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The Great Gatsby remake: opulence is back in vogue | The Great Gatsby remake: opulence is back in vogue |
(2 months later) | |
When I first saw the trailer for The Great Gatsby film, my first thought was: why now? Gatsby is akin to America's version of Jane Austen books. It's part of the country's social fabric. It is widely read in high schools and remade for film and television every few years. | When I first saw the trailer for The Great Gatsby film, my first thought was: why now? Gatsby is akin to America's version of Jane Austen books. It's part of the country's social fabric. It is widely read in high schools and remade for film and television every few years. |
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Then it hit me: opulence. After a horrendous few years for people's wallets, luxury is unabashedly back, and this latest film adaptation is like an invitation to celebrate it. | Then it hit me: opulence. After a horrendous few years for people's wallets, luxury is unabashedly back, and this latest film adaptation is like an invitation to celebrate it. |
The Great Gatsby is a homage to wealth and social status in New York City. Already there's a certain clamour about the costumes. Fashion magazines like Marie Claire are gushing about the Prada-designed outfits. Even the film's makeup is a topic of intrigue. Carey Mulligan, who plays Gatsby's love interest Daisy, is playing it up. She compares her character to the Kardashians, the outlandish reality TV stars who flaunt everything they have. | The Great Gatsby is a homage to wealth and social status in New York City. Already there's a certain clamour about the costumes. Fashion magazines like Marie Claire are gushing about the Prada-designed outfits. Even the film's makeup is a topic of intrigue. Carey Mulligan, who plays Gatsby's love interest Daisy, is playing it up. She compares her character to the Kardashians, the outlandish reality TV stars who flaunt everything they have. |
Who better to bring this to the screen than Baz Luhrmann, the king of over-the-top? This time his scene is the Jazz Age, and the film's trailers show glimpses of parties that make Moulin Rouge look tame. As one of the previews explains: | Who better to bring this to the screen than Baz Luhrmann, the king of over-the-top? This time his scene is the Jazz Age, and the film's trailers show glimpses of parties that make Moulin Rouge look tame. As one of the previews explains: |
"New York, 1922. The tempo of the city had changed sharply. The buildings were higher, the parties were bigger, the morals were looser and the liquor was cheaper." | "New York, 1922. The tempo of the city had changed sharply. The buildings were higher, the parties were bigger, the morals were looser and the liquor was cheaper." |
I keep thinking that this film couldn't have been done four or even two years ago, in the depths of the recession. | I keep thinking that this film couldn't have been done four or even two years ago, in the depths of the recession. |
When Hollywood tried to adopt the popular chick lit book Confessions of Shopaholic to the big screen in 2009, it flopped. The appetite wasn't there for mindless spending on handbags and shoes. | When Hollywood tried to adopt the popular chick lit book Confessions of Shopaholic to the big screen in 2009, it flopped. The appetite wasn't there for mindless spending on handbags and shoes. |
In those days, Kate Middleton was routinely sporting "high street" fashions that normal people (or at least the middle class) could buy. She wasn't worried about wearing the same dress multiple times because everyone was doing it. The same was true of America's first lady Michelle Obama, who was routinely praised for wearing outfits that rarely cost over $200. | In those days, Kate Middleton was routinely sporting "high street" fashions that normal people (or at least the middle class) could buy. She wasn't worried about wearing the same dress multiple times because everyone was doing it. The same was true of America's first lady Michelle Obama, who was routinely praised for wearing outfits that rarely cost over $200. |
Obama also made a big deal about starting a vegetable garden at the White House. This was partly to promote healthy eating, but also a reminder to American families of a cheap way to feed your family, reminiscent of the "victory gardens" many planted during the world wars. | Obama also made a big deal about starting a vegetable garden at the White House. This was partly to promote healthy eating, but also a reminder to American families of a cheap way to feed your family, reminiscent of the "victory gardens" many planted during the world wars. |
The message post-2008 financial crash was clear: flaunting your wealth and status were out. Even those who had money were cautious as uncertainty abounded and even lawyers and bankers were losing their jobs. | The message post-2008 financial crash was clear: flaunting your wealth and status were out. Even those who had money were cautious as uncertainty abounded and even lawyers and bankers were losing their jobs. |
The world economy is still not where it should be. We all know people out of work, especially recent graduates. But we're also starting to see what Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke calls "green shoots of recovery". And on the catwalks and in the real-estate markets of major cities, buyers seem steadily to be coming back and spending lavishly again. Just ask Middleton, who recently bought a £1,200 baby buggy. | The world economy is still not where it should be. We all know people out of work, especially recent graduates. But we're also starting to see what Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke calls "green shoots of recovery". And on the catwalks and in the real-estate markets of major cities, buyers seem steadily to be coming back and spending lavishly again. Just ask Middleton, who recently bought a £1,200 baby buggy. |
Enter Jay Gatsby, the midwestern boy born into poverty who aspires to see the world, study at Oxford University and ultimately live in a mansion overlooking Long Island Sound in the most fashionable of New York suburbs. In the book, Gatsby's dream is described as dedicating his life to "the service of a vast, vulgar, and meretricious beauty". And the muse of that dream is Daisy, an upper-crust young woman he falls in love with who is frivolous and foolish, but has a "a voice full of money". | Enter Jay Gatsby, the midwestern boy born into poverty who aspires to see the world, study at Oxford University and ultimately live in a mansion overlooking Long Island Sound in the most fashionable of New York suburbs. In the book, Gatsby's dream is described as dedicating his life to "the service of a vast, vulgar, and meretricious beauty". And the muse of that dream is Daisy, an upper-crust young woman he falls in love with who is frivolous and foolish, but has a "a voice full of money". |
Fitzgerald's story has resonated all these years because alongside the lavish parties and lazy afternoons is a harsh critique of wealth – and of clinging to fictitious versions of the past. | Fitzgerald's story has resonated all these years because alongside the lavish parties and lazy afternoons is a harsh critique of wealth – and of clinging to fictitious versions of the past. |
As audiences the world over marvel at the glitz of this latest adaptation, it will be particularly interesting to see how they leave the theatre. We are all eager to move past the recession, but have we learned our lesson about whether greed is good? | As audiences the world over marvel at the glitz of this latest adaptation, it will be particularly interesting to see how they leave the theatre. We are all eager to move past the recession, but have we learned our lesson about whether greed is good? |
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