Episode Transcript
Um, welcome back to sort of sophisticated, the podcast where we try to make each other, uh, kind of cultured, Amanda, right? Just a little wait. Kind of cultured. That kind of works, but like, k, like not kind, like cultured with a K. Kind of cultured. Mm-hmm. Right. Sort of sophisticated. I that borders line of k, KK Peter. I feel like, oh, okay. So, so, so you need to just like, all right. So it's just we're sticking with os Yes. Okay. Hear, I thought I could have just TM that right now. I think we like I was ready. Sometimes your TMS aren't great ideas. Okay. So KK too close to k kk. We're not doing that. Okay, fine. Um, I'm Pete and with me as always is Amanda. Hello everybody. Hi. Best friend. How are you doing? I'm okay. How are you? Uh, doing fine. Um. Hey. So before we dive into today's topic, I already have to like say stuff 'cause you know, you always have to say stuff. So this is not a SI have lot to get off. You're my therapist. I have a lot to get off my chest. All right, let's dive in. Um, do you know what today is like? Do you know what we're doing today? I do. What? We're recording our podcast. No, no, not just our podcast. I know. Our 50th podcast, episode five zero. It's deal. It's a big deal. It's almost been a year. We are 50 deep. Yeah. A year of sitting here with you. Right. For multiple hours. Right, right. With, with listenership declining week. No, it's not declining week over week. Over week. No. Right. I mean, our best fight yet was Alex Sodo. I know. Well 'cause kudos. He was 'cause he was interesting. Um, okay, listen, like in honor of this, should we like sort of talk about why we started this? Should we give the why? I feel like we should give the why again. I mean. Go right ahead. We're not like really that, like let's revisit you and I aren't super mission high society intellectuals here. Like trying to put something together Right. Revisit. We're revisiting the mission. Yes. Alright, let's do this. Let's revisit. Um, alright. So the, the mission, right? Like, like self-awareness, that was the big mission. Well, that's how it started to begin with. And then it was like, Hey, how do we make, well, and I think we should talk about self-awareness, right? It's not just self-awareness of self, right? It's our self-awareness when we're interacting with others. Yes. And the fact that most of the time people can't connect with other people 'cause they don't have knowledge Yeah. Of what's going on. Yeah. We use our own experiences. We block off everything and we're like, we make, we shape this little world, right? That we live in. So here we're in our own, and here we are trying to not do that, um, in a way that, uh. You would argue makes it kind of fun to learn. Are we? Hopefully, hopefully so. Yeah. And that we're not rambling too much, but that you actually get some solid facts. You're not rambling too much. Well, I'm the, I'm you are the educator, so, you know, that comes to the territory. I'm the ram, I'm the rambler. Hey, you remember Kenny Rogers, the gambler On a warm summers evening. Uh, you've heard the gambler. I, I'm gonna make a song. I'm the Rambler. That would be pretty funny. You should make the song. Okay. Sorry. Anyway, um. I also like the fun facts, by the way. Like, just like throwing that whole thing in. I mean, I already told you it's my favorite part of the episode. That part is super cool too. It's like little tidbits. So whether you wanna like deep dive and learn some like, like shit, shit or like just learn some fun facts. Skip to the end. People just hit the fun facts. Great. Absolutely right. It's all cool stuff. All right. Um, what do we talk about? What is our 50th. Episode about Amanda. Talk to me. Well, since we're doing this for 50 episodes, Pete, I feel like that we should maybe go on a topic that is bigger than 50. Bigger than 50. What's bigger than 50? 51, I mean, sure. 52 or 400? A hundred. A hundred. We're celebrating a hundred year anniversary. Of what? It's, Of the release of the Great Gatsby f Scott Fitzgerald. Yes. Let's go. Yes. The Great Gatsby. The, like, the original Playboy. Like the, the party Let's, I love him. I'm, I'm, I'm set for that. Who everybody wanted to be. I love the Great Gatsby. I have a confession to make, by the way. Um, I only read it like three years ago. I mean, yeah. Like, I was like old, old, like, my kids were like, you didn't read it in like high school? No, like, so I, I skipped everything like in high, I was in lame in high school, so I think I read it 'cause like Ruth had to read it or something, like just recently, and I thought it