The Great Gatsby Movie Comparison

When I look at how the novel, The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald, and the movie, The Great Gatsby (2013), compare to one another, there are many similarities. When I first went to see the movie, I was expecting them to keep the main plot of the story the same but change some of the smaller details and they didn’t do that at all.  Most points of the story they hit on very well and the amount of things that weren’t comparable were very small.  Many of the characters in the movie matched up very well, the plot was spot on, and the tone/mood of it was exactly how I pictured it as I was reading the Novel.

The characters of the movies compared very well, especially through Tom, Daisy, Jordan, and Gatsby.  When I thought of Tom throughout the story, I thought of a tough, strong man who didn’t really have regard for anyone else in the world.  The way he treats Daisy as an object is very true in both the novel and the movie.  In the movie the way he shows aggression towards Daisy at some points but also gives flashes of caring is how I pictured him throughout reading the story.  Daisy came off during the novel as a smart girl that doesn’t have a care in the world until Gatsby comes along.  She has this very fake ditsy side of her that showed during both the story and during the movie.  When Gatsby comes into play though, her emotions come out and she shows her true side that she could be a very caring and wonderful wife.  Jordan shows her very tough, almost manly side throughout both the story and the novel.  In my personal opinion, I think Jordan is portrayed better than any other character in the story and there is not one thing I can point out that I’d say they got wrong.  Gatsby showed his gentlemen side in both versions of the story and he was the very essence of class throughout.  The whole time reading the story, I pictured Jay Gatsby the way he was seen in the movie.  He was what you’d expect of someone of his nature.

There are not many things within the plot that were different.  The main difference I saw in the movie was that they never showed Tom and Daisy’s kid until the very last scene of the film; where in the book you see her much earlier in the story and Gatsby actually gets to meet her.  They did get all of the major scenes into the movie though such as Gatsby’s parties, the meeting between Gatsby and Daisy at Nick’s house, the hotel scene between Tom and Gatsby, Myrtle getting hit by the car, and Gatsby’s death. 

When I was reading the book, I put in kind of a modern feel probably from habit.  Growing up in the 2000s, I have never experienced what it was like in the 1920s.  So when I read the story, I automatically thought of it like it was occurring now.  In the movie they use a lot of modern music to give it that modern feel that their main audience probably was looking for in the movie.  In my personal opinion I thought the music selection was great and it really put a modern touch on a story from almost 100 years ago.  Even with this though, the visual aspect of the movie was still able to keep around some of that roaring 20s feel and the way it mixed with the modern music gave it a really unique feel that most movies aren’t able to achieve.  

Financial Reform

     The United States economy is in one of the worst shapes it has been in in the 237 year history of this great country.  One of the most important items that need to be addressed to help repair the economy is financial reform.  The Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, enacted on July 21st, 2010, is one piece of legislation that needs to be repealed in order to begin reforming this nation's economy.  There are many things that are wrong with this legislation that include resolution authority, the Home Affordable Modification Program (HAMP), the National Flood Insurance Program, and the Consumer Finance Protection Bureau.
     Resolution Authority was drafted by lawmakers during the 2008 financial crisis and was signed into law by President Obama in July 2010.  Its goal was to prevent future bailouts by giving the FDIC power to liquidate even the biggest firms.  This allows the FDIC to borrow money from the U.S. Treasury in order to maintain stability then get that money back by charging a fee to the largest financial firms in this country.  The CBO has estimated that cutting resolution authority would cut $22 billion over the next 10 years.
     The Home Affordable Modification Program allows people to get their monthly morgage payments reduced to make them more affordable for the long-term.  The problem with this is that it costs the government a lot of money and it's very easy for someone to obtain this service.  You can even be eligible for it if you've previously received a HAMP trail period plan, but defaulted in their trial payments or you previously received a HAMP permanent modification, but defaulted in their payments, therefore losing good standing.  If the government is going to give out money to people who have already proved they can't handle it, we need to cut this program in the better intrest of the economy.  The CBO estimates that cutting this program would result in $2.8 billion over the next 10 years.
     The National Flood Insurance Program also need to get structure changes to improve the spending in this country.  House lawmakers have already approved cahnges to the flood insurance program but the Senate is yet to agree on a deal.  We also need to place the Consumer Finance Protection Bureau under the congressional appropriations process which would save $5.4 billion according to the CBO.  Demacrates have been pushing for the consumer bureau to be free from the appropriations process eventhough doing this would save the country a great amount of money.

