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John A. Rollins
Mrs. Pritchard
American Literature
9 May 2016
Postmodernism in The Great Gatsby
In contrast to the Modernist interpretation of F. Scott Fitzgeralds book version of The
Great Gatsby, the movie version uses postmodern characteristics, such as temporal distortion, an
unreliable narrator, and intertextuality to illustrate the plot. It also filmed in a postmodern way
with certain camera angles due to the directors interpretation. First off, in the movie there is
temporal distortion. This non-linear timeline comes into place in the first few minutes of the
movie. The movie starts with Nick Caraway talking to a therapist because his life is kind of
falling apart. In the movie, the whole plot takes place as a memory of Nick Carraways and is a
cutaway from when he is in the therapists office. The movie sometimes shows this non-linear
timeline by jumping between Nicks memories, back into the present where he is talking to the
therapist.
The movie also uses an unreliable narrator as a postmodern characteristic. Nick Carraway
is a fairly reliable narrator, but he is biased towards Gatsbys point of view because he admires
him so much, making him unreliable. Due to this, we only get the side of the story from Nicks
point of view, and not from the point of view of someone like Tom or Daisy. Another postmodern
technique the movie uses is intertextuality. Intertextuality is the acknowledging of previous
literary works within another literary work. This technique is used in a strange way in this movie.
The whole plot of the movie is actually being written in a book by Nick Carraway. This happens

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when Nick says I dont want to talk about this Doctor, to which the therapist replies Then
write about it (The Great Gatsby, 17). This is a weird example of intertextuality because it is a
reference to the book he is writing inside the movie.
These three postmodern writing techniques in this movie contribute towards creating a
very interesting and entertaining interpretation of The Great Gatsby. However, this isnt the only
way the movie contrasts the book. There are many examples of these contrasting interpretations,
especially when people are getting hurt oddly enough. For example, the directors interpretation
of Tom breaking Myrtles nose, was different from the way I read it, especially in the away it is
filmed and the camera angles. In the script it says, SUDDENLY! A short, sharp movement,
Tom breaks Myrtles nose! CLOSE ON: Nick. AS MYRTLE SCREAMS, BLOOD FLIES
ACROSS THE ROOM IN ABSTRACT SLOW MOTION! PULL OUT (The Great Gatsby,
27). In the book Tom merely breaks her nose, but in the movie the director shows
his interpretation by dramatizing the action, zooming in on the event and making
the blood fly from her nose in slow motion, and then having the camera pan out.
Another example of postmodernism in the filming is when Myrtle gets hit by the car.
The directors interpretation is similar to when she gets slapped in that he zooms in
on the incident and dramatizes it. In the script it says, SLOW MOTION, TERRIBLE,
NIGHTMARISH, EXPRESSIONISTIC IMAGES: Glass shattering, blood splattering, Daisy
screaming, Myrtles body flying through the air, her pearls showering the night like a
thousand new stars... (The Great Gatsby, 112). The director also adds other images
not even a part of the scene but that follow the idea of tragedy, such as random
glass shattering and also makes Myrtles pearls fly everywhere. These uses of
postmodern characteristics and dramatization of important scenes through camera

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angles and other filming techniques, helps to give the movie a futuristic,
postmodern feel.