This week my daughter and I went to see The Great Gatsby. We were both intrigued by the film. We both had read the book back in high school (Of course, for her that was a more recent read than for me) and was curious to see how it would be translated to the screen.

Leonardo DiCaprio as Gatsby

Going in, I was a little, let’s say concerned, by all the rap music in the trailers I’d seen on T.V.  It’s not that I dislike rap music, but I could see from the visuals they were attempting to keep the 20s look and feel — and the audio just wasn’t blending pretty with the visual for me. The whole thing reminded me of another movie, that I felt tried to update a story, but didn’t really pull it off so well — the updated version of Romeo And Juliet. It all made more sense when I realized this Gatsby was also directed by Baz Luhrmann.

For the record, the effect is pulled off much better in this movie. But, it got me thinking.

Gatsby’s core story is timeless: A lost love, a forbidden reunion, what a man (or woman) will do to get what he wants. They could have modernized the story, set in 2013 instead of the roaring twenties, and it would have worked.  I’m not sure the same can be said for the music that is the soundtrack.

It also reminded me of my first round of edits from my editor on my book Fairyproof. She had highlighted one  specific word (and I can’t even remember what that word was right now) and commented, “While there is nothing wrong with this, it will certainly date you story.”

That comment struck a chord in me. I couldn’t argue — not that I wanted to — she was dead on. Though it hadn’t occurred to me while I was writing the story, the word was dated. In fact, it was dated to the time that I had written the first draft.

That’s not something I wanted for my story. I didn’t want a reader to be pulled away from tale by the thought that this must have been written in any specific time period.

And that’s what the music playing behind The Great Gatsby did for me. It took a story that could be current no matter the time, and stamped made in the early 2000s on it.

I’m sure there are plenty of people who think that is a pretty cool thing that he achieved.  For me, it distracted from what is a timeless tale.

What I Watched is and on again, off again feature in which I discuss the writing lessons I learned watching a particular television show or movie. It is not my intent to reveal spoilers in these posts, but sometimes it is necessary to talk about the lesson learned. All spoilers will be clearly marked.