Most Destructive Ideas: How Hollywood Corrupts our Ideals of Life

"Welcome to Hollywood! What's your dream? Everybody comes here; this is Hollywood, land of dreams. Some dreams come true, some don't; but keep on dreamin' - this is Hollywood. Always time to dream, so keep on dreaming'."
-Happy Man from Pretty Woman

Hollywood first began working its way to fame in the early 1900's. In fact, it was originally a ranch named after the English holly and woods when Thomas Lincoln Tally built an Electric Theater where tickets were sold for ten-cents a pop. Overtime, the Electric Theater grew from black and white to color, just like the ranch around it developed from a ranch to a city in 1910.  Hollywood's diverse landscapes and predictable weather began to attract numerous film producers and screen writes which severely expanded the city's film reputation. Nowadays, Hollywood represents the "land of dreams:" where fame is inevitable, and film agents are on every corner just waiting to discover you. In this sense, Hollywood has become a symbol of the American Dream; a continued promise for glory that is known and hoped for by everyone, but only attained by few. The dream of "making it" is fueled by the overexposure of those who do so. Harrison Ford for example, began in Hollywood as a self-taught carpenter and was discovered by George Lucas while furnishing his cabinets. After being placed in some minor roles by Lucas, Ford finally gained his Super-Star title through his role as Han Solo in the George Lucas film: Star Wars. However, Ford's quick fame was not only a pivoting moment for him, but also for the thousands of other undiscovered Californians who were provided with new hope of their own "inevitable" fame.

Hollywood not only has the ability to manipulate our hopes, but also has the ability to manipulate our social normalities. During the 1930's, the MPPDA or, the Motion Pictures Producers and Distributors Association, created a strict guideline on what they considered was appropriate for American audiences to see. These "guidelines" however, proved to modify the silver screen into a world of perfection rather than a world of realism: " There the flawed became whole, the blind sighted, and the lame and halt threw away their crutches" (122). As a result, the movies became the only place in the world where the American Dream of perfection, prosperity, and opportunity was real. The movie's perfection began to influence it's audiences, especially those in poverty. By continuously observing the "Happily Ever After" scenarios, members in the audience began to connect a character's looks and mannerism to his or her success. This connection led to a mindset in which one's beauty was equivalent to one's worth in life. Even today, movies such as "Pretty Woman" are produced which promote the idea of successful beauties. "Pretty Woman" revolves around a Cinderella-esque circumstance in which a stunningly beautiful prostitute meets her "knight... on a white horse with these colors flying" and becomes wealthy and happy for the rest of her life. Originally, the friend of Vivian Ward, the prostitute in "Pretty Woman", makes fun of Vivian for even considering that she might have a future with the millionaire Richard Gene, when she compares Vivian to "Cindafunkin'rella."

However, by making the "Cindafunkin'rella"scenario come true, the producers of "Pretty Woman" are putting a realistic twist on a false promise that all good opportunities come from looks: specifically Caucasian looks.


In the novel The Bluest Eyes, Pauline's ideals about herself and others are distorted because of the unrealistic social normalities that are taught through the camera. Indeed, Pauline makes it very clear to the reader that before her "education in the movies," she loved Cholly and was content with her life and all of it's hardships (122). In fact, it was only after she watched the silver screen that she began to become discontent with her life because she began to compare her world to the unobtainable world of the movies. Consequently, as the comparison or, "the most destructive ideas of human thought," slowly insinuated her mind with the realization that her life was not perfect,  it became harder and harder for Pauline to "come home" from the fantasy world (122). This realization could even be why Pauline became obsessed with her white people. The white family was the closest connection she had to newly desired dream world: they gave her a sense of white security and white power that her own family could not offer her. However, this decision, or rather, this need for the perfection and security of the white world just made her more miserable when it was time to come back to reality. Hence, the movies created a catch twenty-two for Pauline: by continuously dreaming to have white perfection, she began to despise her reality which only made her love of unreality increase. This mindset caused her to distance her self in every way possible from her family: her home became a house, her family became sources of sin and anger, and she erased all memories from her "black" possessions.  As a result, her identity, her blackness, and her funk was gone. In conclusion, the idea that her life could be better if only she became white, caused Pauline's life to become an empty shell, whereas "she absorbed in full...the silver screen" (122).