was. Excellent. I picked it up. I'm like, all right, let's do this. And then I ended up, like, of course, watching the movie and it was, I mean, when you are reading it for fun versus just for homework, yes, I do find it quite intriguing of a novel. It's very novel. It's, uh, it makes it way better to read. And then also fun fact. Let's go already. Right? Um, do you know like the, the meme, you know, like the Leo Bernardo DiCaprio meme Uhhuh, I think everybody knows the meme Uhhuh, but do they know that it's from the Great Gatsby? That's where it's from. Again, if you don't, then you need to, to be listening to this podcast, wheel's in to come cultured and curious. Okay. He's in a lot of movies. I'm just saying. I didn't know that. How do you not know that? How do you not know that? What was it from Titanic? Come on. No, but okay. Whatever. Goodwill Hunting. I don't know what, who wasn't even in that one, was he? No. That, that was Matt Damon. Uh, I, I think, wasn't he Mike Seavers best friend though, in like, uh, what was it? Um, growing pains. Leo was Leo growing pants? Probably. Probably. I gotta look that up. All right. Whatever. I'm not the fun factor on that one. Okay. Okay. So like two anniversaries. Today we're doing like 50 episodes for us and a hundred years for Great Gatsby. Like, like, Hey,. And just to be clear, cheers. It's when the Great Gatsby book came out. When it was released. Yes. Yes. Not the movie. No, not that. No. The movie came out more recently, 10 years ago. I don't even know. Do you know? Some people don't even know that it was a book. Uh, everything's a book. Um, for those of you who aren't watching at home and don't have this subscription to the, uh, online video of us, uh, behind the scenes, uh, I am toasting Amanda right now with my special rum and Coke. Cheers to you, Amanda,. And for 1999, you two can join the SOS. Sorry. Okay, sorry. You just pulled a Leo. That's what you did. I did. I totally just pulled a Leo. You did. Okay. But now you have to do, we have to do the sophisticated part right now. So you have to tell us like why learning about a book like that's a hundred years old still matters. Like why is it culturally relevant? Like how, like how am I gonna be cultured and curious? Like our tagline, you gotta like. Give us, give us the down low here, please. Well, I mean, just first off, the Great Gatsby is one of the greatest works of all time in American literature. Well, we know that already. It's but duh. Well then duh. Right? It's done right. That's it. No, I'm just kidding. So really, um, the whole book goes into wealth, ambition, love, and this whole illusion of the American dream. Oh my God. Does it ever in a classic, glitz filled, glamorous, gluttonous, 1920s way. Yeah. It's great. And is our word of the day gonna start with a g? I hope so. I hope so. J jig, ah, js again. Okay. Sorry. Go ahead. Um, but I mean, our world is so obsessed, right? With status, materialism and amen. And reinvention. So understanding the story of the Great Gatsby helps us recognize that the human struggle is timeless. I mean, we talk about it all the time. History absolutely repeats itself. So whether it's a hundred years ago or today, we still have the same problems with entitlement identity, uh, moral decay plus it gives, well, did you just moral decay? Me? I mean, my God. Talk about sophisticated moral decay. All right, you, but you're right. I, this is dying. Right. Um, but it gives us like an easy way to sound sophisticated at dinner party. So let's get on it because it is sophisticated because he was. Sophisticated, um, what? Sophistication. It's true. Okay. So we need to do the word of the day first. We do. Okay. So what is it? Let's go. Um, it has to be a G you said. So it's not a g Well then, well, because I'd have to Google. Okay. Well Google. There. Google's our word. Okay. Uh, word of today is ephemeral with an e. Ephemeral. Ephemeral. Ephemeral. Hmm. Yes. I kind of like it. Ephemeral. Hmm. Nope. Got nothing. Got nothing. Well, it's like a roll. Like, Hey, would you like a temporal? Would you, no. Okay. Would you like a definition or do you just wanna keep guessing? No, I was just trying to try to break it down, but, okay. My Latin's failing me, so go ahead. Ephemeral, means something that lasts for a very short time. Like, uh, my attention span. How's that? Look at you self-deprecating already. I know. I'm so proud of myself. What other choice do I have? Really? Right? I gotta get in front of that. 'cause if I don't like, you'll clock me anyway. Like dude, like you. So if I, I've learned to lean into this pain a little bit. So you then are softer, more kind-hearted to me. Okay. So I have a question Ephemeral. Short attention. Yeah. 