I Am Upset About The Great Gatsby

The Great Gatsby is one of the greatest books ever written. F. Scott Fitzgerald was brilliant. These are two American cultural facts about which almost everyone can agree.

Can we also all agree that Baz Luhrman's film adaptation of the story is going to completely ruin it?

Odds are there will be more debate around this. I would like to say immediately that I stand far on the right: Yes. Watching this movie will completely destroy your romanticized perceptions of The Great Gatsby's scenes, settings, and characters. Do not watch.




For starters, the movie is being done in 3-D. That's literally enough for me to flip a top-hat-shaped lid over, but I'm going to try to move on to more salient points.

THE SOUNDTRACK!!!! ARGHHH Whyyyy?!?!

Hopefully this is just trailer show gunning, and the movie itself stays a lot more period piece and a lot less cling-to-modern-pop-culture-to-attract-young-droves.

As a book, The Great Gatsby smolders. But it looks like this movie is all sparks and flash. Screaming scenes. Sex scenes. Standing and drinking in cars as they drive over bridge scenes. (Credit where credit is due: I am super psyched to see more of the recreation of NYC skyline circa 1922.) And doesn't Meyer Wolfsheim have a Yiddish accent? Come on, people.

Nick's perceptions of the Gatsby parties were always that of the reserved observer.. He noticed the women's clothes, their almost imperceptible gestures  the faults and the facades. In the trailer we are bombarded with fireworks and glitter and over-the-top raucous. Where is the restraint? The angst? The pent up emotions held close to the chest?

I'm not seeing it.

Maybe it's a smart play. Maybe the movie is all East Egg subtlety, and the trailer is all West Egg show -- and we the audience are the fools buying in to The Great Gatsby's party. I hope so.

Seeing as this is just the trailer, I'll try not to judge too much. (Uh, too late.) But I will read the book one last time before inevitably watching the movie and possibly ruining my perceptions of the whole thing.

And I will totally, totally, play this online version of the NES Great Gatsby game and say "Good job, old sport!" no matter what.