The Awakening: Edna Pontillier

     My personal opinion of Edna throughout The Awakening changed the more I read through the story.  At first, I felt bad for her.  She was treated poorly by her husband and she was just using Robert as a way to get away from Leonce for a little bit each day.  She thought of Robert as just a friend that she was going out with and enjoying herself.  I thought very strongly that the actions Edna was taking were justified and that all of the blame should be place on Leonce for not treating his wife the way she deserves to be treated.  At this point in the story I wouldn't have acted any different than she was.  Then Edna starts to act out and falls in love with Robert and this is where my personal opinion changed drastically.
     When Edna falls in love with Robert, she almost wants Leonce to treat her badly so that she will have more of a reason to run away with him.  She pushes Leonce to treat her bad and does things that no wife should do.  There are many occasions where she acts like their children don't exist and she is never taking care of them throughout the novel.  This is something that would make any husband mad with their wife if this was her responsibility.  She also completely abandons her other jobs around the house like entertaining guests and things of that sort.  I'm not saying that she should have to do these things but if they are something she's supposed to do, she should do them.  Edna completely oversteps the whole situation and now took it from where her actions were justified to making Leonce seem like the one who's getting hurt.  If I were to fall in love with another woman during my marriage, this would be the last possible way I would act.  Sneaking around your spouse and making them be mad at you on purpose to use it against them is not the way any person should act in a marriage and I feel for Leonce having to deal with this.  Edna is also completely unfaitful to Leonce which is the worst thing you can do in a marriage.  She spends tons of time with someone who she is completely in love with and she also ends up kissing and who knows what else with Alcee.  This is aldultery and this is against most religions and societies but especially against the views of the creole society she lives in.
    None of what Edna is doing now is justified and she should be held completely responsible for the ending of her marriage.  If a man was to cheat on his wife and fall in love with another woman now-a-days, he would be considered an awful person and everything bit of fault would be thrown on him.  Now that it is the woman, she should be held just as responsible and she should take responsibility for her acting and make things right going on with the story.

Author Comparisons

     Henry Wadsworth Longfellow was born on February 27th, 1807 and at the age of 6 he began attending the Portland Academy.  When he was 13 he published his first poem, The Battle of Lovell's Pond.  Then the following year he enrolled at Bowdoin College in Brunswick, ME where he would graduate at the age of 18. From the years of 1826-1829 he decided to go out and study and travel throughout Europe.  When he was done with that he went back to Bowdoin College where he decided to teach through 1835.  During his time teaching he was married to Mary Potter in 1831 who later dies in 1835 and is one of the reasons he stops teaching.  In 1836 he meets Frances (Fanny) Appleton and returns to US from second tour of Europe. He then moves to Cambridge, MA to begin professorship at Harvard College.  Henry and Fanny are married in 1843 and have six children: Charles, Ernest, Frances (died at age 16 months), Alice, Edith, and Anne.  Fanny dies in 1861 from burning alive when her dress caught on fire and Henry Wadsworth Longfellow dies in 1882.  

     Walt Whitman was born on May 31, 1819 in Long Island.  At the age of four his family moved over from Long Island to Brooklyn.  Whitman's father him out of school at the age of 11 to help support the family.  He works as an office boy and then apprentices as a printer for a local newspaper. In 1833, his family moves back to Long Island.  In 1838 he publishes a weekly newspaper, the Long Islander.  Whitman publishes many radical ideas on topics such as Labor Issues, Woman's Rights, Immigration, and Slavery.  On January 23rd, 1873 Whitman suffers a stroke and is left unable to use his left leg and arm.  Two years later a second stroke harms the right side of his body.  On March 26, 1892 Whitman dies and is buried in New Jersey. 

      The thing that makes both authors very similar in the style they write and I think this is just due to the time they wrote in.  They also shared a similar background when it came to writing in newspapers.  They both wrote about topics that could be considered controversial and also writings about life and other poetic things.