Gatsby's Life: A Vaudeville Show

     On October 24, 1881, a circus manager named Tony Pastor staged a revue in uptown New York City. This revue was wildly successful, and most historians regard it as the beginning of the Vaudeville sensation. Vaudeville was a genre of theatre in which each show was a series of completely independent acts placed one after another. The point of the show was pure entertainment and nothing else. This type of theatre was incredibly successful circa 1880-1930, and at the peak of it's popularity, a vaudeville venue was third in the nation's most used gathering places, after schools and churches. By observing the inner workings of Vaudeville, we can make sense of the ways in which Jay Gatsby from F. Scott Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby achieved his fame and fortune. In many ways, Gatsby worked his way to his "American Dream" the same way a hopeful Vaudeville performer would have.

    In order to understand the similarities between Gatsby's life and Vaudeville, it is important to understand the way in which the Vaudeville business worked. Producers and managers owned certain Vaudeville "circuits", which were collections of up to 45 theaters that performers would cycle through, with every theater always having a full show of acts, but something new every time. Performers were never any one of note at first; they would literally walk in off the streets, show a producer their act if they could get them to sit down for five minutes, and if the producer liked them, he would throw them into his circuit. The rest was an upward battle for the performer. If the audience liked them, it would go noticed: they would get opportunities to play the bigger cities more, and often, they would be bought out by bigger and better producers to perform in bigger and better venues. However, the process truly was about who put on the best show.
   
     In a way, Gatsby's rise to fame is similar to that of a Vaudeville performer. He began as a no one with only a dream. The beginnings of his rise to fame can be observed during his first interaction with Dan Cody: "It was James Gatz who had been loafing along the beach that afternoon..., but it was already Jay Gatz who borrowed a rowboat, pulled out to the Tuolomee, and informed Cody that a wind might catch him and break him up in half an hour" (98). This scene is equivalent to an actor seeing an opportunity with a big producer and taking the charge, for Gatsby puts on his "act" before approaching Cody and getting his attention. This is what sparks his entrance into the Vaudeville circuit, for Dan Cody teaches Gatsby how to perform the part of a wealthy man and entertain the crowd.

   Another important way Gatsby is like a Vaudeville performer is the way in which his "American Dream" lies in the east, not the west. Most Vaudeville performers were not from the city, or even the East; the majority were picked up from small towns out west to join the "small time", from which they worked their way up. In Vaudeville, circuits were either known as being "the small time", "the medium time", or "the big time". "The small time" usually consisted of small venues that weren't actually theaters, and the circuits included mostly western cities and rural areas. On the other hand, the "big time" consisted of circuits that ran through theaters in New York City, Chicago, Boston, and other large Eastern cities. In the same way, Gatsby started out with humble beginnings on a farm in North Dakota, and he works his way to a wealthy bond trader in New York City. However, the novel suggests that perhaps this is not where the true American Dream lies. The last line of the novel, "So we beat on, boats against the current, borne back ceaselessly into the past," suggests that going east to pursue one's dreams in the 1920's is the wrong way to go. This line seems to even be prophetic in light of the decline of Vaudeville in the early 30's; as the film industry grew in New York City, Vaudeville died out. Historians believe that if more money had been invested into these "small time" and "medium time" circuits, the lifespan would have been stretched, perhaps even through the Depression. The middle class of the west, with little access to the cinema, would have willingly payed the cheap fee to see a Vaudeville show, even if cinema was a rising industry in the east. In the same sense, there is something sadly ironic and, as the novel suggests, inherently backwards about Gatsby's dream of going east.

