Myrtle In The Great Gatsby

In the film, however, Myrtle’s appearance is nothing like it is described in the book. An article on the Huffington Post describes Myrtle Wilson’s appearance in the film. It states that “[a]s the wife of George Wilson and the mistress of Tom Buchanan, she [Myrtle Wilson] clearly has some major sex appeal – and she is not afraid to show it,” (Isla Fisher as Myrtle, par. 2). In Luhrmann’s film, Myrtle is cast by Isla Fisher. Myrtle appears to be a slim red-head, who is far from frumpy. This change of Myrtle makes her more appealing to a viewer. Now that Myrtle is more attractive in the film, Tom’s adultery can possibly be seen as somewhat justifiable. In an interview with Hit Fix, Isla Fisher talks about portraying the role of Myrtle. She says …show more content…
In the novel, Daisy is a strong, bold character, who a reader feels sympathetic towards. In the film, she is more shallow and two dimensional. A viewer may find it hard to sympathize with her because of this bothersome personality. The change in Daisy’s personality affects how a viewer thinks of Daisy. However, the change also affects how viewers look at other characters. Tom Buchanan is viewed as the antagonist in the novel for cheating on Daisy, but in the film, a viewer may be more understanding towards his actions based on his relationship with Daisy. Also, the changes in appearance between Myrtle’s character in the novel and film play a significant role in how a viewer of the film looks at the infidelity. While in the novel, Myrtle is described to have no glimmer of beauty, in the film, she is surprisingly beautiful. Gatsby’s actions and personality seem to be more ridiculous, and a viewer may be annoyed by the extensive effort he is putting into a woman who can never truly love him. The changes in character personalities and looks does not make the film better than the novel, it just merely changes a viewer’s outlook of the characters. Also, it could potentially alter the plotline a viewer