A story of love nobody truly cares for

Rating: 6/10 (15 December 2016)

Baz Luhrmann's "The Great Gatsby" was an interesting mix of a bunch of parties, CGI, and a love story. Gatsby's longing for his lover, Daisy, seemed too forced and shallow for one to care for. The film seemed too over saturated with the CGI and fast cuts. Too much relocation of the eyes were required to figure out what was going on in a particular shot. It's as if I was watching the new Jason Bourne action flick with every shot being less than 2 seconds, which really hinders the film's feeling of a grand spectacle. The sound was off as well. There was too much unnecessary sound effects, especially with the ringing hymn of the green light/ring every 5 minutes. I went into this movie expecting a traditional story and feeling of the roaring 20s, not an old story adapted with an overly modern score to replace the amazing jazz music of that era.
Eyes play an important role in the Great Gatsby. Eyes are a symbol of the rich overlooking the poor, almost as if they own the large working class. The haunting feeling of one person sitting at home enjoying life with all of their money bossing around the other 95% of the people which makes up the working class. The billboard was situated to be erected right in the middle of the bad industrial part of the town (The Valley of Ashes). It can also be interpreted as a higher being looking down onto American society as a whole, and it being disappointed of how shallow people are in the context of the rich people covering up their act with all of their glamorous items of pleasure, and in return, they demoralize the common person. People lost their true moral values to get external pleasures, and the eyes can see through this fatal flaw of mankind.
The opening lines of the film relate to these eyes because Nick's father gave him the advice of always trying to see the best in people. This reflects how the eyes see through the people, but the difference is is that at that time (20s) there was no best in most people. It mostly just consisted of humans partying and not contributing anything important or worthwhile. This opening line says it all "And none of us contributed anything new. When I came back from New York, I was disgusted....Disgusted with everyone and everything." Another symbol is the green light. It's as if Gatsby was always looking at it because he wanted to reach further, and advance his life even more even though he should just look back onto his life and notice that he has it pretty good already. The green light is situated away from his house across the water, while all of his life and his big house is situated behind him towards his back.
Daisy and Tom represent the old rich. They have their status and their wealth through family history. They are the stereotypical rich, high class people. On the other hand, Mr. Gatsby is the new rich. Although he seems at first to be just another rich person, underneath he stands out from the rest of the population in that he comes from humble beginnings and he is a truly caring person. Daisy goes with Tom instead of Gatsby because he has status. If Daisy leaves him, she loses that status and all of the wealth that goes with it. This is why she went with him in the first place. When Gatsby was in the war, Daisy wrote Gatsby a letter saying she has no money. Therefore, she married Buchanan, following a shot of him wrapping a plentiful amount of pearls around her neck.
There are four main locations in the film. The first being West egg, then East Egg, then New York, and The Valley of Ashes. West egg represents the new rich, which encompasses people such as Mr. Gatsby. East Egg represents the old rich, which includes Tom Buchanan. New York represents the action and the central location where most the fun happens. And The Valley of Ashes represents the poor working class of the population, where people like George Wilson reside.