Wall Street is one of those movies that has become a part of the American history because of the themes, content and messages it contains and, of course, the significance to the time in which the  movie is set. I’ve looked at this movie a couple of times and this is my take.

The Plot

In essence the movie has at least six characters who play important roles as the story unfolds, however the main characters are Charlie Sheen, who plays Bud Fox, an aspiring millionaire, and Michael Douglas, who plays Gordon Gekko, (the name Gekko I think was symbolic of a lizard as it reminded me of the commercial but I will save that for bit later on) who is a very rich, ruthless and immoral stock trader and “corporate raider”.  Daryl Hannah plays Darien Taylor, a young and beautiful interior designer with a very expensive taste, who is a friend of Gekko and Bud’s love interest.  Martin Sheen, who is Charlie Sheen’s father in real life, also plays his father in the movie, is an airplane mechanic and labour union leader at an Airline that becomes the centre of Gekko’s attention.

It’s a story about a young ambitious Wall Street broker (Bud Fox) who is determined to be a part of the elite club and live the rich life like the person he idolizes, a man who turns out to be a ruthless and cutthroat business man who uses inside secret to make deals, which is illegal to say the least...yes I’m talking about Gordon Gekko himself.  Gekko, the cunning businessman he is, buys companies cheap and proceeds to destroy them and sell off the company’s assets without any regards for the lives affected by his decisions, only for the return he is able to get on his investments.

Bud, with some persistence (59 days of consistently calling Gekko office), finally gets an audience with Gekko but is unable to present him with a deal worthy of his time or attention and Gekko dismisses him.  Gekko however sees the determination, ambition and inexperience in Bud and decides to give him another chance to bring something worthy to the table, soon enough Bud begins working for Gekko.

This is where he meets Darien (Daryl Hannah), who he can now approach since he’s working for Gekko and is begin to rake in the cash.

When Gekko goes after the Airline that his father works for, Bud soon learns of the unscrupulous side of Gekko and the lengths he is willing to go to to get what he wants and to make more and more money .  He eventually teams up with Gekko’s rival to keep the Airline safe and out of the hands of Gekko.

This movie does a good job of capturing the ambiance and more so the greed that was a big part of the American landscape during the 1980s.  Written by Oliver Stone and Stanley Weiser, it was directed by Oilver Stone whose father was a broker during the Great Depression, and the inspiration behind the movie concept.  The movie was made in 1987 against the backdrop of the greed and excessiveness that played out on Wall Street during the Reaganomics era.  It was at a time when greed was glorified and excessive spending became the norm;  when everything had to be big – houses, cars, hair, shoulder pads,  salaries etc. to do it any other way would mean that you lacked ambition at best. America had experienced doom and gloom under the previous administration, however, when Reagan took office in the early part of the 1980s he transformed the country’s economic climate and identity.   The American Dream was born, now citizens felt that there was absolutely nothing that was unattainable, nothing they could not achieve, nothing that was out of their reach.  This soon feed into the social fibre of the country as drugs and sex became more popular than before and society was buzzing with activities driven by greed, excessiveness, materialism which became known as “the “me” generation”.

I had to break down the context…

HISTORICAL

During the Nixon and Ford Administrations, before Reagan's election, a combined supply and demand side policy was considered unconventional by the moderate wing of the Republican Party. While running against Reagan for the Presidential nomination in 1980, George H. W. Bush had derided Reaganomics as "voodoo economics".  In stating his intention was to lower taxes, Reagan's approach was a departure from his immediate predecessors. Reagan enacted lower marginal tax rates as well as simplified income tax codes and continued deregulation.

Prior to the Reagan administration, the United States economy experienced a decade of rising unemployment and inflation (known as stagflation). Political pressure favored stimulus resulting in an expansion of the money supply. The federal oil reserves were created to ease any future short term shocks. President Jimmy Carter had begun phasing out price controls on petroleum, while he created the Department of Energy. Much of the credit for the resolution of the stagflation is given to two causes: a three-year contraction of the money supply by the Federal Reserve Board under Paul Volcker, initiated in the last year of Carter's presidency, and long-term easing of supply and pricing in oil during the 1980s oil glut.