'cause you have, 'cause you're ephemeral. Yes. And you already, yes, go ahead. But isn't that what a podcast is supposed to be? Isn't it supposed to be ephemeral because it's only supposed to be 30 minutes? It is. Hmm. That's exactly right. Then maybe we should get to it. Okay. Wow. Okay. Just saying. Um, but I do want to be really clear, like ephemeral iss, like, like it's more like existential. It's like smoke a joint thinking about, it's not like physical, it's not like 30 minutes or less is e femoral. Like that's not how it works. It's like ephemeral is like fleeting. Dream, like fleeting, like, like think of your dreams. Right? Those are ephemeral, sort of. They come and go quickly. All right. Then since we've expanded our vocabulary Yes. Can we, uh, get into the book? Okay. And why this book is still legit after a hundred totally non ephemeral years. Yes. Perf okay. So I'll do a quick history and summary and then we can launch. Sound good? Sounds fabulous. Let's go. Um, okay, so The Great Gatsby was written by f Scott Fitzgerald. Thank you very much. And was published in, of course, 19 25, 100 years ago. Duh. Um, another fun fact. We're already killing it with fun facts like right? Let's go. Okay, so the F in F Scott Fitzgerald, do you know what it stands for? Francis F. I hate you. Okay. You ruin everything. Okay. His actual full name was Francis Scott Key Fitzgerald. And if that rings a bell, it's because Amanda, if you remember, a gentleman named Francis Scott Key wrote our national anthem. Thank you very much. And f Scotts Fitzgerald was a distant relative of Francis Scott Key So then when it super fun fact be that Francis Scott Key Fitzgerald was actually named after Francis Scott Key, who made our national anthem. Well, I mean he probably was right, distant, relative. Like that's how it gets passed down. I'm just saying. Yeah, totally. It could. Could be a super fun fact. Just saying super fun fact. Okay. I have a super, super fun fact. Oh dear. What is it? Did you know he was part of something called The Lost Generation? The Lost Generation. The lost generation. What is that kind of ephemeral, right? Is it where the Lost Boys are from? Right. Okay. I'm getting no credit. I've like ephemeral this like five times. I don't feel like that's how it's used. Not like, not sort of, yes. Like Lost Boys from Peter Pan, like kind of, but like real life, like I had to GTS. Basically what I learned is this lost generation referred to a group of writers, artists, and intellectuals, thank you very much, who grew up during World War I and felt disillusioned by traditional values, authority, and the direction of society in the aftermath. Of the Great War. So, side note, another fun fact. Really the, I know the, this is crazy. The term was actually coined by Gertrude Stein, a super famous American writer and poet, like if you don't remember, and later popularized by Ernest Hemingway, another super famous writer who also happened to be like one of Gertrude Stein's like pupils, believe that or not. So anyway, this lost generation by the way, a lot of 'em were like living in Paris in 1920s 'cause they like hated America. Uh, they basically rejected and I quote the materialism and moral emptiness of postwar America and sought meaning through art, literature and a bohemian lifestyle. Right. Okay. So anyway, Fitzgerald was one of these dudes and he actually wrote The Great Gatsby while living in France. Writing from his own experiences with wealth class and this whole idea of, like we said earlier, like unfulfilled love. 'cause it's all about like love and like romance and American dream. Okay. Spoil alert. The novel was intended to be a critique of the American Dream, showing how ambition and materialism would lead to emptiness rather than happiness. Duh. And believe it or not, it totally flopped when it was released. It only got famous after he died. 'cause like everybody gets famous after he died. Died, everybody died. Thank you much. Everyone's famous eventually becoming, gotta die. Yeah, right. Like the most well-known book like in all of America history. So there's that. Yeah. Well. Since it came out a hundred years ago. It's not like we're spoiling anything for readers. We're not. No, absolutely. They haven't Read it by now. Go to hell. Right. Here we go. Ready? Cliff? No version. Yes. Okay, so the story's about some totally hot, super rich guy named Jay Gatsby. Leonardo DiCaprio at his finest. Thank you very much. He was prime. I have no problem saying that. Yes, I'm good. So Jay was known for throwing these massive parties in hopes to win back. This girl who used to love Daisy Buchanan and that old Daisy, she was crazy, but not Daisy. Daisy with the Daisy, Dukes Crazy. Daisy. So the twist is that it's narrated by his neighbor of all people, some guy named Nick Caraway, which is kind of cool because Nick is not part of the whole elite class that Gatsby is a part of. No, he is not. And you kind of get a different way of thinking. 