The Great Gatsby and The American Mobster

    Americans have long been intrigued by crime. especially organized crime. Criminals have a sense of glamor about them that make for exciting conversations and stories. Their illegality, immorality, and general difference from the average life make criminals semi-heroes to the American public. Films such as The Godfather and books like The Great Gatsby provide examples of this, both in the works’ stories and in their receptions. The Godfather, although it portrays a family immersed and consumed by crime, it is hailed as one of the best films of all time. The stories and actors’ portrayals won the acclaim of the American people, not to mention Best Picture at the Academy Awards. Gatsby, like Don Corleone in The Godfather, is a man of mystique to his peers. He is seen and gawked at, but the people who know him never fully understood him.

    The Godfather and The Great Gatsby contain larger-than-life characters. Don Corleone, his son Michael, and Gatsby affect audiences because of how they are not relatable. Most people can’t seem to understand crime, so it intrigues them

Snazzy, Menacing Mobsters

to see criminals in person. Mobsters and the Mafia add another level of interest because of their organization. To the average person, the Mafia represents a government turned bad. It has its own social hierarchy and organization, but it is still criminal. Such order and precision in something that is normally associated with chaos fascinates people. The mob treats murder, cruelty, and illegality with complete familiarity and acceptance. What makes these criminals so appealing to an audience is their stark difference to normal life. People are amazed and awed by contrasts to normality. The characters in The Godfather are different both in their crimes and their nationality. The Italian origin of the Corleones adds to their mystique, like Gatsby’s experience in Europe and Oxford adds to his.

    Organized crime has a flair for the dramatic; petty larceny never interests people, but rigging the World Series or running a bootleg business can. Gatsby is a criminal, but he gives the people at his parties something to talk about, which elevates him above any simple thief. Because few people know Gatsby well, yet everyone knows who he is, no one at his parties can stop gossiping about what they think they know about him. His silence about his past only adds to this mystique. Indeed, the reader’s first glimpse of Gatsby is on a dark night a distance away, after which he vanishes inexplicably. At the first party Nick attends, a girl says of Gatsby, “You look at him sometimes when he thinks nobody’s looking at him. I’ll bet he killed a man” (44). Gatsby inspires awe in his admirers; no one knows exactly how he got his money, so they all assume that it had been obtained illegally. The people admire Gatsby for making his own money, for being a “self-made man,” but by making it in a way that is mostly taboo and by being secretive about it, Gatsby has inspired wonder in them. The main cause of this wonder is the secret-but-not-quite nature of it. Everyone suspects that Gatsby is a criminal, but no one has anything quite near proof of it. However, when faced with proof, when Gatsby is accused up front of his bootlegging successes, he falters, and Tom shames him into realizing that Daisy is out of his reach. From the beginning to 0:35 in the video shows Daisy and Gatsby running from Tom's accusations.

    When crime is out in the open and overt, criminals lose their “star status.” People see criminals who are caught as nothing but trouble and deserving of their prison sentences. Americans don’t like to be confronted with the criminal underbelly of their society; they are entertained by quick glimpses of it that keep the mystery, but when it is completely revealed, they are quick to distance themselves from it. After Tom reveals Gatsby’s bootlegging and gambling schemes, Daisy and Nick lose their

Crime Isn't All Glamor

respect for him. He becomes a broken man and relinquishes all claim on Daisy. Nick says, “Then I turned back to Gatsby- and was startled at his expression. He looked -and this is said in all contempt for the babbled slander of his garden- as if he had ‘killed a man.’ For a moment the set of his face could be described in just that fantastic way” (134). Nick has no respect for the people who gossip about Gatsby’s glamorous past; when confronted with the truth of the matter, the idea of “killing a man” becomes horrific rather than exciting. Gatsby's crimes, though not as severe as murder, are a badge of shame on an otherwise proper man.  By being unmasked as a criminal, Gatsby loses all respect and admiration he once had. He is a now just a man fleeing from his accuser, and if he had not been killed, he would certainly have been put to trial and been subject to the derision and shaming of his peers..