Similarly, in 1976, Gerald Ford had severely criticized Reagan's proposal to turn back a large part of the Federal budget to the states.

POLITICAL

This film came into the American consciousness during Ronald Reagan’s presidency during which time the political identity of the American people changed. Reagan took office on the heels of an economic downturn which engendered a mood of disillusionment as well as a lack of confidence in the government of the day to deal effectively with the country’s deep-rooted social and political challenges. Reagan sought to eliminate regulations affecting the consumer, the workplace and the environment that he argued were inefficient, expensive and impeded economic growth. He became a figure of reassurance and stability for many Americans and was known as the “Great Communicator”.

Labour was a prominent power in the early 1980s, in the first few months of his presidency Reagan made a bold move by firing more than 11,000 striking air traffic controllers. The air traffic controllers were fired two days after their union, PATCO, declared a strike. They were demanding a pay raise, a shorter workweek, and better working conditions.  It was at a time when the labour movement was still seen as a central force in American government and politics by Republican and Democrats.  Reorganizing the relationship between his government and the labour movement at the time was part of the strategy of the Regan Revolution.

In his first term, Reagan introduced expansionary fiscal policies aimed at stimulating the American economy after a recession in 1981 and 1982, including oil deregulation policies which led to the 1980s oil glut. He met with Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev in four summit conferences, culminating with the signing of the INF Treaty. These actions brought a quick end of the Cold War, which took place from 1989-91, as typified by the collapse of communism both in Eastern Europe, and in the Soviet Union, and in numerous Third World clients. The economy was in recession from 1981-83, but recovered and grew sharply after that.

ECONOMIC

The 1980s referred to as the Reagan Revolution and advocate of free markets and laissez-faire economics, and upon taking office, believed that the American economy was hampered by excessive regulations and social programs. The Reagan Revolution or Reaganomics became popular terms associated with Reagan’s Presidency because of his economic and social policies.  Reagan brought together a variety of interests united by a distaste for big government, his economic policy looked at reducing the growth of government spending, reducing the federal income tax and capital gains tax, reducing government regulation, and tighten the money supply in order to reduce inflation.  This meant that the American people now had far more disposable income at hand and so the era of greed and excessiveness began.  It was felt that if there were more money in the economy that it would trickle down to the working class as now people would be able to afford goods and services that they were not able to at the beginning of his reign.

 SOCIAL

The 1980s were called the Reagan years, because he was president for eight of them. During his first term, the recession ended. Inflation was controlled. He reduced taxes. The American public felt a sense of hope and potential prosperity again which meant a shift in focus and priority and so "the 'me' generation" which describes Americans who were only concerned about themselves and “yuppie” which meant "young urban professional" era began. Both these groups it seemed lived just to make and spend money, money, and more money.

America was buzzing with activities in the 1980s and everything was of an expensive, excessive, materialistic nature which was portrayed in Television shows and music of the 1980s. These avenues showed the interest society placed on financial success. The characters in a number of television programs, for example, lived in costly homes, wore costly clothes, and drove costly automobiles. They lived lives that required huge amounts of money. Dallas and Dynasty are excellent examples of the lavish lifestyles that became the ultimate American Dream.

And of course there was “Wall Street” the movie which was about dishonesty, greed and excessive lifestyles. During the 1980s talk shows became popular and Oprah Winfrey became a household name worldwide.

It was a time when sex and drugs grew in popularity amongst the rich and famous and those aspiring to be a part of that world. 

Much of the popular music of the time also showed this new openness. Heavy metal rock groups sang about sex and drugs. And then there was the new form of music called "rap". In this form, words are spoken, not sung, over a heavy beat. Many Americans found all these kinds of music to be too shocking, too violent, too lawless, and too damaging to the human spirit.

Sex and drugs eventually became deadly and so people became more careful about their own activities.   A new auto immune disease took centre stage, it was called AIDS, Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome. The disease spread in several ways. One was through sexual relations. Another was through sharing the needles used to take illegal drugs.