'cause he thinks differently. Yes, he does. Anyway, you know what Amanda? It gives perspective. It does. It does. It does. I love it. So anyways, through Nick's. The book basically explains Gatsby's rise out of poverty. His obsession with Daisy and the really tragic reality that no amount of money can recreate his past. And like I said earlier, the book basically explores the themes of wealth illusion and the decay of the American dream. And it's super famous for its ending Where Nick is basically reflecting on Gadsby's train wreck, pursuit of a dream that was never real in the first place. It's a total tragedy. And Shakespeare would be super proud. I know we love Shakespeare, right? Did we ever do one on Shakespeare yet? I dunno if we have, if we done a, don't think so. No, I think we should. Okay. Um, Macbeth, it's a total tragedy, right? Let's go. I would love it. Um, so I looked it up. It only sold 20,000 copies like during his life, like, which might seem like a lot, but that's not really a lot. 'cause I think he lived till like 1940 or something. So that's like a thousand copies a year. That's, that's kind of sucks, but here we are. But also back then it was hard to get things like dis so okay, whatever. Like, that's okay, I get it. But he wasn't famous. We just like, he was, it was total tragedy all the way around a hundred years later I looked this one up. You wanna guess how many copies it sells per year now. Per year now? Right now, yes. I assume a lot because every high schooler has to buy at least coffee. Yeah. Thank you very much. Uhhuh? Um, 200,000. Okay. Close over a half a million. Over 500,000. Wow. Per year. I know, right? All right, so I can't believe his poor dude, right? Like here we are like a hundred years later. Like he takes it as a personal failure. Like nobody likes his book, which totally makes sense. But little did he know, like here he is, affecting everyone today. Or maybe he does know Amanda. Maybe everybody knows, maybe the joke's on us. Maybe it is. Maybe they all know they're famous now that they're dead. Maybe there's like a famous category, maybe a A category in heaven. Yes. Huh. What do you think? No, no, no. Okay, fine. I think everyone's equal. Fine. Okay, so do you think that the reason why there's 500,000 copies sold a year is because after he died in 1940, during World War ii, it got super famous and for some reason it was the book that was sent over to all the soldiers overseas and suddenly everyone loved it. Yeah. Okay. So but wait though, like why did they, like, why was that book picked to be sent to all the troops? I didn't look that up. Well, I don't really know why. Just, well, I gotta know now, like I gotta know. Okay, well then go look it up. I'm gonna start talking about why this book has basically stuck around for a century. How about that? Go for it. Okay. I'm Googling. So at its core, the Great Gatsby is about the American Dream, which we've already alluded to, but really it is about whether we can really achieve it or not. So Gatsby basically goes from rags to riches, throwing all these legendary parties and reinventing himself. But no matter how much money he makes, he's still obsessed with Daisy and he just can't get her. Oh my God, I love Daisy. Okay. Wait, wait, wait. Okay, hold on. I found this. Okay. So The Great Gatsby was distributed to the troops during World War ii. As part of something called the Armed Services Editions Program. Oh my God. Say that fast. Or the a SE, which quote, distributed lightweight paperback books to boost morale among troops. Here's why The Great Gatsby made the cut. One. Entertainment and escapism. Escapism, Amanda, the a SE program aimed to provide engaging, portable entertainment Oh my God, to Troops station in difficult conditions. Can you imagine what portable entertainment is today? It's like a, it's like a freaking like. Mobile device, right? Like this is hysterical. The great Gatsby's themes of ambition, romance, and the American dream resonated with many young soldiers looking towards their post-war futures. Two. A reflection of the American life despite its darker themes. The