As Mr. O'Connor briefly mentioned last Thursday, Charles Kane from Citizen Kane is loosely based on William Randolph Hearst, a newpaper mogul during the late 1800's. Over the summer I was in California and I took a tour of Hearst Castle, the enormous palace he built for himself and many guests much like Kane's Xanadu in the movie. Hearst Castle is now a state historic monument, and the tours of the castle rake in an enormous profit for the California State Parks.
Kane's life was certainly exploited even after his death, and the same goes for Hearst. In the beginning newscast in Citizen Kane one segment read:
"Few private lives were made more public."
Anything Kane did was put in the news, and after he died the public was determined to figure out who he really was. In doing so, all his possessions were sorted through. This is not that different from William Hearst, considering his home is now open for anyone to see. These two men had very public lives, but the fact is that they encouraged their public lives. While he was alive, Hearst was constantly inviting celebrities to stay at his house and spreading news of his wealth. It also helps to own a newspaper empire, which gave him the opportunity to share any information he wanted with America.
So it seems there are two paths of stardom: try to prevent your life from becoming public (and failing) or to embrace or even encourage a public lifestyle. What are your thoughts on this? Would you rather try and keep your life private or willingly share it with the rest of the world?
How does this relate to The Great Gatsby?
Also, below are some pictures I took while visiting the castle.
William Randolph Hearst's Castle is on the top of this mountain.
A fountain outside the castle.
The Neptune Pool, it was pretty sweet.
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