She's Single, Likes Sports, and Hates Careless People, and Can Be Yours If the Price Is Right!

Today's character:  Jordan Baker

Luhrmann's Jordan:  Elizabeth Debicki

Past Ms. Baker's:  Ruth Hussey, Lois Chiles, Francie Swift

I don’t like Jordan Baker.  By the end of the book her character has annoyed me to such an extent Fitzgerald should have put her in the pool with Gatsby.  Please, do not get me wrong.  The awkward ‘new’ love affair she has with Nick contrasts beautifully with the awkward ‘old’ love affair going on between Daisy and Gatsby (along with other Old World vs. New World metaphors, regional differences, etc.), and her life motto of “it takes two to make an accident...I hate careless people (that’s why she likes Nick)” line suits her lifestyle and choices well.  She plays golf but cheats, she is dangerous (read: reckless) but she has the figure of a ‘sportswoman’ (thus beautiful and fit), she ain’t care what anyone thinks but she is too inviting and social to be considered unfeeling.  She comes across as too good for you (and she might be) but she isn’t too good to get her jollies in the process of dragging your heart around.  Very dynamic and necessary to drive the plot and provide Daisy/Gatsby background, but again, by the end of the book she has run her course.  When she and Nick talk about their relationship and what happened after Gatsby dies, she blows Nick off with ‘I’m engaged,’ and then dismisses him with the whole ‘I was wrong about you’ and “I thought you were rather an honest, straightforward person.”  WHAT. A. BITCH.  I always wondered if Fitzgerald was trying to blow off steam from some unfortunate event in his past with this exchange because Nick’s response of “I’m thirty...I’m five years too old to lie to myself and call it honor” is a solid, assholish comeback.  It leaves her speechless, and that’s what makes it so good.  Of course, readers are supposed to get a disgusted, visceral reaction by how Jordan, Tom, and Daisy turned out by the end of the novel.  The only difference is Tom and Daisy are sucky people and Jordan is just being cold to be cold because she can move on and no one will call her on it.  Nick didn’t do anything wrong.  FREE NICK!!!

Anyway, someone named Elizabeth Debicki or something is playing Jordan in the new film.

Mr. Nobody From Nowhere Is Making Love To Your Wife

Sexy, kinda...

Today's character:  Tom Buchanan

Luhrmann's Buchanan: Joel Edgerton

Past Toms:  Barry Sullivan, Bruce Dern, Martin Donovan

Okay, so begins my xenophobic, flag waving rant on Australian characters playing pure bred, corn fed Amerrrrricans.  It’s...not...that....big of....a deal (*shudders).  But really, my biggest issue with Edgerton as Tom is that I believe Bradley Cooper would have been a damn good Tom.  Dammit!  But, if Luhrmann feels better directing actors that he knows more about, then so be it.

Tom, described by some American actor as “the best character in the book. He’s so complicated...He’s xenophobic, he’s an alcoholic, but he also understands some profound stuff about class.”  Tom is an every-man.  He’s a young, rich Archie Bunker.  He’s everyone’s racist, beer drinkin' grandfather or father.  He says what he thinks no matter how anyone feels, and he gets what he wants by either being an asshole or a passive-aggressive douche.  He drinks, he cheats on his wife, but he also knows that all of it is fun and games.  And he never really learns anything.

That unnamed American actor also provides a warning to those playing Tom; “Whoever plays it has to take a gentle hand, because it could so easily be stock, where he’s a rich jerk you don’t identify with at all.”  So very very true.  Let’s loooook at how Edgerton stacks up.

Gatsby Character Profile: Because I Have a Microphone So You Will Listen To Everything I Have To Say

New feature, for as long as it lasts or as long as I care.  Whatever comes first.  Betting booths are now open.
As many of you may know, Australian director Baz Luhrmann will take a shot at the fourth (or fifth, depending on if you count lost films or count a straight to video release*) attempt at a movie of F. Scott Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby.

Why have so many people attempted to make this book into a film, and why is no one content with the prior installments?  In short, the book touches on a lot of varying emotions while allowing the reader to partially identify with the narrator (Nick Carraway) because he just does not have a lot going on for him except his interactions with all of the characters to some extent.  It is a popular American novel, and loved by millions through many generations due to some sort of 'timeless' nature the book captures, and partying, lots and lots of partying.  Combined with the fact that everyone has an imagination of some sort, then BAM, you have got about a million different stage shows and film versions/parodies because everyone takes a different lesson from the book.  That's the short version.

What this feature intends to do is look at the cast (the seven most popular characters) of Luhrmann's upcoming film set to begin production sometime this year.  I will break down his choices and see if they are acceptable, because what I say matters in my mind.  Also, because Luhrmann dips into the vast talent pool of Australia, leading one to believe that he thinks that Americans had their chance and failed.  I will address this is once it occurs.  First up, Nick Carraway, the story's disconnected narrator and the semi-omniscient 'I' voice because Fitzgerald said so.

Go ahead and be borne back ceaselessly into the jump.