book offered a glimpse into a romanticized version of American prosperity. Oh my God. Did it ever? Reminding soldiers of what they were fighting for. Oh, that's it. Makes sense. Home love and a better future, right? Because there's like, okay, yeah. They're like away and freaking out, not with their families. And three, this wartime exposure, revived interest in the novel leading to its eventual recognition as one of the greatest American novels of all time. Okay. That's why. It went to all the troops. We get it. Sorry, we have another question for you, Google. To what, um, what is the reading level of the Great Gatsby seventh grade? Really? Oh, I don't know. You want me to Google? You actually want do, oh, sorry. I thought I, I thought you were testing me. Okay. Okay. Well, while you do that one, so. Where was I? So compare that to today, right? We still have the same problems. We're still chasing a dream that doesn't really exist, except now we're doing it on social media. Instead, we're trying to curate this perfect life online, or believing that our happiness is somehow connected to more money, or getting married or buying a house. When in fact, it's really just every day and we just can't see it. Oh dude, total flex. Preach it right there, right? We're all just chasing that little green light at the end of the dock, aren't we, Amanda? We really are. Right? And the green light is totally why it's still relevant today. Come on, Jay had everything. Except nothing. Right? Like he couldn't get Daisy, he didn't have any human connection. He didn't have happiness. And so that green light just represents that, except everything that people are trying to obtain but can't, dude, I'm not gonna lie, right? Fitzgerald was kind of like a genius with the whole green. It's like the carrot at the end of the stick. Really? It? Oh my God. It was amazing. Okay, wait, hold on. I looked this up. Um. Oh, oh my God. I don't even know. Great Gatsby generally considered written high school to early college reading level, more specifically. Typically responds to ninth to 12th grade reading level. Do you wanna know another from that? There's all these other flesh kincade, grade level eight to 11th accelerated reader, level 7.3. I don't know. Yeah. Yeah. High school reading level. So high school. Okay. Got it. Um, but like, so yeah, so back to the green light thing, sorry. 'cause we totally got off track while we were Googling all this other stuff. Um, he wasn't only chasing the American dream, he was also chasing like his past, like the whole book is basically trying to recreate this love story he had with Daisy, who he was like out of his mind for. Um, and I think that's also something that's like timeless, that we like all relate to today. Like. I think everybody's totally trying to like relive their use, Amanda, and like hooking up with old crushes on Facebook. Let's cut to shit. That's what people still do. Like 50 year olds all the time. Oh, I divorced my husband, or I divorce my wife. Lemme look up my old girlfriend. Like, it's so dumb. Right? Life doesn't work that way. It's true. That's, you can't just obsess over the past Amanda. Right, because then you're not living in the present because like get over it people. Right. I totally should have talked to Gatsby. I would've helped him out. I mean, it's totally the word of our day. Right? If I could just remember what it was, ephemeral instead. It's ephemeral. Okay. Okay. That's perfect. Yeah. Okay. You just nailed it. Okay, well then I guess I get a dollar, but you already got it like four times, so I guess it doesn't really count, but No, I'm take, here's Neil. Take your dollar out of jar. No, no. This is gonna be our new thing. You did one, you did it. I, I have to do it in order to counter you something. Yes, exactly. You just counter me. Perfect. I love it. Okay. Okay. Subject, change what? Can we talk about the movie stuff now? We can. Okay. So I just totally rewatched the, I don't believe you. Well, I did 'cause you made me for this episode. What? Okay. What uh, version did you watch? Of course the only one That's important. Yes. Oh. Oh, the one with Leo. Thank you very much. Okay. Fine. Wait, are there other ones? Of course, there's totally other ones. There's five. Amanda? Five. Yes. Hollywood. How were there? Five? Hollywood was totally obsessed with this. Like, okay. But totally the Borman version, like the 2013 remake with Leo is like the best one. Like by far you didn't miss anything else. Um. Okay. So in order, like this is how they went down in 1926, like a year after the book was written. The first one was