Tuesday, August 17, 2021

Style File and Young Love's Denial: The Legend of Zelda, Game Over

As you know, during this pandemic, I've enjoyed watching TV and movies that might have otherwise remained under the rubble of my entertainment to-do list.  And I'd always wanted to watch Amazon Prime's 2015 limited series Z: The Beginning of Everything.  But back in 2015, I hadn't yet figured out how to stream Amazon on my TV.  Oh, pandemic, how much you have taught us!

Most people know that F. Scott and Zelda Fitzgerald had a tempestuous relationship.  But it's a hiccup of a historical note often obscured by the glamour of Jazz Age glitter.  Z: The Beginning of Everything tells a different tale, showing Scott not to be the love of Zelda's life but the reason her life was ruined.  

Zelda Sayre (Christina Ricci) is the high-spirited, sought-after southern belle daughter of a respected Montgomery judge.  Spoiled and mischievous, she can have any man -- and dress -- she wants but is bored by a world that's become claustrophobically provincial.  So when dashing F. Scott Fitzgerald rides into town with nothing to do but wait to be deployed (it's World War I time), she's ripe for the picking.  From New York City by way of Minnesota, Scott is an aspiring writer and possesses a savoir faire and intellectualism that Zelda finds refreshing.  Her father is less enthusiastic, and her mother thinks that she should marry the kind and rich, if vapid, John Sellers.  Yet smitten or not, Zelda tells Scott that she won't marry him until he publishes his first novel.  The war is soon over, and Scott gets to work only to have his book rejected.  It's only after he rewrites it with passages stolen from Zelda's letters that This Side of Paradise comes into being and hijacks the zeitgeist.

Zelda and Scott say their I dos in the back of a New York City church that might as well be city hall.  Afterwards, Scott sweeps Zelda off to a raucous party where it's clear that she's an afterthought.  In the days that follow, Scott and his literati set, which includes Edna St. Vincent Millay and Tallulah Bankhead, haze Zelda, criticizing her southern penchant for ruffles.  In the shadow of this sophisticated and self-satisfied circle, the formerly feisty Montgomery maven becomes equal parts attitude and fragility, her big city dreams smoked to cinders.

The turning point comes when Scott buys Zelda an exorbitantly expensive and matronly black suit.  When Zelda wears it, she gets so angry that she chops her hair and buys the spangly dress that she originally wanted, emerging in yet another incarnation, this time as the first flapper.  Zelda's new look, combined with her innate charm and intelligence, lands her her own artistic opportunities.  But Scott squashes them all, insisting that he needs Zelda to be his full-time muse.  Yet it takes more than a muse to inspire this cruel, lazy, and alcoholic party animal predator to just sit down and write already.  Watching his trainwreck behavior, I couldn't help but wonder how he managed to write a single sentence.     

Z: The Beginning of Everything is the rare story that shows the dark side of star-crossed young love.  It doesn't dress it up in romantic ribbons, insisting that the rougher the road, the more profound the connection.  Instead, it suggests that Zelda would've been happier if she'd married John Sellers back home in Montgomery, or maybe even no one at all.  Although the series ends when the Fitzgeralds' marriage is still in its infancy, its haunting final episode sets the stage for the heartbreak -- and breakdown -- that we know to be Zelda's destiny.  To say that it's sad is an understatement.    

We'll never know how much of Z: The Beginning of Everything is fact and how much is fiction.  But either way, one question remains: 

Why do so many men in American history turn out to be such assholes?

Maybe someone should write a book about that.

6 comments:

ellie said...

Oh..what a priceless review! I haven't thought of Zelda and Scott in a long time! Thanks for the nostalgia! Yes, one feels they were both typecast before the story ever got started, but I love Ricci and I haven't seen her in much lately. Your ending made me smile a lot!

Thanks for the pics as well in your brilliant review!

And of course, thank you so much for your comments! I don't know what happened to me in August..oh, I was thinking this stuff up in July..or something like that. I feel kind of bad not getting to some characters sooner...still, it's interesting what some readers seem to be thinking on certain subjects. Like, they couldn't have had THAT on their mind. And of course, people are complicated. Yet, sometimes, it is easier to find their sadness than their happiness. Unfortunately.

Thanks so much for being here! Thanks so much for reading and commenting and I hope you have a fun August and find some great sales too!

Caitlin'nMegan said...

Oh, this was fun to read. Now I may have to check out this PRIME series..how could I have forgotten it! Such an interesting couple, indeed and you really summed it up best in the end.

Sometimes, I feel..oh..did I go too far this time with Tori's story. Of course, I pull from my own life and my crocheting habits, yet while I'm happy doing my own thing whenever I feel like it. I can see how some would just like to do something to get their mind off of what is really bothering them. So maybe Tori isn't completely that far gone if she is doing something. Although, I possibly have wild thoughts when it comes to storytelling. Usually, its the dead of winter when I'm in those crazy thoughts mode. Still, I do pull from things that do happen to friends. Somebody was telling me about what she'd found out about her husband (the rare blood disease which the doctors didn't even tell him).

I hope your creativity is full of energy and much more this summer. Thanks for your thoughts and much much more. So glad to meet you. So glad you are such a wonderful blogger too!

Ivy's Closet said...

I do start and stop a lot of series. Sometimes, it's great to go back and finish some of these. It's even better when we find ourselves having a different perspective too..especially, as we age. It's great to find out who Fitzgerald's muse was.

I will have to admit, I like getting into the "insight" interviews more and more. They are usually last-minute bits when I post something on "Urstyle" where I make some of my sets and some I like better than others. The one with Rachel and Jory got to me.

Kathy Leonia said...

The legend of Zelda i know it;D is is quite nice;)

Samantha said...

What an epic review!!! I have read about Zelda and Scott in the past, and I found their story both fascinating and severely tragic at the same time. It definitely wasn't all glitz and glam as many people assume! Especially Zelda's ending - terribly heartbreaking, to say the least. I love the part you wrote about Zelda's transition into the first flapper. Also, the photos you included are totally 1920's and go perfectly with this post! Lastly, the line, "Why do so many men in American history turn out to be such assholes?" is certainly something someone should write a book about!

Jewel Divas Style said...

Interesting. I recently saw a three part doco on Hemingway and Fitzgerald was one of his party goers. So I googled Fitzy and he was a hard partier and lazy ass author. I think she ended up in a mental institution with everything going on.