Multimodal – Alternative Media Project + Final Presentation

For my Multimodal – Alternative Media Project + Final Presentation I decided to design an “Eras Tour” poster but replace Taylor’s pictures with various pictures of Jay Gatsby and of course I had to name it “Tay” Gatsby: The Era’s Tour. For the poster, I tried to use pictures that best represented Gatsby’s different identities that he lived through. Identity was a key theme we have continued to learn about through the entirety of this course so I feel that it would be a fun idea to tie this novel into a personal interest of mine. As we all know Gatsby created many identities for himself in hopes of achieving his “American Dream”; each of which failed and led to another identity; resulting in 10 different identities or “eras” that I will be focusing on today. To create these images, I used an AI generator so that I could present them in what I thought was the best way.

“Debut” Era:

https://genius.com/albums/Taylor-swift/Taylor-swift

  • The first album cover is “Taylor Swift: Debut” and this was Taylor’s first album. This album started her career as a young artist so to create a comparison I provided a generated picture of the young and poor James Gatz. Both of these characters were up and rising in the world; Gatsby just did not know it yet. I chose this picture, not only because he is young in age, but because of the outfit difference. When looking at the many flashy outfits that appear throughout the novel or even just in the poster; this particular outfits sticks out among the others. It is not a suit or a uniform but instead just a plain outfit that was worn among the poor community in the 20s. His hair also appears more messy and not slicked back which shows a less clean look. But this was just the beginning of Jay Gatsby’s life or some could even say his “debut.”
  • Song Connection: “A Place in This World”

“Fearless” Era:

https://genius.com/albums/Taylor-swift/Fearless-taylor-s-version

  • The second album cover is “Fearless” and was Taylor’s second album. This was the beginning of the actual “Jay Gatsby” era as this is when he switched his name from James Gatz. For this era, I included a picture of Gatsby on a yacht with Dan Cody. This was his first step to the wealthy life he dreamt of as a kid which is why I thought it was important to put in the second album slot. Now the Fearless album had more of a romantic, young love feel but it was also an album full of learning experiences as Taylor braves the world. This is why I thought this comparison went well together as young Gatsby was also trying to learn how to live this new life he was experiencing.
  • Song Connection: Fearless (obviously)
    • “Cause I don’t know how it gets better than this
      You take my hand and drag me head first, Fearless”
    • Now this obviously seems romantic but for the sake of the comparison, it’s not. This represents Dan Cody’s mentorship as he is taking Gatsby along this journey into the wealthy lifestyle and Gatsby doesn’t know how life could get better.
    • https://genius.com/Taylor-swift-fearless-lyrics

“Speak Now” Era:

https://genius.com/albums/Taylor-swift/Speak-now-taylors-version

  • The next album is “Speak Now” and was Taylor’s third album. This album was a combination of love and heartbreak so I thought it was only necessary to provide a picture of Gatsby meeting Daisy for the first time while he was in the military. This picture represents their one month of love before Gatsby is sent off to war. There is not much more that can really be said about this era because the picture says it all; they are just standing there, eyes locked, in awe of each other. Although this era was short lived, it is arguably one of the most important because it unlocked a new American Dream for Gatsby, resulting in the many more eras that are discussed next.
  • Song Connection: Enchanted (so many more that could be included)
    • “I was enchanted to meet you, please don’t be in love with someone else, please don’t have somebody waiting on you”
    • I pictured this as their goodbye with them being enchanted to meet each other but Gatsby insinuating that Daisy should wait on him.
    • Honestly the whole song encapsulates this one month romance but this part is the most important in my opinion.
    • https://genius.com/Taylor-swift-enchanted-lyrics