The reaction to a criminal depends on the crime and the person. Were Gatsby and the Corleones simple shoplifters or murderers, they would not have received the positive reactions from their crowds of adoring fans. Gatsby had a perfect life set up: he had money, a future wife, and a great house to throw parties in. Any whisper of his criminal past only served to further his reputation and mystique. A good criminal leaves an aura of mystery around the crimes, leaving people to wonder if it actually were committed. Society punishes bad criminals, both with legal action and with ostracizing. An unmasked criminal is only someone to be ashamed of and to be abandoned. Americans are fascinated with illegal action, but when confronted with it directly, they revile the same people they used to gossip about.


Patrick O'Hare

The Legacy of the "Roaring Twenties" in VH1's Mob Wives

"...The Twenties was not a ten-year binge during which everybody got rich and danced the Charleston in speakeasies while drinking bootleg hooch. Certainly the reaction to America's participation in World War I- which ended on 11 November 1918- triggered disillusionment, moral reevaluation, social experiment, and hedonism. Although Fitzgerald joined the parties and chronicled them, he wrote in judgment. The Twenties were primarily an era of possibilities and aspiration- a dominant Fitzgerald theme...'"

                

Matthew J. Brocculi, the preface of The Great Gatsby, 1992

F. Scott Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby undoubtedly portrays that the 1920's was an era for accomplishing that which was previously nearly impossible; it was not longer necessary that one be born into an upper class family to eventually end up with a very high socioeconomic status. The existence of self-made men, those who did not inherit their wealth, but earned it, was becoming increasingly common. Fitzgerald's character, Jay Gatsby, is a perfect example of this. He went from living in the Mid West with a considerable lack of money to living in an imposing, old European-style mansion in East Egg of Long Island. However, the American Dream, starting with rags and ending up with riches, and doing so fair and square, is not the only major aspect of the twenties that Fitzgerald demonstrates in The Great Gatsby.  "Hedonism" and "moral reevaluation" are terms that many people today would use to characterize the 1920's; these concepts go together and help form the themes of the novel that have undermined the relevance and the positive notions of the American Dream from Fitzgerald's time to present. Fitzgerald implies that Gatsby may have obtained his fortune in a less-than- conventional way. The rumors of Gatsby's bootlegging and other possible infractions against legal and/or social regulations make his rags to riches story seem slightly less inspiring, and a whole-lot more interesting.




Our culture today definitely has developed a keen fascination with crime. Audiences are all the more entertained when a story has a little taboo, or a little danger, or even a lot of straight-up illegal activity. Considering the success of entertainment classics like The Sopranos and The Godfather, and the frenzy of excited media around any slightly sketchy situation, the numerous criminal investigation shows on network television proves society's interest in all things improper has only been flourishing since the revolution against social standards and boundaries of the twenties. The characters of The Great Gatsby are much less reserved than the generation before them, and openly discussing secrets and drama is a new and invigorating part of socializing. The fact that Gatsby, starting from scratch, earned an immense fortune is not nearly as interesting the fact that he did so in such a scandalous way. Similarly, the women of VH1's reality television show, Mob Wives, have one-upped all of the other shows about the controversies among groups of wealthy women. Mob Wives  follows the lives or four women whose fathers and/or husbands have been incarcerated for Mafia related felonies. The women live extravagantly and publicly. They buy nice clothes and attend countless parties, where they start fights that include shouting intimate details of each other's lives. The most interesting aspect is what sets it apart from other reality shows about disillusioned rich women: they are all related to criminals. Unfortunately for Fitzgerald, his era of possibilities and aspirations was contaminated by the widespread self-indulgence and loss of propriety by the American people after WWI that he resented so much. This scary spin-off of Real Housewives undoubtedly portrays that the very things Fitzgerald critiqued about the twenties are the things that have remained a part of American Society. 

