’s really what this film is about—aside from the lust and greed, but, opportunity.
This film will always be relevant. There will never be a time where we we’ll watch it and say, oh, I remember when America was greedy, when all people wanted was money and a luxury lifestyle, good thing it’s not like that anymore — this yearning for glam and the flashy lights and the “New American Dream” will always be here and people will still continue to get to the top, by any means necessary. And I mention the “New” dream because for a lot of the younger generation, everyone wants to be rich, famous, and a star. Before, and it still is for a lot of people, especially those seeking refuge, it was simply coming to America, finding a steady job, escaping their past, and starting over. Now, for a lot of our upcoming generation, it’s much more than that.
