tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7742879119843856939.post8837059555449700883..comments2024-03-12T18:35:38.601-05:00Comments on Not Dark Yet: Gatsby, Fitzgerald, and Second ActsCharles Kinnairdhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07651225996573989932noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7742879119843856939.post-88296571231426703222013-05-19T05:45:42.750-05:002013-05-19T05:45:42.750-05:00Thanks, Steve! I always enjoy your comments!Thanks, Steve! I always enjoy your comments!Charles Kinnairdhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07651225996573989932noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7742879119843856939.post-23350352650147951202013-05-18T13:40:40.424-05:002013-05-18T13:40:40.424-05:00Well put, Charlie! I've been reading and liste...Well put, Charlie! I've been reading and listening to commentary about Gatsby, the book and the movie, and it strikes me that readers and critics always decide that an artist who supposedly critiques a culture actually admires it. I'm sure that there were aspects of Mississippi River culture that Mark Twain admired, loved, and missed, but that doesn't diminish his keen satiric skewering of racism, cruelty, and stupidity in that culture. The same is true of Fitzgerald. I saw the 1974 film and enjoyed it, and enjoyed the new film as well. Luhrman certainly has an unmistakable style, but grant him the right to do his own artistic thing, whether he's adapting Gatsby or Romeo and Juliet. Go back to Fitzgerald's book or Shakespeare's play for sure, but then recognize these films as tributes to the originals, not replacements. A painting or song inspired by The Great Gatsby would not attempt to replace the book.Steve Foxnoreply@blogger.com