Besides the show corresponding with Fitzgerald's  representation of society's fascination with crime, Mob Wives demonstrates the idea that being wealthy means one is constantly performing for others as though acting wealthy is as important as being wealthy, a significant theme in The Great Gatsby. The West Egg's lavish displays of wealth are unsettling to those from East Egg. Daisy Buchanan, and East Egg resident of a historically wealthy family, is "offended" by the extravagance of one of Gatsby's parties. For Daisy, and others considered as having "old money" find the nouveau rich's flashiness to be a type of mockery, as though they are making a farce of their lifestyle, of their ancestors' lifestyle. Staten Island Borough President James Molinaro, like Daisy, is distressed by the over the top behavior, or "performance" by the women of Mob Wives. He calls it "disgraceful". He feels as though it is portraying Italian Americans and Staten Islanders in a bad light. Victoria Gotti is also horrified by the show and claims that it is scripted. The women have responded by saying they are not attempting to represent anyone but themselves and that the show is definitely not scripted. The show has been given positive reviews from non-New Yorkers and non-Italian Americans. Nick Carraway would probably respect the women and their show, as he found a way to respect Gatsby despite all of the superficial, gaudy partying Gatsby participated in that Nick wholeheartedly resented. Similarly to the way Nick appreciated Gatsby's authentic earnestness to be successful, many critics don't interpret the women's openness to sharing their stories, but respect it.

In both The Great Gatsby and Mob Wives, the performance involved for being rich and famous required that people abandon certain, very real, parts of their lives. When Jay Gatsby, born James Gatz, decided it was time for him to create a new life or himself, he left his past behind completely. He wanted to be able to start his life over completely, without any details of his past affecting his future. He changed his name and estranged himself from his family.
Gatsby abandoned family Gatz to Gatsby. Renee Graziano of Mob Wives also had to chose to not have her father, Anthony Graziano, be a part of her life anymore because she chose to do the show. Mafia activity is supposed to be top secret, and all of these women have been criticized by their loved ones for "being snitches" or "selling out". Renee wants to use this show as a way for her to start rebuilding a life separate from the mob, so she sacrificed her relationship with her father to be a Mob Wife. An issue affecting all of the women is Karen Gravano's decision to write a tell-all book, in which she plans to include detailed information about her family's conflict with Renee's family and Drita's husband, Lee, whom she dated many years ago. The women found it hard to support their friend when they had no idea what was going to be published about them or their families in Karen's book. Before anyone could even confront Karen about it, she made it clear that she does not care what they think about what she has to say. Karen has prioritized her celebrity status to please, momentarily, her curious fans, and she has sacrificed the trust of the other women. Karen is taking an approach just like that of Gatsby to accomplish her goal. She is forcing out reality, and in the end, she may be disappointed.

Bullets and Broads: Celebrated Criminality in "Chicago" and "The Great Gatsby"

"...You are about to hear a story of murder, greed, lust...all those things we hold dear to our hearts."

-The MC

"In case you shake apart and want a brand new start
to do that jazz."

In the musical "Chicago," we follow the story of Roxie Hart (the blond woman on the right in the above picture), a feisty and ambitious young woman living in Prohibition-era Chicago. As the charismatic MC states in the musical's opening line, this show's risque nature is revealed almost immediately, when Roxie and her lover, Fred Casely, are shown in the throes of passion as the ensemble sings the seductive "All That Jazz" in the background. Things take a turn for the worst when Roxie shoots Casely to death for breaking up with her. It all goes downhill from here, as the cops drag her to prison soon after the crime.

It is in prison that she meets the famous Velma Kelly (the woman on the left in the above), a performer-turned-murderess who has become famous for the brutality of her crime. Kelly shirks Roxie's fangirl behavior at first, but when Roxie teams up with Velma's lawyer, the silver-tongued Billy Flynn (pictured in the center), she gains her own stardom, as Flynn turns her crime into an even bigger treasure than Kelly's.

 

Flynn works the press like puppets in the song "Both Reached for the Gun."

