The Great Gatsby Enters the Realm of Cinema Once Again!
I take a leave from the usual topics of conversation to address what has become a subject of wide debate among my friends and fellow writers. That is, the recent announcement of a remake of The Great Gatsby, a novel composed by renowned writer F. Scott Fitzgerald.
Hollywood’s efforts to translate great works of fiction and literature have, in my opinion, not been very flattering or successful. Despite a few exceptions (Fight Club, the 1997 adaptation of Lolita, American Psycho, and The Curious Case of Benjamin Button being examples that instantly stand out in my mind), successful and popular film adaptations of novels and short stories have been few and far between. Once more, if an adaptation becomes successful, it is because some liberties were taken on the part of the director in terms of plot.
This leads me to be very standoffish when any new adaptation is announced. “Oh boy,” I think. “Here we go again, another film adaptation of a great book. Can’t wait for critics to tear it apart.” The Great Gatsby trailer was not an exception to this exclamation. In fact, I was more outraged than usual. They are taking a book referred to many as being “The Great American Novel” and attempting to succeed where others have failed (apparently, earlier adaptations of the book on the big screen didn’t go very well either).
Now, this isn’t to say that I wouldn’t like to see a film version of such a wonderful book; I actually would love to see the characters that I read about so long ago on the big screen. However, I just don’t want them to try and fail. And the risk of them doing so increases the more prevalent a book is. The Great Gatsby is arguably one of the most read books of the 20th and 21st century, next to The Catcher and the Rye. Those are very high expectations to appease. Will this new movie be able to do it? I am, at the very least, extremely skeptical. What do you guys think? Will this film finally triumph where the rest have failed? Or will it cause Fitzgerald to roll over in his grave? Watch the trailer, and tell me what you think!
More posts to come, stay tuned!!
