Month: September 2023

Starbucks is one of my favorite things ever, and is something I think I am beginning to look forward to a little too much.

Writing this while I am currently drinking my Nitro cold brew with sugar free vanilla syrup and a splash of almond milk, I began to think of what drink the characters would be and why.

Tom screams an iced americano. Made with shots of espresso roast over ice and water. An iced americano in and of itself is something that does not seem enjoyable in the slightest. In the same way, Tom is not enjoyable in the slightest. It is very plain, and needs something to dress it up to make it more appealing. Tom is very much like this, plain and insecure, and uses other woman and abusive tactics to “dress himself up” and make himself feel and seem better than he is—in his eyes at least. This drink is cold, intimidating, and unappealing, just like Tom Buchanan.

On the complete opposite note, Jordan is an iced black tea. Tea is on the healthier side because of its health benefits and generally low in caffeine compared to coffee. Since Jordan is an athlete, this would be the perfect drink that represents her. We do not get to learn too much about Jordan as we do the other characters, so I chose not to make her too intricate of a drink, just one that is neutral and can be pretty versatile.

Daisy is the physical embodiment of a strawberry açaí refresher with lemonade (honorable mention for a pink drink). This drink everyone is familiar with and can recognize it from a mile away, just like Daisy and her charm. I can not think of anyone I know that does not like this drink. This drink will never go out of fashion and I think Daisy is the same. She, just like the drink, is sweet and seems to leave you with wanting more (in Nick’s point of view at least).

Gatsby is definitely a coffee drink. He is smooth and rich. For that reason, I think he would be a brown sugar oat milk shaken espresso—and a venti too. Then, I would add cold foam and an extra shot of espresso too. Coming in at around $10, it is an overpriced drink (that I am sad to admit I treat myself to often), and Gatsby also spent a lot of money on his parties and outward projection of himself. He cared very much about his status and was relatively new to having wealth. This drink is also relatively new to the world of the Starbucks menu, and very intricate, just like Gatsby.

Lastly, Nick is a vanilla bean frappe. This drink is very plain and is a safe choice for literally anyone, except, if you are allergic to vanilla of course. Nick is in the same light, he seems to be a regular, “honest” man. He freely judges others without thinking out of habit for their flaws without acknowledgement of his own. He seems to think he is safe from judgement of the events in the novel because he is watching from a distance. This drink is also seen as a safety net, but it has its own flaws, like perhaps the sugar intake, or even just how plain it is. Nick does not see his own shortcomings as well.

Alix Earle is a 22 year old who blew up on social media overnight, and became famous for “GRWM” (Get Ready With Me) content. She was a senior at the University of Miami when she became super popular on social media.

The other night, my friends and I watched Alix Earle’s new podcast, and she talked about how one night she went out to a Gatsby themed party. It stuck with me, and I began to think about how she is todays Daisy.

Alix came from a very wealthy family from New Jersey and is undeniably one of the most influential ‘it’ girls right now. She is someone that many look at and just see her as a pretty, rich, Miami party girl and become obsessed. I think that Daisy was also seen in that light, a wealthy and pretty girl who did not have much behind the surface.

Alix Earle for Elle Magazine (2023)

I unfortunately, began to fall down the trap of assuming the same about Alix in the past few months, when I would only see the highlights on social media of her constantly going out, partying, and just having fun. On another famous and recent podcast of another girl, Alix opened up quite a bit about her personal life and how it affected her. I immediately felt guilty because of all the things I assumed about her life being enviable and carefree. Likewise, Daisy had lots of things going on beyond the surface that she did not show with her marriage. Daisy was very aware of her situation with some of the things she would tell Nick in chapter one, like how, “Tom was God knows where” (Fitzgerald, 16) for the birth of their child. Daisy seems to keep a lot of things to herself and project herself differently in society. Alix does the same, and I do not see much wrong with keeping your personal life out of the media, especially in todays world.

The musician Lana Del Rey, has always been in the forefront of my mind when I think about and read The Great Gatsby. Not only because she wrote a song for the film, but because she has always just given me “Gatsby core” vibes.

Lana Del Rey’s song titled, “White Mustang” is a perfect musical and lyrical representation of how I think Daisy was feeling when she began to be suspicious of where all Tom would go out to.

Summer’s meant for lovin’ and leavin’/ I was such a fool for believin’ that you/ could change all the ways you’ve been livin’/ but you just couldn’t stop

Lana Del Rey

The song is about a woman who is at the end of her back and forth relationship with a man. She really likes him but can not fix his ways like she originally thought she would be able to. Still, the girl is so drawn to the way her makes her feel, despite all the flaws.

One major part of the chorus is the repetition of the words, “The day I saw your white mustang.” Although Tom did not own a Mustang, quite frankly because they did not come out until the sixties, he still had the same infatuation with luxury/sports cars. Similarly, Daisy also fell for his psychical appearance and his wealth that he would exude. Just like how Lana Del Rey stated about how she was a fool, Daisy referenced how she wanted her daughter to also be a, “Beautiful little fool” when it came to men.

Daisy also hoped that Tom would change all the way that he was living after they got married. In the book, Jordan told Nick the story of how Daisy did not even want to marry Tom on her wedding day.

When listening to the song, the second chorus of “White Mustang” starts to sound like, “Why am I staying?” When I first heard this years ago, I looked it up—to make sure I was not crazy—and there were many people who heard the same thing and shared their input on it. In my own world of interpretation, I like to think of it as the phenomenon of when you begin to think one thing, but immediately cut yourself off. To me, she is trying to justify her love for this man with her heart, but her head cuts her off and says, “Why am I staying?”

They were careless people, Tom and Daisy- they smashed up things and creatures and then retreated back into their money or their vast carelessness or whatever it was that kept them together, and let other people clean up the mess they had made.

F. Scott Fitzgerald

Towards the end of the song, she calls the man wild, and it correlates to a quote Nick says in the book about the Buchanan’s being careless. In “White Mustang,” part of the reason that she is drawn to him is because of his reckless and wild side, which she also may possess a little bit of herself. In the same way, Daisy has a slight reckless side to her by the way that she cheats on her husband alongside him cheating on her, perhaps it was the thing that kept them together.