"The Great Gatsby" Movie Review

While watching the movie "The Great Gatsby" the first time I ever saw it after reading the book, I thought it was pretty good. Now that I have seen it several times, I can watch the movie while thinking about different perspectives of it. I can see different views from a sociologist's point of view.

In "The Great Gatsby" the main characters name is Nick Carraway. In the beginning of the movie, Nick moved into the West Egg part of Long Island, New York. His neighbor was a very mysterious. He had a big house, and would always be throwing parties. Nick knew nothing about this man, and whenever he would ask about information about him, everyone seemed to say something different. Not far from Nick lived his cousin Daisy, who lived in the East Egg part of Long Island, New York. Daisy's husband Tom was one of Nick's classmates in college. Daisy and Tom introduce Nick to Jordan Baker. As Nick gets to know Jordan more, he starts to develop feelings for her. One day Jordan informs Nick that Tom is having an affair on Daisy. Nick travels to New York City with Tom one day, where is is introduced to Myrtle Wilson. Myrtle lives in the poorer part of town with her husband. Myrtle is the woman Tom is having an affair with.

Throughout the movie, Nick becomes even more curious about his neighbor, who he still knows nothing about. One day however, Nick gets an invitation to one of Gastsy's parties. While attending, he runs into Jordan who seems to know Gatsby, and introduces him to Nick. Gatsby gets to know Nick, he explains that he throws his parties hoping that one day Daisy will come to one. He wants Nick to try and help set him up with Daisy, as they were lovers at one point.

At this point of the movie you can start to see the sociological point of view. In the book, it defines symbolic-interaction as a framework for building theory that sees society as the product of the everyday interactions of individuals. People interaction with other people different. Tom acts different towards Daisy, the woman he is married too, and Myrtle, the woman who he is having an affair with. When we are first introduced to Myrtle, he goes to New York with Tom and Nick to an apartment party. At this party, Tom is drunk and ends up punching Myrtle and breaking her nose. He wouldn't do that to Daisy. When Tom finds out that Gatsby is trying to win Daisy back and they all go to New York, he keeps on telling her he loves her and that Gatsby is a phony. Social class plays a big party in this movie. Both Tom and Gatsby are very rich men and are highly respected. If you were to ask someone about them, they will say good things. Myrtle for example would be apart of the lower class. Her and her husband George own this small gas station in between Long Island and New York city, in a poor area. George has no idea that Myrtle is having an affair with Tom, and when he finds out she is having an affair he threatens to move away. It's obvious that Tom doesn't respect George very much, because if he were he wouldn't be having an affair with his wife. In real life all of the wealthy people seem to be highly respected, and people in lower classes almost seem unnoticed. Another example of a sociological point of view would be social conflict. Tom and Gatsby are both fighting over Daisy. They are trying to display their dominance. Each one of them is very wealthy. Gatsby may appear to be more wealthy, but Tom has money, he just doesn't flaunt it like Gatsby. They fight for her, Tom saying how they are married, he loves her, and they have a daughter together. Gatsby is fighting for her by telling her Tom isn't the right one, and how they should be together. They were in love before she even knew Tom.

Overall, this is a great movie that has movie that shows different points of view from a sociologists perspective. You can look at it through symbolic interactions, social conflict, and social status. Each way has a different approach on how society functions.