Even though it’s been dated to the 1920s, The Great Gatsby uncomfortably mirrors celebrity culture today. Jay Gatsby is not only a wealthy bachelor but he’s an ancestor influencer, a man who performs an entire persona for the sake of impressing, attracting, and being remembered. His life is performed, extravagant, and extremely performative. Gatsby throws extravagant parties where nobody knows him, as most influencers have many followers but few real connections. He is extremely rich, but nobody knows how he became successful like the shady characters constructed during the social media era. Lust, isolation, and fear of becoming outdated are behind the airbrushed image. Daisy herself is a culture more concerned with appearances than reality. She is loved for how she looks, for her voice, for her being and not because of who she is. Within Gatsby’s world, she is flawless, not due to who she is, but because of what she symbolizes. It is a form of idolization such as the manner by which society in the present ages worships celebrities with fantasies and disregards the human being who lies beneath. Fitzgerald predicted a world in which reality and illusion could no longer be separated. The failure of Gatsby is a warning of the potential when appearance is deeper than reality, when ambition fills an emptiness, and love is commerce. In a visible, if aware, status aware world, The Great Gatsby is as pertinent today as it was when it first appeared. It causes us to wonder if we are pursuing dreams or merely existing in suspended animation.