a silent film, but now it's lost. No copies exist today. So how do they know it's real? I was gonna say, that message shouldn't count. Directed it. You know what it is? It's ephemeral. Okay. Um, well played directed by Herbert Brennan. Starring Warner Baxter as Gatsby. So I guess they, they know they had it. Um, then in 1949 the famous black and white version was released starring Alan Lad as Gatsby and Betty Field as Daisy. That one was pretty good overall, like I did watch that one. Uh, 1974, the classic Redford version was released. Let's go. Starring, of course, a Robbie Red as Gatsby and Mia Pharaoh as Daisy. Uh, the screenplay was written by Francis Ford Coppola. That one was kind of a snooze fest, though, not gonna lie. It wasn't excellent. Um. In 2000, they did a TV movie on a and e Amanda starring Toby Stevens as Gatsby and Mira Sono as Daisy decent, but uh, not awesome. And then of course, the best one ever. In 2013, the Basil Luman Spectacle starring Leonardo DiCaprio as Gatsby, Carey Mulligan as Daisy, and Toby McGuire as Nick Caraway. Uh, also my fave, Elizabeth Deke. Do you know Elizabeth Deik from The Crown? Did you watch The Crown? I did watch The Crown. Oh my God. As Jordan's fantastic as Jordan. She was au she was like the golfer. Um, also the music was sick with Jay-Z producing the entire soundtrack, and it has my favorite song by Lana Del Rey. Will you still love me? Will you still love me when I'm No longer young and beautiful. Okay, sorry. Uh, I love Lana. Um, this one was like, by far my favorite. Well, I guess that means that they just can't make another one then, because this one should just go out on top. It was the best of the best. Yeah. Too late. I looked it up already. There's no, there's not. Yeah, there's another one. No, no. Yes, yes. But it's an animation version, so I'm not sure how it's gonna go. Animation. Yeah, animation. What? It's totally animation. Uh, but there's no release date yet, so I haven't really no idea what it's coming out, but it's out there. Well, let's make sure not to go see it. Right? I agree. Um, that's so we can always just still have our number one. I'm frozen in time with Leo. Okay. But the fun part now what conspiracy theories. Because all you gotta do is check Reddit and there's like a million out there. I know, right? Seriously. For some reason this book has like a million of them. Totally. I I didn't understand why, but they're the best. Yes. Like you gotta, you gotta lay it on us like. Why this book and not other ones is like, what? Wait, other ones? One is other one. I don't know. 'cause ones is be a word. Maybe it is. Okay. Um, so I had to look that up. 'cause apparently he has this shady past and then all his money appears out of nowhere, Amanda. And no one quite really knows why. So everyone wonders who he is. Here's what's going on, right? I think Fitzgerald wanted it that way because he wrote it in a way that made the narrator seem unreliable. Uh, ring a bell. Kind of like Ed gr post boom, right? It adds this creepiness factor to the whole thing. It's more mystery, really. Not creepy, but you get the idea, right? Um, if you remember the narrator Nick Caraway, he was a little bit of like a, like a mental case and a sort of an alcoholic, which means he can't remember everything and leaves some shit out. So to us, as the reader we're left, um, speculating a little bit, um, and. Fitzgerald also left huge gaps in Gatsby's whole like backstory that were like big enough to drive a truck through Amanda. Like it's a total hint that Gatsby made all his money from illegal liquor, but like we never quite get confirmation from that. He also explains that Gatsby's like connected in some shady way to the gangster Meyer Wolf shine. The guy who fixed the 1919 World Series. Uh, another fun fact, I'm like five fun facts into this thing already. Um, Meyer Wolfs chime was based on a real life mobster named Arnold Rothstein, the guy who really did fix the 1919 World Series. So, I mean like, like he was doing this on purpose, right? Yes. He was making it very mysterious, of course. So nobody really know. But my favorite conspiracy by far though, is that Gatsby was never real in the first place and that he was just an imaginary friend that Nick made up in order to get him through his boring ass life, which I think is quite possible that like that just blew my mind. That shit's a little dark. I didn't see that one. You were totally deep in the Reddit threads, right? Okay. But there's also a theory that he's a time traveler that apparently came back from the future to try to fix his past because he already knows