Movie Review for Writers: The Great Gatsby (2013)

It's a long-accepted literary theory that the great American novel, The Great Gatsby, is not written (in fact) by F. Scott Fitzgerald, but actually written by Nick Carroway (being channeled by F. Scott Fitzgerald). The 2013 movie version of that novel really leans into that idea, though it is largely ignored in the earlier version (which doesn't really suffer from that thanks to amazing performances by both Mia Farrow and Robert Redford).

As the movie begins, we see Nick talking with a counselor/psychologist about his experiences and being recommended to write it all down in order to finally make sense of these events that have clearly affected him on an existential level. He's trying to work through his feelings about his cousin and her husband, both "careless people" hiding away in the money from responsibility and justice. He's trying to work through his feelings for Jordan, who (at least in this film version) he never really clicked with. But most of all, he's trying to work through his feelings for and about Jay Gatsby. 

Nick: I don't want to talk about this,Doctor. I can't talk about THIS.   

Doctor: Then write about it.

Nick: Write?

Doctor: Yes, write.

Nick: Why would I do that?

Doctor: After all, you said that writing brought you solace, once upon a time.

Nick: Yeah, well. It didn't bring anyone else much solace... I wasn't any good.

The Doctor offers Nick a pen; but Nick does not accept.

Doctor: No one need ever read it. You can always burn it.

Nick: What would I write about?

Doctor: Anything. Whatever you can't quite talk about; a memory; a thought; a place... Write it down.

There's a lot to unpack in this apocryphal exchange that was added to the movie to make the central conceit work more naturally. 

Write

This should be second nature to us as writers, one would think. And not just for when we are struggling to get our thoughts in order. But instead, we often clam up. It's so common that we have given it a name -- writer's block. 

When we feel we can't write, sometimes that's the most important time to write. Yes, I know that sounds weird. But bear with me. If we can use a trick, a gimmick, a fallback to get just a few words started, the rest will eventually flow, and when they do, we'll see change happen. 

I often feel rotten when I'm not able to put down a story onto paper. But once I push through and get something going, that's when my characters start to become real for me. That's when the themes and ideas that make my crazy little weirdo heart happy start to do their magic mojo. That's when my spirit starts to lift, to use the cliche. 

The trick is just to write something. 

Solace

The doctor is right, and not just about Nick. I'm going to go out on a limb and assume he's talking about you as well. I know as sure as hell that he's talking about me. 

Writing is something that brings me solace. It makes me happy. Sometimes it's the big things like finishing a story and meeting a deadline. Sometimes it's the small things like a fun turn of a phrase or a character beat that I feel really proud of. Regardless, it's not the idea of writing that gives me joy and solace; it's the actual act of writing. 

Banging out words on my keyboard while I'm lost inside the worlds in my head soothes me like nothing else can. There's no white noise or binaural beats or Celtic pan flute that can compare to the soothing quality that pounding out a story can give me. No matter how I might struggle with it or how many times I hit the delete key to try that sentence or paragraph just "one more time," experiencing that story become real has a sort of spiritual effect on me, if you'll indulge me. 

Whatever Your Want

This is the fun part. What should you write? Whatever the hell you want to. It's that simple. 

Feeling in the mood for your go-to genre? Go for it. Feeling more like trying something new? Indulge that whim and write your hard-boiled detective in space. Just need to get some big feelings out in a more non-fiction way? Turn those heavy thoughts into a journal or a non-fiction article. 

It's all up to you. 

I really love the way the doctor phrases it here to Nick. "Whatever you can't quite talk about... Write it down." I think that's amazing advice for us as writers. If there's a certain specific bee buzzing in your brain that is keeping your thoughts occupied and you can't talk about it, then turn it into a story. Let it be subtle. Let it be a theme instead of a plot if need be. 

When I got angry about politics, I channeled those feelings into new poetry, some of the first I'd written in years. Eventually, those poems became the bulk of the book When We Had No Flag. And I felt, if not better, at least as though I had been able to get some things out and share them with my readers. 

Getting Great

Just as the movie begins with Nick and the doctor, it ends there too. Nick is getting some closure. He's just be able to make sense of the tragedy and see the truth of being "boats against the current, borne back ceaselessly into the past." 

It's a lesson he couldn't have learned without taking those big feelings out of his head and his chest and putting them on paper. To learn what he needed to (I dare not say "lesson" because it's so much more, so much deeper than that), he had to first write the story. 

If you've ever endured that with a story, count yourself lucky to have had the experience. It's a trying time, and it can be a struggle, but when you come out on the other side, it's like seeing sunlight in a brand new way. I've been fortunate (though I felt unfortunate at first) to have been through this and I always feel renewed when I read the end of that part of my writer's journey. 

But... a preoccupation with nostalgia, with the past, isn't the only lesson that telling Gatsby's story teaches Nick. He also manages to sort through his understanding of (and perhaps love for) Gatsby. 

Nick pulls a final page from his typewriter, sets the page on top of his completed manuscript and we clearly see the title:

"GATSBY."

Nick considers this and then handwrites:

"THE GREAT..."

Through the act of writing out his memories, Nick learns this truth: Writing is a way of turning memories into art, into therapy -- and not just for ourselves but for our readers.