I just recently finished reading Catch Me If You Can, the indulgent memoir of ex-con Frank Abagnale Jr. and I admit I could not keep myself from thinking of The Great Gatsby while doing so. I set about this journey after watching the movie with the same name. It stars Leonardo DiCaprio as the young con artist, and, in my opinion, it is one of the best films I have ever seen.
As I watched, I could not help but see Jay Gatsby reflected in the eyes of DiCaprio’s the “Skywayman.” The two characters are extremally similar, I had come to find. Both are ultimately in pursuit of the American Dream, they want wealth, prestige, and recognition more than anything. Both, additionally, strive to achieve the American Dream though illegal means. Both James Gatz and Frank Abagnale meticulously craft new shinny identities for themselves and come to, though illegally, amass an unthinkable amount of money.
These are just a few similarities I found between the two characters, one a bootlegger and the other a con artist, but they nevertheless showed me that the tale of the American Dream that Fitzgerald crafts isn’t confined to only his novel. Instead it is one that we have seen before and one that a man like Frank Abagnale actually lived. It isn’t a far off story, but one that is all too real, and I can’t help but wonder what these similarities say about the nature of the American Dream…
It seems in my exploration of the two books (and their film adaptations) that the characters of Leonard DiCaprio share a yearning for the American Dream, a dream they can only get by breaking the American laws. Perhaps it is this not so pretty truth that underscores DiCaprio’s performances and allows them to transcend the screen.