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Postmodern journal

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Postmodern journal
In The Great Gatsby, by F. Scott Fitzgerald, there are
various uses of elements of Modernism. Filmmakers
put a 21st-century spin on a Modernist classic. Various
techniques of Postmodernism are seen in the film, The
Great Gatsby. One of these elements is Temporal
Distortion, where writers and filmmakers use nonlinear timelines and narrative techniques to convey a
brilliant story. The movie opens with Nick reflecting on
his time with Gatsby to doctor in a sanitarium. For
example, he says, "back then we all drank too much"
(Lurhmann, Pearce 1). This is alluding to his time with
Gatsby. Periodically throughout the movie, viewers
see Nick in the sanitarium years later and him in the
time he is remembering and reflecting on. This
perfectly exemplifies the traits of Temporal Distortion,
as the filmmaker uses the non-linear timeline of
Gatsby in the sanitarium, then reflecting back on his
time in West Egg. These unique narrative techniques
put a different perspective on the movie, making it
obviously post-Modernism.
Another element of Postmodernism is seen in the
film The Great Gatsby. This element is called authorial
self-reference, which is the narrator's time they are
involved in and people they interact with during that
time. This is perfectly shown in the Postmodern
movie, The Great Gatsby because Nick himself is the
narrator of the story. Not only is he character that is
constantly involved in the story, but also an outside
voice as the narrator. When he is reflecting back on his
life with Gatsby and in the West Egg, he repeatedly
references himself, making him somewhat bias. Nick
gets to give viewers and readers the first impression
on other characters, playing a big role in the movie as

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a whole. This is different in the book, as Nick is seen

more on the outside of things, as he says "Thirty the
promise of decade of loneliness, a thinning list of
single men to know, a thinning brief-case of
enthusiasm, thinning hair" (Fitzgerald 135). This quote
clearly shows the isolated life that Nick believes he
lives, and how he knows he will always be the
outsider. This is different in the movie, as we see that
Nick lives a life where he feels connected and his selfreference is much different than that of the book.
Overall, the movie is unique because of its Postmodernistic elements.
Lastly, Magical Realism is a technique seen in the
Post-modernistic movie of The Great Gatsby. This
element portrays the impossible or unrealistic events
into a narrative that is otherwise realistic. An event in
the book that is unrealistic is the "West Egg" and the
"East Egg." These are not real places, yet they
contribute to an important theme of money in The
Great Gatsby. For example, as Nick explains the
history of the eggs: "I lived at West Egg, the less
fashionable of the two then there was East Egg that
glittered along the water" (Fitzgerald 5), he is
explaining a magically, yet realistic, part of the
Postmodern movie. This is an important trait of Postmodernism, as it engages a contemporary audience.
This contemporary audience, different to that of the
Modern audience in the book, is engaged because of
its use of imagery and common filming techniques to
portray the story to the best possible detail. Postmodern people live in a world where escaping reality
is all they want, so showing this in the film, The Great
Gatsby, is really important 1 to many viewers. Overall,
Post-modernism reigned the late 20th and early 21st
century as a movement that is marked, both

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stylistically and ideologically, and is perfectly

exemplified in The Great Gatsby through temporal
distortion, authorial self-reference, and magical
realism.

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Weak adjective: important