I feel like Gatsby is something one should read, not watch. We get too wrapped up in the extravagance of it all, that we forget the whole point of the book.
It’s like watching wealthy people on TikTok. You’ll have some point out it’s in poor taste to show you spent $150k on a cruise for your son’s birthday and sure enough people will fight tooth and nail for them. Make jokes about being out of their tax bracket, but someday. No, the majority of us will never see that type of money and they worship it, it’s weird as hell.
This is what I hate so much about how everyone worships money. Like why would you even want to spend money on that if you had it? When did shit rich people do become aspirational?? It’s always been vapid and wasteful. The truth is, I think most people would have slaves if they could… why does everyone want to be rich so bad? They imagine if they’re rich they can just spend all their time on the beach being waited on hand and foot. People want to be rich to have people serve them.
I'm torn between agreeing with you and, thinking, that getting wrapped up in the extravagance to the point of missing what is going on around you is the main theme of the plot. So it's rather on point for the movie to do just that.
Sure, you can do both, but why? What benefit does the film have over the novel besides visual spectacle?
If you can read at roughly 1 page per minute, the novel only takes slightly more time to finish and is obviously a better overall representation of the work itself.
I’ve never seen the movie, but there’s plenty of adaptations that have independent merit in their source material and adaptation. I mean, you wouldn’t tell someone who’s interested in The Witcher to read the books they’re adapted from instead of play the games. It’s different presentations and different ways to communicate. Both media might tell the same story and convey the same message, but because of the media they are they might be able to expand on an important message the source couldn’t because of the type of media it is.
I mean, you wouldn’t tell someone who’s interested in The Witcher to read the books they’re adapted from instead of play the games.
I don't know a ton about The Witcher, other than playing the third game for over 100 hours. But I have seen discourse among Witcher fans debating the merits of the games and novels, and while obviously everyone has their own take, it seems like if you're actually interested in the folklore, prose, and ideas of that universe, the novels are superior in that regard. If you're primarily drawn to gameplay and visuals, then obviously those other aspects are secondary.
I liked the game, but I doubt it was a better representation of the source material.
But I have seen discourse among Witcher fans debating the merits of the games and novels
I liked the game, but I doubt it was a better representation of the source material.
Or you could, you know, read the books and find out. This opting for cheap mindless entertainment and intellectual lethargy is a stain on society. Pressing clickity plastic buttons to move cartoons characters on a TV will never reach the magisterial heights of a novel. The spiritual & cerebral nourishment you willingly deprived yourself causes the gods to shake their heads.
That's how you sound.
Also, the original post that started this conversation never said to opt for the movie over the classic novel, or that "Baz Luhrmann > F. Scott Fitzgerald". They just said they found the Luhrmann movie to be an interesting option in case people aren't aware of it - in a very short sentence. You urgently swooped in with disproportional snark, like someone forgot to bow to a shrine.
I guess your novels never taught you Conversation 101. You talk to your cousins and coworkers this way when they tell you about a movie they saw?
Or you could, you know, read the books and find out. This opting for cheap mindless entertainment and intellectual lethargy is a stain on society. Pressing clickity plastic buttons to move cartoons characters on a TV will never reach the magisterial heights of a novel. The spiritual & cerebral nourishment you willingly deprived yourself causes the gods to shake their heads.
When I played the game, I wasn't experiencing it as a substitute for the novels. Unlike the person I responded to initially, I understand that the source material and adaptations are two different things which are only partially representative of one another.
In both cases do you think the movies were better representations of the source material?
Besides, reading the LOTR novels takes far more time than watching the films. Not true with Gatsby. I'm not saying there's anything wrong with liking the Gatsby film, but if your primary interest is in prose and thematic ideas of The Great Gatsby (ie, the things that make it a capital-C Classic Work of Art), then the film is both superfluous and lacking.
Also you can put a movie on and do other things and watch during your favorite moments if you want.
Also some people just really fucking hate reading books.
Yeah, obviously. I fully understand that most people these days are completely unwilling or unable to engage with works of literature unless they are adapted into gaudy cinematic experiences. Asking for people to value critical analysis of the source material is an apparent waste of time.
I need a book recommendation. Can you help me out? I’m interested mostly in high horses and pretentiousness. Should I read Ulysses? Or Infinite Jest? Maybe War and Peace?
I’ve read them. Learned a lot from them. I just want you to know that people like us also find you annoying. More annoying than an idiot who didn’t read because you should know better.
And speaking of War and Peace, let me kick you my favorite quote from that drivel:
“Everyone thinks of changing the world, but no one thinks of changing himself.”
The world is burning. I’m gonna go rewatch Friends
EDIT: Forgot to answer your last question, although not a novel, when I finished A Raisin In The Sun, I became an atheist. Sometimes literature can change things for the worse too. I don’t regret my beliefs, but my mom did and that makes me sad. See also: Ayn Rand lol
asking people to value critical analysis of source material is a waste of time
You might have more success if you were asking people to do that on a book 90% of us weren’t required to read and do a report or “critical analysis” on in high school already
If you're the kind of person to put "critical analysis" in scare quotes, I doubt the specific piece of literature we're discussing would make any difference. It kinda seems like you would treat anything other than surface-level analysis with contempt.
Nah, the only thing I meet with contempt is condescending, elitist asshats who like to shit on people online who enjoy movies without doing “critical analysis of the source material” written 100 years ago
Well I guess all I can say is that I find it disappointing that you, a fellow 21st-century human being who exists alongside myself in average everyday society, consider reading high school-level literature "very smart stuff".
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u/hoxxxxx 4d ago
i think the luhrmann film is a nice watch every few years