this link will lead you to an article that I found talking about the different art that is used on book covers. The original artwork for Gatsby is known throughout the world. I would bet that almost everyone I meet on the street would recognize the blue background and the woman's face with the red lips. But now that the movie is coming out, companies find it necessary to make a new cover. This is something that has always driven me crazy. I don't think there is any need to create a new cover with the faces of actors on it when there's already a book that exists out there with an original cover. I think it's great that movies sometimes encourage people to go out and read the book but why does there have to be a new cover? People are literate. They can find the title just fine.
What I find interesting about this article is that it talks about how some stores refuse to sell the new movie cover while others only want to put the new version on the shelves. I can name 10 different books off the top of my head that have had their cover changed but what makes Gatsby such a big deal these days is the amount of different in the sales. There's a very large contrast going on with people who have been carrying this book with them for years and with people who are only now hearing about it because of the big screen. Below are the two covers. Personally, I think the movie version is atrocious. But people see the gold colors and Leo's right in the middle and immediately get drawn to it. Either way, I'm glad it will get people to read the novel. It just makes me wonder how much we actually do judge a book by its cover.
I agree that the movie version cover is worse than the original blue cover by Francis Cugat. Cugat's cover is known world-wide and replacing the cover just to associate the book with the soon to be released film is atrocious. I completely understand that the movie poster has a new image, with the actors on it. It tells the story of the book through cinematography, and it advertises the actors as well. When reading the book with the new movie cover, Gatsby will be associated with DiCaprio. This is a bad idea because when reading a book, the reader's imagination should fill in the blanks that the book does not visually show. Lastly, I can see a strategic move in the cover art change. Sales. People will buy the book because of the relationship to the film. The image is memorable, and for those who are unfamiliar with Cugat's cover, it is a great way to find The Great Gatsby on the shelves in book stores.
ReplyDeleteI read this story when I was a junior in high school and I recall my teacher making a huge deal of the importance of the cover of the book. The story is a classic and now selling the book with a different cover showing the new actors portraying the characters kind of pains me. Don't get me wrong, I am more than excited to see Leo play Gatsby, but leave the actors to the movie cover.. not the book. I enjoyed reading the book and deciding myself what the characters looked like and how they acted. But, aside from that changing the book cover is obviously correlated with making more money. When people see Leonardo DiCaprio on a book cover, many will be more inclined to buy it. Its always hard to transform a novel into a movie but I think it will encourage more to read The Great Gatsby now.
ReplyDeleteI definitely remember having to read this book over the summer for high school. I went to Barnes and Noble to get the book, the lady told me where to find it. i remember I passed the book like five times before realizing it, and that was because of the cover. When i'm assigned to read books I usually judge the book by it cover and this one didn't catch my attention at first.
ReplyDeleteThe itself was not a bad read. Very classical and had a good story line to it. I enjoyed reading the book and using my imagination to create the different scenes.
Recently I heard they were having the movie version of the book out but I did not see the commercials so I didn't know who was acting in it. But I remember seeing a poster for this movie before I could read the title I wanted to watch the movie because the actors on the poster caught my attention. Then I read the title I saw like "OO The Great Gatsby" I had totally different views from the time I saw the book cover and this movie poster. So I personally believe that their is a major impact on the cover of a movie that is a book and has a completely different book cover.