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How Is Jazz Portrayed In The Great Gatsby

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Recommended: Describe the presentation of the american dream in the great gatsby

Zachary Rosenthal
Mrs. Cohen
UC AIT English III
1/12/17

Like the green light on Daisy’s dock, Baz Luhrmann’s adaptation of The Great Gatsby is so close yet so far, delivering only on specific traits and characteristics and not as a whole. Although the music comes through well, the characters display the American Dream in some areas and very poorly in others.

Jay-Z, with help from Andre 3000, Kanye West, and Beyonce, create a stunning soundtrack full of hip-hop masterpieces that tie well into the overall feel of the movie. At the time this movie took place, in the early 1900’s, jazz was a really big part of popular culture. The movie tries its best to relate their jazz to our current day-and-age and succeeds well on many separate occasions. …show more content…

Luhrmann cast and presents the characters are captivating and special in some areas, but breakdown in others. Leonardo DiCaprio seems to fit in Jay Gatsby’s roll really well, showing off his lavish and party-driven lifestyle, symbolizing his American Dream perfectly. Same can be said about Daisy Buchanan. Her love for Gatsby, sooner or later being with him is her American Dream, which was portrayed nice as well in the crossover from the book to the silver screen. These perfect portrayals break down there, however, from Tobey Maguire playing Nick Carraway. In the novel, Nick is trying to get his way to the top by befriending all of these wealthy, upper-class people introduced to him by Gatsby. His American Dream, of course, being full of wealth, women, and success. That being said in the movie, Nick is a lovable and sweet character who seems like he could commit no offenses. Not only that but casting Tobey Maguire,seems like the wrong choice as he seemed lifeless and insecure throughout the entire movie. It seemed like the movie was trying to get as many A-list actors and celebrities as they could to fill seats.

In brief, The Great Gatsby is so close yet so far and with a few casting changes and major plot-hole fixes, the movie could have been something incredibly special. The soundtrack and album released from this movie was spot-on for this situation and fit really well within the overall theme of the movie. Overall, the movie was a definitely “watch on Netflix” or “watch on sale.” Paying full price for the album released from the movie might make more sense than watching

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