Roxie goes on to become a superstar within prison walls, surpassing Velma Kelly with her celebrity. The public goes wild when the two decide to team up, fulfilling Roxie's long-time wish of being a famous performer, and regaining Velma's celebrity (which Roxie had snatched entirely).

Adele's hit song "Rumour Has It" is a great fit
for Gatsby, as it deals with the flagrant and
infectious nature of rumors.

This theatre classic connects seamlessly to the celebrated criminality in The Great Gatsby. Even before we officially meet Gatsby for the first time, Nick hears wild rumors about his origins and wealth, ranging from him being "a German spy during the war" to "he killed a man" (44). Nick, though appalled at the ridiculous claims made by Gatsby's guests, is impressed. He remarks that "It was a testimony to the romantic speculation he inspired that there were whispers about him from those who had found little that it was necessary to whisper about in this world," exclaiming his wonder in Gatsby's ability to entice the wealthy with his (supposed) criminality.

Gatsby is, in many ways, very similar to the heroine of Chicago, Roxie Hart. Both are from poor roots. Both move to the East in search of a more exciting life (Gatsby from the West and Roxie from Mississippi [or so she claims to the media!]). And, most importantly, both have dreams of a better lifestyle that they achieve through criminality. The flashy and lavish nature of their success is seen on the left, in this scene from The Great Gatsby, showing one of Gatsby's parties. An interesting point about both the East and the American Dream is made in the similarity between Roxie and Jay's stories.

Regarding the East, both Fitzgerald and Ebb/Fosse emphasize the powerful criminal cultures there. In Gatsby’s case, Meyer Wolfsheim and his ilk provide the criminal element that leads to Gatsby’s great fortune. And in Roxie’s, her frenzied murder of her lover leads to her eventual fame. As both of these characters migrated from areas of the country they regarded as more boring and slow-paced when compared to the East, the similar way in which the East challenges them makes a statement. It argues that the faster, more wild life that the East promises is not for everyone, and that any dreams one hopes to procure there will come with a price. However, it also seems that the East is a place where normally malevolent deeds are not just allowed, but celebrated. In both of their cases, criminality is a road to success, corrupting the classically pure take that the American Dream usually is associated with.

In "Chicago," the song "Cell Block Tango" is an excellent medium that connects the frequent criminality seen in the East with the celebrated and, in this case, seductive nature of the crimes.

In the East, the American Dream is rewritten from the ideal of a poor man gaining wealth and luxury with nothing but a dream and hard work. Instead, it becomes a Dream in which wealth is achieved through underhanded means and connections. Both Wolfsheim and Billy Flynn serve as deceptive agents through which our protagonists reach fame, eliminating the need for the hard work that one is supposed to endure to reach the American Dream. Furthermore, in both of these stories, the supposed wealth and celebrity that Gatsby and Roxie attain are proven to be transparent in both of the works’ conclusions.

For Gatsby, his funeral is very nearly a no-show, showing that, ironically, his mystique lied purely in the mystery of his origins. Without his criminality to gossip about, the guests who flocked to his house every night for parties could care less about him.

And for Roxie, her stardom inevitably fades when yet another hotheaded young woman commits a vicious murder in Chicago, usurping Roxie’s throne and pushing her back into the anonymity that she dreamed so long of escaping. Her fame, as Flynn taunts towards the end of the show, was “a flash in the pan.”

Kitty Baxter, the latest murderess blowing up the Chicago papers with headlines as:

BULLETS AND BROADS! ANOTHER DAY, ANOTHER MURDER!

In the end, the East’s obsession with the charming magic of criminality will never truly fade, as those from more “boring” parts of the U.S. continue to flock there in hopes of grandeur. It is this cycle of hope and crime that fuels the theme of Criminal Celebrity that both Chicago and TGG employ, and will continue to fill the exciting East with “romantic speculation."

