To a great extent, I worry that the latest movie will probably help to reinforce their opinions of the author based on what sounds to be a treatment of his book that fails to grasp the underlying point. Perhaps some authors are doomed to be warped by cinematic treatments of their works. I am reminded of Pasternak's wonderful anti-utopian novel that shows the attempt of the optimistic realist to retain both optimism and realism in the face of societal madness. It was originally to be called There Will Be No Death, but he called it Doctor Zhivago instead. Somehow, it became the cinematic equivalent of a tawdry romance novel sold at Wal-Mart for trailer trash.

I haven't seen Luhrmann's movie adaptation yet, but the reviews I've read highlight that he remains superficially faithful to the novel while missing its larger points. If that is the case, it's not entirely surprising. American society is caught in a Gatsby-esque obsession with money that has permeated society as never before, despite a major economic crisis that many are now treating as nothing more than a temporary setback. I'm certainly not saying I support the uneducated protest movements against "Wall Street" - far from it. However, there is a difference between promoting a market economy and promoting a fixation on money to the exclusion of all else. Gatsby highlighted that in a way that was wonderfully expressive. It was the quintessential New York novel, and probably remains it after so long because it doesn't seek to explain contradictions or simplify complexities. It just presents the paradoxes and lets the reader figure out who he sympathizes with.

It may be that no film could objectively portray Fitzgerald's novel because it has to qualify people as good or bad to make it easier for a stupid audience to pick up on those cues.

Either way, I think the book is one of the best American novels out there, and it sadly doesn't always get the respect it deserves.