“Red” Era:

https://genius.com/albums/Taylor-swift/Red-taylors-version

  • The fourth album is “Red” and was written during a period of toxicity in Taylor’s life as she was experiencing so many mixed emotions during the creation of this album. I connected this with Gatsby’s time in the military after Daisy as I feel like he might have been experiencing many emotions as well. For this album cover, I included a side profile pic similar to the original cover of Gatsby in a military uniform. Although he was successful during this era; he knew that what he wanted, he did not have which was Daisy. This was the era that he started to work towards his new dream of becoming wealthy to win her back.
  • Song Connection: “Sad Beautiful Tragic” (again so many others could be compared as well)
    • “Cause we had a beautiful, magic love there, What a sad, beautiful, tragic love affair”
    • I liked this reference mainly because of the language comparison of the “sad, beautiful, tragic” as this does truly encapsulate their romance and honestly the whole novel as some classify it as a tragedy.
    • https://genius.com/Taylor-swift-sad-beautiful-tragic-taylors-version-lyrics

“1989” Era:

https://genius.com/albums/Taylor-swift/1989-taylors-version

  • The fifth album is 1989 and was written about various relationships and her big transition to moving to New York. I decided to make this album Gatsby’s “Oxford education” era, so I provided a picture of him holding a book; looking very studious. The comparison I am basing this era off of the transitions both characters were making in their lives. Taylor moved to New York and Gatsby left his life in the military to study at Oxford; and with these moves came challenges and I think that this album can connect to the emotions with these adjustments.
  • Song Connection: “I Wish You Would”
    • “I wish you would come back,Wish I never hung up the phone like I did, I wish you knew that, I’ll never forget you as long as I live”
    • I feel like this part of the song is kind of Gatsby’s realization that Daisy was gone as he found out she was married to Tom during this era. These lyrics show his internal struggle he is having knowing he let her go.
    • https://genius.com/Taylor-swift-i-wish-you-would-taylors-version-lyrics

“Reputation” Era:

https://genius.com/albums/Taylor-swift/Reputation

  • This next era is her sixth album,Reputation, and like I have wrote about in my blogs; this is the most Gatsby filled album Taylor has written. This album was wrote as a way to reinvent herself after a relationship and her feud with the Kardashian-West Family, so I immediately knew which identity I was going to use. The Gatsby era I associated with this album is his time in organized crime or his “gangster era.” The picture I used was of Gatsby dressed very fancy with obvious alcohol around him and in his hand to represent his bootlegging business. The reason behind this parallel was because this period in Gatsby’s life was his reinventing period where he really became wealthy and started to achieve the lifestyle he wanted. Like Taylor, he went through a relationship and this identity he created was his comeback from that you could say. Many songs in this album are about crime as well so aside from the other references; those songs could tie in to this comparison as well.
  • Song Comparison: “This is Why We Can’t Have Nice Things”
    • “It was so nice throwing big parties, Jump into the pool from the balcony
      Everyone swimming in a champagne sea,And there are no rules when you show up here,Bass beat rattling the chandelier,Feeling so Gatsby for that whole year”
    • I mean obviously I had to include this one as this verse perfectly encompasses the novel and this era that follows his newfound wealth. But I think that she talks about the flashy parties and the “champagne sea” to create this facade in order to mask her true feelings and flaws similar to Gatsby masking his feelings of the past.
    • https://genius.com/Taylor-swift-this-is-why-we-cant-have-nice-things-lyrics
  • Song Comparison #2: “I Did Something Bad”
    • “They say I did somethin’ bad, then why’s it feel so good, most fun I ever had, and I’d do it over and over and over again if I could”
    • Now this one might be a stretch but I just picture Gatsby saying this in response to his bootlegging being brought up as I feel that this experience is what made him, and I think he would do it again.
    • https://genius.com/Taylor-swift-i-did-something-bad-lyrics

“Lover” Era:

https://genius.com/albums/Taylor-swift/Lover

  • Her seventh album is her Lover album and the title pretty much explains this album. It mainly consists of love songs but there are some fun and deep songs thrown in there as well. The Gatsby era I decided to include was his “self love” era after he became wealthy and bought all of these fancy material things. The picture I used to depict this era was a picture of Gatsby in front of his nice car to showcase the lifestyle he had achieved for himself. I think this era is important to include as this was his original dream before Daisy.
  • Song Comparison: “The Archer”
    • “I never grew up, it’s getting so old, help me hold onto you, I’ve been the archer, I’ve been the prey, who could ever leave me darling, but who could stay?”
    • This part in the song I think shows Gatsby’s internal struggle with loneliness as he has all of these things but no one stays.
    • https://genius.com/Taylor-swift-the-archer-lyrics

