I'm sorry. I heard the soundtrack in Great Gatsby and I hated it. Not all of it, but bits an pieces from really famous pop culture hip-hop that used to make me cringe every single time I'd listen to them on the radio. To make matters worse, self proclaimed king of the world Jay-Z was the executive producer of the soundtrack. One wonders why Jay-Z didn't decide to just forgo Leonardo DiCaprio and cast himself as Gatsby (which would have been scarily appropriate given Jay-Z's history). But my real issue isn't with Jay-Z, but really the music. When it came to depicting shallow materialistic party scenes, the music was spot on. That's exactly what most of the music was. Beyonce, Jay-Z, Fergie are all sell outs and make music that's safe and appeals to large audiences. I have no issue with this, but you can't have it both ways. You can't make popular shallow music and then expect people to be moved by it. So when I heard "Crazy in love" playing in the background of the scene where Gatsby's true obsessive nature was finally coming out, I felt conflicted and confused. This was a powerful scene because as an audience member I'm feeling with Gatsby on many of these things. His anxiety is my anxiety. Or at least I can sympathize with it. But when I hear "Crazy in Love" I just think this is one huge joke. "Crazy in love" uses the trope of love sickness to be popular. It doesn't add any depth or insight to what it might feel like to be "Crazy in love". Instead it repeats it over and over again, as if by turning it into a mantra, the cheap trick of repetition will transform into obsession.
Furthermore, I'm fucking tired of New York being associated with Jay-Z. I don't want to hear "Empire State of mind" playing in the background of an extended shot of the city skyline. That song only serves to reinforce popular romanticized notions of New York City. It doesn't speak any truth about the city. It's just a chronicle of NYC according to Jay-Z, then it goes into that ridiculous chorus, where Alicia Keys claims that New York City has some intrinsic ability to transform people. New York State of Mind by Bill Joel is a far better representation because it's honest and doesn't do much representing. It literally encompasses the nostalgia those who have visited the city feel when they leave. It invites the listener to project their nostalgia for the city into the song. The song is definitely New York according to Billy Joel, but it's main message is that we all miss the city when we leave and sometimes we have the urge to come back. Look at Empire State of mind, which just objectifies the city, leaving it to be possessed by Jay-Z and eventually you the listener. In New York State of mind, the city possesses you.
The choice of using modern music, regardless of the adaptation, was a risky one. Every time a popular song went on I was immediately reminded we weren't in the 20s. This is a fine trade-off when the pay off from the parallel is worth it. And for the party scenes, the pay off was perfect. Everything else sounded out of place and cheesy.
Furthermore, I'm fucking tired of New York being associated with Jay-Z. I don't want to hear "Empire State of mind" playing in the background of an extended shot of the city skyline. That song only serves to reinforce popular romanticized notions of New York City. It doesn't speak any truth about the city. It's just a chronicle of NYC according to Jay-Z, then it goes into that ridiculous chorus, where Alicia Keys claims that New York City has some intrinsic ability to transform people. New York State of Mind by Bill Joel is a far better representation because it's honest and doesn't do much representing. It literally encompasses the nostalgia those who have visited the city feel when they leave. It invites the listener to project their nostalgia for the city into the song. The song is definitely New York according to Billy Joel, but it's main message is that we all miss the city when we leave and sometimes we have the urge to come back. Look at Empire State of mind, which just objectifies the city, leaving it to be possessed by Jay-Z and eventually you the listener. In New York State of mind, the city possesses you.
The choice of using modern music, regardless of the adaptation, was a risky one. Every time a popular song went on I was immediately reminded we weren't in the 20s. This is a fine trade-off when the pay off from the parallel is worth it. And for the party scenes, the pay off was perfect. Everything else sounded out of place and cheesy.
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