Narcocorridos New Rich in Mexico (bootlegging)

                         

      Narcocorridos is a Mexican style of music that originated in the north of Mexico. Before Narcocorridos, the term used to be known as "corridos," which is traditional folk music played with an accordion accompanied by other instruments. The main rhythmic sound comes from the accordion. But after the drug dealing business increased the style of corridos developed into the new style called Narcocorridos. Narco means smugglers.Nowadays both styles are still played. Narcocorridos has gained popularity but mostly comes from the smugglers. The smugglers like to hear Narcocorridos because the songs are made for them to promote them and to help them show their lives.

                                               "A La Moda" by Gerardo Ortiz

A la moda y en buenos carros                  

y mis plebes bien armados
bien vestidos y de trajes
y por fuera empecherados
lestes Prada y sus rosarios              Translation ----->
brillantes por todos lados


Asi se navega el jefe
a la moda trabajando
ya lo conoce la gente
y tambien a sus muchachos
lanza granda y bazuca
devolada arremangamos


Hugo Boss, Dolce & Gabanna
y en su cara lentes Prada
con un Rolex de diamantes
y la Chayenne blindada
entrando al hotel de lujo
junto con sus guarda espaldas


Hay miraron al muchacho
en un ferrari del año
hiban camionetas duras
y varios encapuchados
y la moda ke no falla
andavan edhardysados


Los miraron en un antro
por cierto muy alterados
con botellas en exceso
y las plebes por un lado
con ese porte elegante
protegiendo akel muchacho

                                             "A la Moda" Filmed in San Antonio, Texas


The Narcocorridos is a really similar genre to Ganster Rap music. The difference is that Narcocorridos are from Mexico. And like any other rapper they talk about their personal materialism to shock people and show off money. This is also known as "conspicuous consumption."  "A la Moda" starts talking about how his helpers or "plebes" are dressed luxuriously. Showing off that his helpers have great clothes reflects his wealth in that not only does The Boss/ El Jefe buy luxurious items for himself but also the helpers get luxurious items. The 2nd stanza is when he introduces himself, saying that he works dressed in high fashion and that everyone knows him. Then he describes that he uses Hugo Boss, Dolce & Gabanna, Prada and Rolex with diamonds just as rap music describes too. He mentions going to a luxurious hotel with his body guards following him with a bullet proof car. The fact that he is being escorted by two bodyguards increases the gaudiness but of course he has to do that because he is a smuggler and enemies might harm him. His conspicuous consumption shows that he got his money by bootlegging. At the end he says that his "plebes"  are protecting the boss with class.

The song reminded me of when Gatsby used to work for Dan Cody, the wealthy man. Gatsby, a "plebe" in this case, help this man Dan Cody because only the really wealthy like him would help a poor man like Gatsby. Similar to "A la Moda," the guy shows the big amount of money he has by spending money not only on himself but also on the helpers. Dan Cody left Gatsby with some money just like "A la Moda" talks about the money spent on the boss's servants. Cody hires Gatsby so he could be taken care of by Gatsby. Gatsby "was in turn steward, mate, skipper, secretary, and even jailor, for Dan Cody," just how the body guards are with the boss in the "A la Moda" song/video (100). In the last stanza the song describes the scene in a night club drinking and being taken care of by the servants, similarly to the Dan Cody and Gatsby relationship.

In the song "A la Moda" the word "plebes" is being used a couple times. In the song the word means servants/plebeians. The boss states that his "plebes" take care of him similarly to the Feudal period. During the Feudal period the low class would work for the nobles because the "plebes" depended on the money that the royal family owned. In "The Great Gatsby", the first owner of Gatsby's house had a story that he  would pay for five years the tax of everyone in the neighborhood just so their houses could have straw made roofs. The houses around his house would look low class and poor. His idea were similar to the ideology from Feudalism era. The old owner of the house wanted to be seen as the royal family of the neighborhood. In the song "A la Moda" the boss purpose is to be seen as the royal lord with his "plebes" around making him look glorious.