Be Like Daisy

This Friday I saw The Great Gatsby in the theaters. Personally, I was not a huge fan of the movie, probably because we just finished reading the book, and books tend to be better than the movie. However, something I found quite unsettling about the film was the way they portrayed the character Daisy. Within the book I thought it was clear that Daisy was in love with Gatsby, not for who he was, but rather his money. As such, putting Daisy in a bad light for being so materialistic. Yet, in the movie, I believe, Daisy was seen as an innocent character that does nothing wrong, and so everyone should always side with her.

For example, within the movie, the scene where Daisy expresses her love for Gatsby to Tom truly highlights this innocence of Daisy. During this climatic scene, Gatsby loses his temper for a moment, and so Daisy becomes frightened and crawls back to Tom. By doing so, the audience feels bad for Daisy, also making it seem like did nothing wrong. This differing perception of the character of Daisy in the movie makes it seem that Americans idealize her and want to be like her. Do you believe Americans praise the idea of the character of Daisy, the materialistic, upper-class personae?