Similarities Between Powqqatsi And The Great Gatsby

“Corruption is worse than prostitution. The latter might endanger the morals of an individual, the former invariably endangers the morals of an entire country.” Karl Kraus. We can see this quote present in France with Marie Antoinette, as well as, today in our own society. Power going to a person’s head is a common archetype shown in many pieces of art and literature. Two media that display this archetype are: the 1980 movie, Powaqqatsi, and the 1925 novel, The Great Gatsby. Powaqqatsi by Godfrey Reggio, shows how corporations affect the lower, working class. Showing a group of people suffering while another group of people are living fantastic lives. Similar, The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald, shows an upper class, wealthy couple who

are morally corrupt, materialistic, manipulative, and money hungry . The similarities between these two media show how easy money can change a person and the devastating effects.

The Valley of Ashes, in The Great Gatsby, is described as “a fantastic farm where ashes grow like wheat into ridges and hills and grotesque gardens; where ashes take the forms of houses and chimneys and rising smoke and, finally, with a transcendent effort, of men who move dimly and already crumbling through the powdery air.

Occasionally a line of gray cars crawls along an invisible track, gives out a ghastly creak, and comes to rest, and immediately the ash-gray men swarm up with leaden spades and stir up an impenetrable cloud, which screens their obscure operations from your sight.” (Fitzgerald 14). Work for the men in the Valley of the Ashes is depressing and monotonous, workers shovel and clean up the ashes that originate from industrial corporations. While the sorrowful, blue men push through their painful servitude, they are being watched by the empty eyes of T.J Eckleburg. “The eyes of God” watch through his yellow spectacles as this never ending cycle continues. Similar to The Great Gatsby, Powaqqatsi shows workers carrying bags of dirt and mud up hills and on trails in slow motion. Presenting the workers in slow motion displays their stagnant and repetitive labor. Shown by the spinning face, their work is a cycle that moves, but never progresses. The children riding the ferris wheel also displays movement, but no progression. Since the children are in a working class, the image of them on the ferris wheel represents that one day, they will be stuck in a cycle that

moves, but never progresses, same to the workers in The Valley of Ashes

The Great Gatsby depicts America as a society where you are born into a certain class, and it is difficult to escape that class. Tom Buchanan was born into a wealthy family, is “happily” married, and graduated from Yale University. Tom takes Nick, the main character, to the Valley of Ashes to meet his mistress, Myrtle. Since Myrtle is lower class, when she is with Tom, she impersonates and upper class woman. “I like your dress," remarked Mrs. McKee, "I think it's adorable." Mrs. Wilson rejected the compliment by raising her eyebrow in disdain. "It's just a crazy old thing," she said. "I just slip it on sometimes when I don't care what I look like.” (Fitzgerald 18). Tom takes her out to dinner and buys her pets, hiding this relationship from their spouses. Myrtle feels accepted from the wealthier class when she is with Tom and that is similar to the lower class in Powaqqatsi. Reggio shows workers carrying bricks across the water from a city. Viewing the higher society which, for the lower ranks, is difficult if not impossible to get into. In the city, poverty-stricken people lie in the streets and thousands of people walk by paying no attention as they go on with their lives. These two scenes in Powaqqatsi, show how the lower class strive for acceptance in the higher classes, which is burdensome. In the novel and the film, one shows a woman who feels a false sense of acceptance with a man who seldom values her. Another shows a hard working lower class that is neglected by a wealthier society. Together the two media show lower class citizens who struggle to be taken in by their higher class neighbors.

Daisy, in The Great Gatsby, is the “innocent” wife of Tom.

Daisy appears to be a pure and innocent southern belle, but under that mask is a careless, manipulative character, similar to a siren. Nick described Daisy as, “my cousin, who began to ask me questions in her low, thrilling voice. It was the kind of voice that the ear follows up and down, as if each speech is an arrangement of notes that will never be played again. Her face was sad and lovely with bright things in it, bright eyes and a bright passionate mouth, but there was an excitement in her voice that men who had cared for her found difficult to forget: a singing compulsion, a whispered "Listen," a promise that she had done gay, exciting things just a while since and that there were gay, exciting things hovering in the next hour.” (Fitzgerald 33). At the ending of The Great Gatsby, Daisy broke her promise to Gatsby, not agreeing to run away with Gatsby, after she put him under the false impression that she longed to be with him. Later that day, when Gatsby was shot due to Daisy’s mistake, Daisy ran away with Tom and never attended Gatsby’s funeral. The act of her not attending Gatsby’s funeral, who was supposed to be her long lost love, showed that she never truly cared for Gatsby in the way that he cared for her. In the end, Daisy used her wealth to manipulate others and run away for her problems. Similar to The Great Gatsby, Powaqqatsi presents beauty on the outside, but corruption on the inside. Powaqqatsi

shows a western commercial with attractive people, nice cars, and products that we use in our everyday lives. Reggio shows rapid moving people and cars; unlike the monotonous life of the working class, the life of the upper class is fast paced and accelerated, living off the profits of the lower class’ labor. Later, we see smokestacks blowing out pollution into the poorer areas and dirt falling in front of the city. This scene where dirt is falling and the city is in the distance shows the waste that the city produces and how it flows back to the lower class. When the commercial is replayed, this time it is shown with fire and flames in the background. The flames behind this western commercial show that the cost for creating and producing the fancy cars and products presented, is hell for someone else. The two media show that with money and power comes corruption, publically and personally. Weather it is to a person’s character or a giant corporation, money can get to someone’s head on a lower or higher scale. One story tells of a woman who uses her wealth escape the damages of her manipulative ways. The other story tells of corporations polluting and mistreating workers in less fortunate areas.
At the ending of Powaqqatsi, they give the meaning of the word “powaqqatsi”, an entity a way of life that consumes the life forces of other beings in order to further its own life. Corruption and power do meet at some point and are related, but corruption has more to do with a person’s character and motives. Money can lead to corruption, but it is how a person utilizes their money and whether they use it for good or evil. In Powaqqatsi, it shows a group of people and in The Great Gatsby, it shows individuals, but each shows the devastating side effects of corruption as well as, abusing funds and influence.