By continuing you agree to eChinacities's Privacy Policy .
Sign up with Google Sign up with FacebookQ: Can China learn anything from The Great Gatsby?
I think the most striking resemblance is that the story takes place just before the great depression. Many other parallels can be drawn.
IMHO, the new movie is great, but it doesn't do the book justice, the book is far more descriptive.
If you didn't see the new version of the movie, feel free to discuss based on the book
Loved the book, loved the film.
I was expecting to be disappointed with the movie and had low expectations due to Baz Luhrmann's involvement. He normally churns out real tosh. But I gave it a go and was pleasantly surprised .
Many, many parallels with China...
One thing the Chinese should take away is what happens when your driving is rubbish.
Scandinavian:
but what happens when your driving is rubbish and you are filthy rich, Daisy got away with killing a person
rasklnik:
If by got away you mean somebody got shot in the face over it, yeah, she got away with it.
I doubt China can learn much from other countries, as they seem to think they have how to run their country figured out, but perhaps individuals can take some lessons away. On the theme, also worthwhile is F. Scott Fitzgerald's collection of stories "The Diamond as Big as the Ritz and other short stories". Definitely many striking similarities, not just in terms of the riches, but in terms of people's attitudes, the overall Zeitgeist of the age, etc.
You tend to forget that they don't learn the inside of things.
They'll only remember that DiCaprio is handsome and that westerners have lavish lifestyles.
Watch it with some Chinese friends. Then at the end, ask them what was the fiilm about and see if they've followed the content
sorrel:
interesting point. I watched 'V for Vendetta', which is available to see in china, and they all missed the point of that
Speaking of the movie,many Chinese girls have crush on him due to The Titanic which was one of the most successful movies in 1990s' China.No wonder why many people would care him more than the movie.Come on we are living a society where Justin Bieber has a lot of MUSIC FANS.
Back to the novel.I'd like to start with a typical sort of love story happening in China nowadays.A young man likes a girl and the girl seems to like him too.However just like Gatsby left for Europe because of the war,young man also has to face many difficulties in the relationship.House,car,money,love,work,society etc.Maybe they love each other but when love meets reality is's more complicated than just romantic,just like Daisy married Tom.
Gatsby thought it's all about money.The young man agrees to that. too.After the girl was married to a rich guy,the young man becomes a workaholic and in the end he reaches the aim.He wanted to changed something,save a relationship breaking a few years ago for example.But things are changing all the time.ForGatsby Daisy's voice is full of money and for this man she is married and maybe now becomes a mother of kids.Why Gatsby still insisted?He really loved Daisy so much that he couldn't let it go?or is it only because he wanted to compensate himself for the loss when he was nobody?He is looking for the lost love or the pure Gatsby when he was young?He was missing the young Daisy or just the feeling with her when she was young?
For the Chinese who were born in 1980's,they were called The Beat Generation at first.And now we can easily find out that in fact they are The Lost Generation.China is changing so rapidly and we are the explorers,we have to be.We are experiencing the conflict between the Ancient China and modern China,the Eastern culture and Western culture,remember and forget,keep and abandon.And what's worse,we have to catch up ASAP which makes the situation more terrible.
The"American dream" part is out of my league for the moment..
Everybody can learn from it. If you can't that just means you aren't paying attention. There is always a lesson to be learned for almost anything and everything that we do as a human race.
Not many people got the point, even in Western countries. I see advertisements for Gatsby parties all the time on craigslist.