RE: The Great Gatsby Halloween Party at Mar-a-Lago
Was the Great Gatsby Halloween party at Mar-a-Lago tone-deaf or unabashed mockery? Read this post then leave a comment to join this dialogue.
Was The Great Gatsby themed party held at Mar-a-Lago hours before SNAP funding was set to lapse an example of life imitating art, or art imitating life? Or was it something else altogether?
So far the decision to host such a lavish affair while millions of vulnerable people go hungry has been dubbed tone-deaf, disgraceful, and likened to Marie Antoinette’s infamous ‘let them eat cake’ attitude… But wasn’t that the point? Weren’t those people attending the party trying to further distance themselves, quite literally, from those they clearly view as lowly creatures in society that are far beneath them? Based on their behavior, it’s clear they don’t see the vulnerable population being cut off from food supplies as humans. Humans who only needed assistance getting scraps of the poisoned food offered them because those rich party-goers continue to rob them blind— of their meager wages, their labor, their health, their time, their attention, their sanity, their dignity, their literal lives.
I think the decision to host such a party was more an example of blatant mockery, honestly. The people hosting and attending the party were eager and more than willing to flaunt their wealth, which can only be done properly when it’s being clearly compared against those who have none. I do also truly believe that on some level the people who attended that party were mocking the vulnerable on purpose, especially if they claim to have forgotten that the vulnerable only exist because of them and the lavish lifestyles they enjoy flaunting in the first place.
Yet the entire ordeal is ironic, almost comically so, for those of us who know our history and have actually read and understood The Great Gatsby.
We know how Marie Antoinette’s story ends, along with every other clueless and or cruel member of a ruling class who refuses to consider the essential humanity of the majority of human beings living on this planet, as well as what those human beings historically do when they are left with absolutely nothing left to lose, as the rich become greedier and greedier, and they become hungrier and hungrier.
We also know that the lavish parties in The Great Gatsby are not parties one should want to mimic in real life, as they are representative of how materialism corrupts rich people who live in a world of moral decay, excess, and carelessness. (So maybe this really is life imitating art after all?) Many characters in the novel, especially Gatsby himself, live in a world of superficial glamour, a facade that hides a lack of true fulfillment. The pursuit of money in the novel is a central driving force, leading characters to make unethical choices and prioritize material gain over genuine human connection, ultimately leading to their unhappiness and downfall.
The rich hosting such a party is also ironic because The Great Gatsby has been banned or challenged on several occasions by those they openly support. Which makes it all the more clearer who should be mocking whom in the end, don’t you think? Honestly, the absurdity and stupidity of the entire situation is very mockable. If only it weren’t so damn upsetting, and they actually read the book…
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