“Folklore” Era:

https://genius.com/albums/Taylor-swift/Folklore

  • The next album is Folklore and it is her eight album out of the eras. She wrote this album during the pandemic and she created scenes and fantasies to write about so this album explores many different themes. The most prominent theme is an eery, whimsical love triangle gone wrong (sound familiar?)The connection I made to this album was when Gatsby met Nick for the first time as this was when everything started to slowly fall apart. This was when the love triangle for this era reformed. As we know, Gatsby finds out that Nick is related to Daisy and he immediately becomes giddy at the thought of their reunion. The picture that represents this era on the poster is of Nick and Gatsby sitting on a dock, similar to that actual scene in the novel where Gatsby reveals his fascination with the green light.
  • Song Comparison: “Invisible String”
    • “And isn’t it just so pretty to think, all along there was some invisible string, tying you to me?”
    • I included this because the invisible string theory is very much present in Daisy and Gatsby’s love affair. Although this era is about Gatsby and Nick, we can see that Nick is the “invisible string” and this era is crucial to Gatsby and Daisy’s reunion.
    • https://genius.com/Taylor-swift-invisible-string-lyrics

“Evermore” Era:

https://genius.com/albums/Taylor-swift/Evermore-deluxe-version

  • Evermore is her ninth album and has kind of the same backstory as Folklore as it was written during quarantine and showcases Taylor’s personal growth throughout that time period. This era is one of the most important eras aside from Reputation as it is big reunion between Gatsby and Daisy. The picture I included for this comparison shows Gatsby and Daisy standing in his mansion again eyes locked on each other. The reason why this era is important is because this is the moment Gatsby has been waiting on for five years. He built his life up and became successful just to show it off to her and he does exactly that, but unfortunately in the end his dream of being with her still does not come true.
  • Song Comparison: “Happiness”
    • “Haunted by the look in my eyes, That would’ve loved you for a lifetime
      Leave it all behind, And there is happiness”
    • I think this is the goodbye that we can visualize for Gatsby and Daisy. Basically saying they loved or perhaps wanted to love each other, but she couldn’t. They both were “haunted” but as the green light is turned off and all that’s left is the memories.
    • https://genius.com/Taylor-swift-happiness-lyrics

“Midnights” Era:

https://genius.com/albums/Taylor-swift/Midnights-the-late-night-edition

  • This album is her tenth and final album of the Eras Tour and was written to showcase themes of falling in and out of love and “wondering what might have been” (sounds familiar again;Taylor’s words not mine). So similar to the “what might have been” theme and this album being the final era; I felt that the best way to represent this era was just of a picture of Jay Gatsby by himself. In this picture, he is at one of his own parties but he is an outsider. We know that before the ending of the novel; Gatsby pondered in the “what if” thoughts because he was lost after not achieving his dream. All of these identities or “eras” he had created did not bring him the one thing he truly wanted which was Daisy, so in the end he might have had the wealth and the fame, but he was still ultimately alone.
  • Song Comparison: “You’re on Your Own Kid”
    • “You’re on your own kid, you always have been”
    • Now there are definitely other songs that could relate to this era of Gatsby’s life but I feel like this one is important because it emphasizes that he is alone and always has been. He has grown up doing things on his own and became isolated from others.
    • “I see the great escape, so long, Daisy May”
    • This line is from the beginning of verse 2 and I am including it because of the direct name comparison. Going along with the theme of loneliness I feel like this can be interpreted as Gatsby giving Daisy permission to leave, even though it hurts him.
    • https://genius.com/Taylor-swift-youre-on-your-own-kid-lyrics

The End of the American Dream Eras Tour!

*I do not own the rights to anything in this post*