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Start Date
25-6-2022 12:00 AM
End Date
25-6-2022 12:00 AM
Abstract
Collisions between past and present have long been a staple of Baz Luhrmann’s work -- Shakespearean pentameter met MTV aesthetics in Romeo + Juliet, while the 1890s Bohemians of expressed their passions via Elton John lyrics. Thus, it wasn’t surprising to learn that his 2013 take on The Great Gatsby would include some postmodern tinkering, this time in the form of swapping out the jazz for a hip-hop influenced soundtrack, compiled and produced by Shawn “Jay-Z” Carter. Their collaboration became a significant part of the film’s marketing, with both arguing that this choice provided a way for contemporary audiences to experience the thrill of jazz as it would have been felt in the Roaring 20s. This project explores the ways that the two halves of this partnership provide avenues for understanding the racial and class-based dimensions of a “Gatsby figure” -- an emblem of the American myth of male self-invention, and an icon of indulgence and flashy nouveau-riche tastes.
I argue that critically reading the film, along with the public personas of both Luhrmann and Jay-Z at the time of this project, illustrates a reinvention of a longstanding dynamic of racial appreciation-turned-exploitation, spanning back to the 1925 source material. I build upon the existing body of Fitzgerald scholarship that has problematized Gatsby’s relationship to racial difference, most notably those who argue for a reading of the former Jay Gatz being read as non-white, as well as the work of Regina Bradley and Mark Anthony Hill in considering Jay-Z’s shifting public persona in recent years.
"1929, Still": Race, Class and the "Gatsby Figure" in 2013 and Today
Collisions between past and present have long been a staple of Baz Luhrmann’s work -- Shakespearean pentameter met MTV aesthetics in Romeo + Juliet, while the 1890s Bohemians of expressed their passions via Elton John lyrics. Thus, it wasn’t surprising to learn that his 2013 take on The Great Gatsby would include some postmodern tinkering, this time in the form of swapping out the jazz for a hip-hop influenced soundtrack, compiled and produced by Shawn “Jay-Z” Carter. Their collaboration became a significant part of the film’s marketing, with both arguing that this choice provided a way for contemporary audiences to experience the thrill of jazz as it would have been felt in the Roaring 20s. This project explores the ways that the two halves of this partnership provide avenues for understanding the racial and class-based dimensions of a “Gatsby figure” -- an emblem of the American myth of male self-invention, and an icon of indulgence and flashy nouveau-riche tastes.
I argue that critically reading the film, along with the public personas of both Luhrmann and Jay-Z at the time of this project, illustrates a reinvention of a longstanding dynamic of racial appreciation-turned-exploitation, spanning back to the 1925 source material. I build upon the existing body of Fitzgerald scholarship that has problematized Gatsby’s relationship to racial difference, most notably those who argue for a reading of the former Jay Gatz being read as non-white, as well as the work of Regina Bradley and Mark Anthony Hill in considering Jay-Z’s shifting public persona in recent years.
Bio
Anna Louise Wiegenstein is a Ph.D candidate in the Screen Studies program at Oklahoma State University's Department of English. Her dissertation project centers around masculine performance and racial/ethnic identity in the filmography of Baz Luhrmann. Other research interests include the contemporary movie musical and representations of the body within that genre, and streaming video on demand industrial studies.