Our next TGG character that we will be looking at is Myrtle Wilson. In the book she is described as a woman in her mid-30s who is plain and stout. She doesn’t meet beauty standards but she does have something special about her and according to Nick, she easily takes over a room. Above and below you will see pictures of the 1974 and 2013 Myrtle Wilson’s. The film from 1974 cast Karen Black as Myrtle and based off looks and acting, I feel like this was a perfect actress for the role at that time. If you were to compare her character to Daisy, you would get where that comment about her not meeting beauty standards would come from. But on the other hand she looks like a fun and more enjoyable person to be around. In the 2013 film, Isla Fisher played Myrtle Wilson. I feel like for this film, they didn’t try as hard to make Myrtle look like what we as readers had in our minds. Because this film is more modern, this Myrtle is a little less fun and enjoyable and a fits into more of the beauty standards from back then. Despite having the red hair. The way Myrtle dressed was also significant. We see Daisy and Jordan in white dresses and they seem classier. While Myrtle is in brighter colors such as red and pink. I guess this is what makes her look “less classier” than Daisy. Because of course in the book and the films, we were supposed to see Daisy’s beauty and Myrtles personality. That’s the difference between the two, Daisy was simply beautiful and looked good next to Tom, while Myrtle actually had some type of personality that entertained others.
