There are those out there who long for a book filled with the Roaring 20s, yearning, crime and heartbreak. For IB English students, these things are what they have been studying this semester in The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald.
Today, 100 years ago, The Great Gatsby was published, and since then, it has been the source of numerous references and has influenced various pop culture hot topics.
For those who have not read the book, the story follows narrator Nick Carraway as he finds himself entangled in the life of his wealthy and mysterious neighbor Jay Gatsby in the pursuit of his past love, Daisy Buchanan. The novel dives deep into themes of the past, wealth, morals and the American Dream.
In these past 100 years, there have been over 25 million copies of the novel sold worldwide, and at least five film adaptations have been produced. Although, the most notable of these adaptations brings together stars of “The Wolf of Wall Street” and “Spiderman.”
Starring Leonardo DiCaprio as Gatsby and Tobey Maguire as Nick, the 2013 adaptation of Great Gatsby has brought in about $350 million worldwide. Directed by Baz Luhrmann (more recently applauded for directing the Elvis movie), the film effectively portrays the lavish lifestyle and chaotic parties of Jay Gatsby.
However, the immense impact of The Great Gatsby can be found all over the world, even today.
Many movies and television shows have referenced The Great Gatsby, many of them referencing the novel multiple times. “Gilmore Girls”, “Fight Club”, and “Pretty Little Liars” are some of the most popular TV hits that have alluded to Gatsby.
TV is not the only place where you can find Gatsby’s presence, various musical artists have also found inspiration from the story.
Fans have suspected that Taylor Swift has referenced Gatsby in many of her songs. For instance, her song “happiness” has a lyric that says “All you want from me now is the green light of forgiveness,” alluding to the biggest symbol in the novel, the green light on Daisy Buchanan’s dock.
More noticeably, in the song “This Is Why We Can’t Have Nice Things,” Swift says “…there are no rules when you show up here. Bass beat rattling the chandelier. Feeling so Gatsby for that whole year…”
Bringing on a more nostalgic air, Bob Dylan references the novel in his song “Summer Days,” singing “She says, ‘You can’t repeat the past,’ I say, ‘You can’t? What do you mean, you can’t, of course you can.’” This lyric connects to Gatsby’s fatal flaw throughout the novel, his desperation to recreate his past romance with Daisy.
And finally, bringing it full circle back to 2020, Gen Z has adopted Charli XCX’s song “party 4 u” as the modern Gatsby anthem.
Evidently, these past 100 years have been continuously successful for Fitzgerald’s novel, but we are only left to wonder what he would think of these pop culture connections.
