The Next Best Thing is Not the Best Thing
Amy Lowell once proclaimed, “Art is the desire of a man to express himself, to record the reactions of his personality to the world he lives in.” Art can be portrayed in many different forms, such as literature, films, paintings and songs; but no matter the type of art, a message is shown. The message that was portrayed in The Great Gatsby, written by F. Scott Fitzgerald was very similar to the message shown in the film Powaqqatsi directed by Godfrey Reggio. Even though The Great Gatsby and Powaqqatsi are not the same type of art, they both show that humans are regularly thinking about moving forward, instead of simply appreciating what they have. Comparing the two media help answer: Which personality …show more content…
He lives in the West Egg district of Long Island, next door to Jay Gatsby, who is in love with Nick’s cousin Daisy. Nick’s main goal is to become more like Gatsby, because he thinks Gatsby lives the American dream. To accomplish that goal, he sacrifices his human nature. Nick proclaims in the book, “Everyone suspects himself of at least one of the cardinal virtues, and this is mine: I am one of the few honest people that I have ever known.” (3.170) He believes that honesty is very important at the start of the novel, but in an attempt to become more like Gatsby he ends up lying at the end of the book. Gatsby tells Nick that Daisy was the one who hit her husband Tom’s mistress, while driving his car. Instead of going to the police with this information or Tom, Nick decides to not notify anybody. Nick’s moral code in The Great Gatsby is similar to the nature in Powaqqatsi because it is being sacrificed in order to gain something else. In the early scenes of Powaqqatsi, Reggio shows wonderful images of nature, such as riverbanks, kids walking around naked in sparkling oceans, and numerous tall trees. All of a sudden a train comes in and covers up all the beautiful images. The train represents industrialization and technology taking over in Third World countries. The audience then begins to see industrial waste, skyscrapers, and pollution. We as …show more content…
Before Daisy even met Tom, she was in love with a man with the name of Jay Gatsby. Later into the story Daisy and Jay reunite and rekindle their love. Tom has some suspicions about Daisy cheating on him and is not overjoyed. He feels like he has to get back at Daisy so he takes it upon himself to cheat on her with a woman named Myrtle. Tom Buchanan says, "And what 's more, I love Daisy too. Once in a while I go off on a spree and make a fool of myself, but I always come back, and in my heart I love her all the time." (7.251-252). He was so obsessed with getting even with Daisy, it did not matter to him that he was doing the wrong thing. Tom was willing to cheat, even though he was in love with Daisy. Tom cheating on Daisy with Myrtle is similar to people getting their food from a garbage dump in Powaqqatsi. In the beginning of Powaqqatsi, people are shown harvesting pure grain. The pure grain that was harvested in the film could 've then be used to make bread and other fresh goods. As the film progresses, people are no longer harvesting pure grain, but rather are searching for food in a garbage dump. Third World Countries such as the ones portrayed in the film were so determined to become industrialized; they expected industrialization to be this wonderful thing, but soon found out it was not everything that they imagined it to be. When determination begins to turn into an obsession, people neglect other aspects of
Amy Lowell once proclaimed, “Art is the desire of a man to express himself, to record the reactions of his personality to the world he lives in.” Art can be portrayed in many different forms, such as literature, films, paintings and songs; but no matter the type of art, a message is shown. The message that was portrayed in The Great Gatsby, written by F. Scott Fitzgerald was very similar to the message shown in the film Powaqqatsi directed by Godfrey Reggio. Even though The Great Gatsby and Powaqqatsi are not the same type of art, they both show that humans are regularly thinking about moving forward, instead of simply appreciating what they have. Comparing the two media help answer: Which personality …show more content…
He lives in the West Egg district of Long Island, next door to Jay Gatsby, who is in love with Nick’s cousin Daisy. Nick’s main goal is to become more like Gatsby, because he thinks Gatsby lives the American dream. To accomplish that goal, he sacrifices his human nature. Nick proclaims in the book, “Everyone suspects himself of at least one of the cardinal virtues, and this is mine: I am one of the few honest people that I have ever known.” (3.170) He believes that honesty is very important at the start of the novel, but in an attempt to become more like Gatsby he ends up lying at the end of the book. Gatsby tells Nick that Daisy was the one who hit her husband Tom’s mistress, while driving his car. Instead of going to the police with this information or Tom, Nick decides to not notify anybody. Nick’s moral code in The Great Gatsby is similar to the nature in Powaqqatsi because it is being sacrificed in order to gain something else. In the early scenes of Powaqqatsi, Reggio shows wonderful images of nature, such as riverbanks, kids walking around naked in sparkling oceans, and numerous tall trees. All of a sudden a train comes in and covers up all the beautiful images. The train represents industrialization and technology taking over in Third World countries. The audience then begins to see industrial waste, skyscrapers, and pollution. We as …show more content…
Before Daisy even met Tom, she was in love with a man with the name of Jay Gatsby. Later into the story Daisy and Jay reunite and rekindle their love. Tom has some suspicions about Daisy cheating on him and is not overjoyed. He feels like he has to get back at Daisy so he takes it upon himself to cheat on her with a woman named Myrtle. Tom Buchanan says, "And what 's more, I love Daisy too. Once in a while I go off on a spree and make a fool of myself, but I always come back, and in my heart I love her all the time." (7.251-252). He was so obsessed with getting even with Daisy, it did not matter to him that he was doing the wrong thing. Tom was willing to cheat, even though he was in love with Daisy. Tom cheating on Daisy with Myrtle is similar to people getting their food from a garbage dump in Powaqqatsi. In the beginning of Powaqqatsi, people are shown harvesting pure grain. The pure grain that was harvested in the film could 've then be used to make bread and other fresh goods. As the film progresses, people are no longer harvesting pure grain, but rather are searching for food in a garbage dump. Third World Countries such as the ones portrayed in the film were so determined to become industrialized; they expected industrialization to be this wonderful thing, but soon found out it was not everything that they imagined it to be. When determination begins to turn into an obsession, people neglect other aspects of