Warning: This is a rant post and
thus contains a lot of my own opinions. That doesn't mean that everyone will
agree with me. I understand that. This is just what I think.
So there is a new version of The Great Gatsby coming to theatres this weekend. That’s always
exciting – when a book is turned into a motion picture. Even if it is a remake (and
by that I mean they have already made a movie out of it). I am excited about
it. Really. There’s just one thing (just one? I don’t know if that’s entirely
true…) that would cause me to not go and see it. What would that be? You might
ask and I would respond with: our society. Our culture. The way things are
going it is quite likely that having Gatsby made into a movie in this day and
age will mean that it should be rated R. The first Gatsby movie was rated PG,
not because of nudity or sexual content but because (SPOILER!)
of how it showed the dead body of Myrtle who got run over by a car and for some
profanity but mostly blood. The new Gatsby movie is rated PG-13 “for some
violent images, sexual content, smoking, partying and brief language.” It specifically
says sexual content. Because it is not yet out and we haven’t seen it it is possible
that it doesn’t show anything that could be deemed inappropriate by some; but
it is also possible that is does in fact go a little further than is entirely
necessary. Having read the book I know what goes on but in my opinion they don’t
have to show it for people to know it.
Although adapting literature to film can make it come to life, it can also frame it too tightly within cinematic genres that are highly formulaic and that also pander to popular appetites.
ReplyDeleteThats interesting. I wonder if because our society demands more sex and violence these days out of movies if it will change the story much. It will be interesting to compare the book, the previous film, and the new one to see all the different interpretations.
ReplyDeleteIt is sad to me how often movies have to throw in that inappropriate scene. I've noticed that most of the time, those scenes really aren't even necessary at the extent that they're shown.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you. I am wary of movies these days and am careful as to the ones I watch. Often I prefer the older movies to the remakes because of the unnecessary stuff they add. For example, I liked the 1977 movie, "The Iron Mask", but thought the 1998 movie was disgusting. Even the critics gave the 1977 movie more stars than the 1998 one (it also had Leonardo DiCaprio in it). I will pass on the Gatsby movie.
ReplyDeleteYour diction choice of "motion picture" was very retro.
ReplyDeleteWe expect different things from films, movies, flicks, and motion pictures.
It sounds like you would have been at home in the era of the Hayes Code. Myself, I know that Fitzgerald's works have plenty of violence, sex, and smoking (Tender Is the Night has a weirdly impressionistic brawl and a background of incest), so I expect it to be portrayed on screen. A bowdlerized Gatsby wouldn't resonate with me.
I know exactly what you mean when it comes to books and movie ratings. I've read the book and the original movie with Robert Redford and Sam Waterson. The only other reason it was rated PG was because Gatsby gets shot in his swimming pool, and then the guy shoots himself, and you never see that happen, but you know what he did. I'm also passing to see DiCaprio play Gatsby, because, to follow up with Kimara statement, he's done a lot of movies that contain sexual content in them.
ReplyDeleteSo my friend went and saw the movie this past weekend and she told me of the context. She said there were maybe 5 bad words, no nudity, and only one scene between Daisy and Gatsby that could have been left out. So it ended up being mostly opposite of what I thought it would be.
ReplyDelete