Wealth and
splendor hold a place near and dear to the American heart. Born out of the
common Dream, in the 2013 Baz Luhrmann adaptation of Fitzgerald’s, The Great
Gatsby, success is defined as excess. Hometowns and high school are to be left
behind and the chasing of grand dreams will in time fulfill any sacrifices or
absences created in the search for financial success. J. Gatsby (Leonardo
DiCaprio) ran away from the woman he loved, Daisy Buchanan (Carey Mulligan),
due to his lack of money and the perceived unsuitableness of his proposal. It
isn’t for love or happiness that success is gauged but in the ability to
provide a stable financial base and the willingness to abandon all others in
the search. Jay Gatsby is the perfect example of the struggle encountered when
the illusion of achievable wealth is confused with achievable providence.
In the beginning there was the word
and the word was money. J. Gatsby was a believer in the illusion of wealth; he
sacrificed the possible happiness of youth and love due to the illusion. J’s
confidence in Nick Carraway (Toby Maguire) reveals at different times both the
creation of the illusion and the emptiness that it resonates. While driving in
the car, Jay goes to great lengths explaining his upbringing and heritage
trying to create the idea of old money and his worthiness to be wealthy.
However Jay’s portrayal of old wealth slips in his reasoning, he explains to
Nick, “I wanted you to know something about my life, I didn’t want you to think
I’m just some nobody.” By caring about his image and trying to illicit an
approving judgment from Nick, Jay shows his insecurity in place and station.
In contrast
Tom Buchanan (Joel Edgerton) demonstrates no compassionate tendencies and
exemplifies established wealth. Tom is independently wealthy and immediately
reveals his investment in the status quo when he attempts to pull Nick into a
conversation about the book “Rise of the Colored Empire.” Further exposing his
lack of personal attachment Tom maintains a cordial relationship with the husband
of his mistress, for whom he also provides a secret flat. The lifelong presence
of money created in Tom, an expectation of social stature and perceived self-worth
that outweigh personal consequences or moral implications. In luring Nick to
the secret apartment, Tom is searching for approval and consent through
involvement. However, it is only with excessive champagne and a mystery pill
that Nick begins to partake.
The
contrast between Nick, J and Tom is representative of the three types of wealth
structure in the Gatsby America. There are those born into wealth, those who
have acquired it, and those who are attempting to acquire it. The story is told
by Nick, who is building a career in the Stock Market but has not yet accumulated
any wealth, his presence in both J’s and Tom’s house is that of an outsider.
The summer progresses and Nick is given two examples of class, wealth and
stature, the welcoming benevolence of Gatsby, who’s “smile understands and
believes in you,” and that of Tom and Daisy who “smashed up things and people
and retreated into their money and vast carelessness.” Nick sits in the
situation physically but remains separate from the means and creation of the
opportunities he enjoys.
For moral
and obvious reasons Fitzgerald decided to have Nick fall in love with Gatsby.
He loved J like he loved New York; both opened unseen doors and invited him
into unknown speakeasies. Nick explains the marriage of New York and
opportunity and how J is the accumulation of this belief while driving into New
York, “The city seen from the Queens Burrow Bridge is always the city seen for
the first time, in it’s first wild promise, anything could happen, even Gatsby
could happen.” Nick is not allowed to blindly believe in J though. Through his
character flaws and the strain of the façade, J, elicits questions to his moral
aptitude and right to wealth.
The lavish
parties are one precursor to the mystery and mystique of J. Though he hosted
celebrities and Senators, J was largely unknown to his guests, during the
entire scene of Nick attending his first Gatsby party he does not meet anyone
who has met the host save another confidant. By way of having such expositions
at his mansion while not attending or announcing his presence, J invites
gossiping and speculation. Rumors from Nazi kin to an American sniper swirl
about J’s past and a persistent questioning about the source of his funds
maintains. While attending lunch with J in the barbershop, Nick meets Meyer
Wolfsheim (Amitabh Bachchan) who is a notorious gambler and entrepreneur.
Despite Meyer’s infamous nature, J has obvious business ties with him and
describes him as a mentor and friend.
J’s exact business remains unclear
throughout the entirety of the movie. He is often interrupted with phone calls
at parties and while entertaining guests but always refuses unless drawn in by
the presence of Meyer or the persistence of his butler. J rejects his means of
wealth by denying Daisy, Nick and the audience his true means of establishment.
In the final confrontation Tom alleges that J is bootlegging liquor into small
towns through the front of pharmacies. Suggesting that this is true, in an
earlier scene, J becomes very agitated with a phone call concerning Detroit, repeating,
“I said a small town” into the receiver before regaining his composure and
delaying the call.
The call must be answered and “no one could ignore that fifth guest’s
shrill metallic urgency,” as Nick would describe during dinner at the Buchanan
residence. For Gatsby his death and reckoning were inevitable. The relationship
between Daisy and J is an affront to the established norm, J’s insistence that
Daisy leave Tom directly challenging Tom’s status. However, the rebuttal of Tom
devastates J’s composure. After insulting J’s education, self-worth, and means,
J leans on his ideals before lashing out, “the only thing respectable about you
is your money. Now I have as much as you so we’re equal.” Exemplifying the
ideology of a movable class structure, J wants to believe the myth* and is
ultimately sacrificed in its upkeep.
Through the events of the final
night, J becomes the target of the estranged husband for the fatal hit-and-run
accident that killed his wife, who was also the mistress of Tom. George Wilson (Jason Clarke), the husband, is
the proprietor of a gas station and lives in the poor outskirts of New York.
When George kills Gatsby, he is murdering the promise that lies in the American
dream. J steadfastly holds to his idealized image of Daisy as the reason for
his actions and remained aloof of the opulence created by his wealth. George
kills the promise that anything is possible; he killed the hope for an ever
achievable and brighter future.
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