how bad it all ends and he is just trying to fix it. And there's one more, and it's by far the most famous conspiracy theory out there. He was actually a government agent trying to infiltrate the mob and take it down, or he was maybe the mob boss himself and was trying to hide it in broad daylight. He was totally, that's not conspiracy. He was totally the mop boss. I, that's what I think. Have you seen Scarface? They're totally the same. They act exactly the same way. I mean, Scarface probably a little darker, not gonna lie. Al Pacino and Gatsby wasn't like a political refugee, but like, there's that, but like, people come up with anything to make a story more interesting. Right. But I think that's totally like he was Mr. Mobster. Um, okay. You got any other weird conspiracy? No, that's it. That's it. That's it. Can I like, can I do my fun fact, fun fact. Yes. Round it out at 10. Alright. Fun fact. You ready for this? Uh, let's start. Born. Ready. Born. I like that is a good attitude. Let's go people. Okay. Let's start with the fact that the book was almost called something else. Like what? Not The Great Gatsby. Okay. That's what that would imply. Yes. Right. I know. Okay. Fitzgerald considered alternatives like Eggo in West Egg, right? What is that? Huh? The High Bouncing Lover. Gold Hatted Gatsby. Under the red, white, and blue. Okay. Imagine trying to casually reference T in West egg like at a dinner party or something. That would be so, like, I'm so glad that they settled longer. Gaby with the Great Gatsby. Yep. Mm-hmm. The alliteration. That was the winner. Winner. The alliteration is perfect, right? Uh, it's a required reading in eighth grade. Uh, we need to read the High Bouncing Lover. What the, what? The F is the high bouncing love. Okay, sorry. Um, number two, Gatsby's Mansion. Was inspired by real Long Island Estates. 'cause I mean, who are we kidding? They're rich AF over there. Fitzgerald based Gatsby's lavish home on the extravagant mansions of Kings Point and Sands Point, New York. I've never been to either. Yeah. I haven't either, but I've never even heard of them. No, no, no. But they, but I feel like we should go now. Yeah. What got, do they do tours? Probably. I hope they do tours. Of course they do. There's tours everywhere. There's, I mean, if they do ghost tours, they do tours of this stuff. Come on. Old money. Let's go. Yeah. It's all, it's all about old money, man. Over the top of estates in the 1920s. Right. Let's go. Okay. Um, number three. The Great Gatsby was banned. It was banned for being too racy. Some schools initially banned it because of themes of drinking adultery, of course. And the wild parties. Apparently people might, I mean, I feel like for high schoolers, it's fine. Is it? Yeah, dude. Watch the movie again. Some shit goes down. You know what I mean? Apparently people in the 1920s could throw like these huge bootlegging fueled rages. Let's go. But high schoolers in the 1980s couldn't read about 'em. WTF. Yeah. Well, like I said, totally fine. Yeah. We're you were the one who over there being like, you watch it again, it's not appropriate. Mm. Mm-hmm. Yeah. You should work on being nicer to me. Okay. Uh, book number of book, total Bookman. I'm a book Burn the Books Paradigm. Okay. Um, number four, did you know that there's actually. Unofficial. You'll love this great Gatsby cocktail. There has to be Yes, I'm sure. I'm sure somebody made one right in 2013 to celebrate the, does it have a gold in it? It has, I'm gonna tell you, right? Um, we're fun. Facting this right now. I gotta check this out. Okay. Um, It's a mix of gin. Lemon juice, honey syrup and champagne. Champagne. No gold. Perfect for feeling fancy while pondering the emptiness of the American dream. Let's add gold. There you go. And now it's, and you know what, we'll call it The Great Gatsby. No, we'll call it the high bouncing lava. Let's go. Okay. Um, and finally, the iconic green light. Ooh, back to that green light might be more than just a symbol. It's also. A real landmark, huh? It's out there in New York. Yes. The green light at the end of Daisy's dock is often interpreted as a symbol of unachievable dreams, but Fitzgerald may have also based it on a real place. There's evidence at Fitzgerald's Summer Home in Great Neck, long Island. Had a direct view of a green dock light across the bay. Just like Gatsby's, so the green light isn't just metaphorical or ephemeral. It was literally a, literally a Beacon Fitzgerald saw every night. I love it. Thank you very much. I love it's, I love how you always find some random stuff, but it's kinda like you're channeling your inner Sherlock Holmes here. I love that. Let's go, Sherlock. You're just piecing all of this. How have we not done one on Sherlock Holmes yet? We need to. He's fascinating. Shit, we have to look up like an anniversary around Sherlock. Okay. We'll do that. We'll do that. I'll GGS go. Keep going. Okay. But before we wrap it up, yeah, you wanna like summarize everything so that way I can show off all of my new Great Gatsby trivia. So we all look super sophisticated. You, uh, let's do that. And I also would like to thank you for always, um, making me feel like I did good sleuthing, even though you're, um, you probably know all these fun facts already. I did not know. Any of those fun facts. Oh my God, so good job. Alright, fine. Um, they're not in the conspiracy theories. They're run it, it wasn't, it wasn't your part. Okay. Got got. Yeah. Okay. Alright. So we actually only have one call to action like this week. Like it's not a lot, just read the damn book, like it's short or reread it because some people will be, I already read it, reread it. That's a good point. You can finish it in a weekend or a day. Like if you read like Gabby did. Um. And then of course, right, like before you hang out with your friends, watch the movie the Leonardo DiCaprio one, please. Or watch it together. Have a watch a party, right? And then remember these important details to look awesome. Okay? So first we gotta remember that The Great Gatsby is a critique of the American Dream. Gaby's rise from poverty to wealth seems like the ultimate success story. Unless he was part of the mob, then don't do it right then. Right then everybody out. But his dream of winning back, his lost love Daisy is an illusion. Fitzgerald basically conveys that the American dream is unattainable, corrupt, and often built on false hope. Don't. Fall into the trap people, the lies, let's go. Right? They're all lies. They're feeding us lies. Okay. Second, the famous green light at the end of Daisy's dock represents Gatsby's unreachable dream. And the idea that no matter how much we chase the past, we can ever truly recapture it. It's basically the literary equivalent of a ghosting situation. Do I say it or do you say it? I'm super ephemeral. Super ephemeral people. Okay. This was so easy. All right, sorry. Third Fitzgerald's life mirrors Gatsby's World. Fitzgerald lived among the wealthy through extravagant parties and struggled with money and love just like Gatsby. He also based Daisy on his real life love Zelda Fitzgerald, who left him briefly. Because he wasn't rich enough. Ouch. But then ended up marrying him. Yeah. Okay. So there's that. Uh, fourth, the novel was a flop. Like we said earlier, the Great Gatsby bombed in 1925, selling only 20,000 copies. Fitzgerald died believing it was a failure. It wasn't until after World War ii when it was given to soldiers that it became the literary icon we know today. See, you can still write something, Pete. There's still time. Oh, I'm working on it. I'm working. I'm 50 episodes deep. All right. And finally it's short, but it's super deep at only 180 pages. It's packed with symbolism. Think cars like reckless excess. The eyes of Dr. TJ Helberg, like the therapist guy who's like talking to Nick the whole time. He's like the godlike figure. Watching all of this corruption and Gatsby's mansion like that represents the hollowness of wealth. It's proof that you don't need a thousand pages to create a masterpiece. You only need 180 people. That's all I got. Fun facts out. All right. Well, there you have a fellow listeners, a deep dive into the Great Gatsby, a hundred years later, from the elusive charm of Gatsby himself to the novel's lasting grip on our dreams. It's clear the story isn't about the roaring twenties. It's about us. If we've done our job today, hopefully you're walking away a bit more sophisticated with a Sharper Gatsby iq. A few fun facts to drop at your next cocktail party, and maybe even a fresh perspective on why we're all still chasing our very own little green lights. Whether it's questioning the American dream, wrestling with the illusions of success, or just appreciating how Fitzgerald managed to predict influencer culture a century early. The takeaway is the same. The Great Gatsby isn't just a novel, it's a mirror into our soul. If you've enjoyed this episode, be sure to subscribe. Leave a review and pass it on to a friend who loves a good literary conspiracy. Until next time, don't stress If you're still figuring out life's big questions like Gatsby, we're all just trying to make the next move count. Stay curious and stay inspired.