A big change in American life during the 1980s came as a result of the computer. While they were invented in the 1940s, computers became a big part of the American culture in the 1980s as by this time the actual hardware was much smaller,  it was marketed to everyone as potential users and soon enough it was in the homes of millions Americans.  This revolutionized the way Americans executed their day to day activities such as reading the newspapers, buying things, doing school work etc.

Such technological improvement -- and a bright economy -- filled Americans of the early and middle 1980s with hope. Many felt there were almost no limits on the good life they could lead.

Madonna was singing 'I'm a Material Girl'. Music Videos and MTV became icons of materialism, that is to say, they weren't playing hippy music, but they did show lots of videos that emphasized  all sorts of 'bling', fast cars and wealth and insanely excessive lifestyles.

Crack Cocaine became an epidemic, and with it came a culture of tacky Gold and Diamond medallions.  Brands became the thing that defined Americans and so the cost of everything that carried a decent enough brand were driven up.  The entire cocaine culture revolved around dealing and money and grandiosity. Young people were trying to join social fraternities and finding a way to wear a gaudy Rolex watch. Ronald Reagan was worshiped by many youth.

Previously, I had been told I had to dress down to work there; I discovered the inmates felt more respected when I behaved as myself. Think about it, would you like to talk with someone who 'dresses down' to talk to you

On the social agenda, abortion remains legal, prayer in the schools illegal. Reagan's failure in the war against drugs and related crime activities is so great that drugs were the number one issue in the 1988 presidential campaign.

Conflict

The major point of conflict for Charlie Sheen’s character, Bud Fox , is that he is torn between the working class values taught to him from birth by his family and the community and the superficial, materialistic, opportunistic, selfish culture of Wall Street in general and his idol Gordon Gekko in particular.  His father is an aircraft mechanic who comes from a comfortable but working class home, who is also a Union leader which gives him a definite socialist orientation where he believes in the value and virtue of hard work and camaraderie with his co-workers and fellow men.  As a union leader Fox Senior would be against capitalist exploitation and the unequal distribution of wealth.  However, younger Fox rebels against these principles and is infatuated with the glamorous lifestyle afforded to the rich who do relatively little work but reap disproportionate rewards.  Fox Senior works at a factory with his hands, while Gekko works in a high rise office behind a lavish desk with computers directing others to work for him.   The two men’s lifestyles are polar opposites and while Fox sired and socialised Bud it is Gekko who has superseded him as the most influential figure in his current life.  Young Fox must set aside his family values in order to operate in the world of Wall Street and Gordon Gekko. 

 

THEMES

Wall Street stood out as a model portrayal of the 1980s excess and greed as it dealt with a number of morality conflicts putting wealth and power against simplicity and honesty, and an attack on the value system of extreme competitiveness where ethics and the law are simply irrelevant in the quest for financial success. 

Unethical corporate greed and corruption was the order of the day at the time because of the shift in value systems.  The movie showed how much people valued material wealth over friendship and other things that were once highly valued. Almost to the end of the movie, in a scene with Gekko and Bud, Gekko points out a the fact that a painting on his wall cost US$60 when he purchased it and boasted that now he can sell the said piece of art for upwards of US$600.  Gekko discredited Harvard students as he preferred poor, smart and hungry guys with no feelings. The ultimate goal was to have the best money could buy irrespective of what it cost morally or ethically.

The relationship between Bud and Darien was also based on an expensive and excessive lifestyles. The movie depicted the shift in relationship values at the time, as we saw in the movie people became materialistic and money driven at the core. I like how the relationship unfolded in the context that it was meant to as there was no way Bud the upcoming stock broker, who worked in a less that prestigious firm could have approached the likes of Darien Taylor in a context of a relationship.  He had to be a particular standing to even entertain the thought. 

Darien character loved the extravagant and expensive things life had to offer, which motivated Bud to work for Gekko even more so that he could have pursued her as ordinarily she would have been out of his league.  

The materialism that existed at the time was very obvious in the movie; starting with Gekko office which was far more than it needed to be.  His home was the pinnacle of materialism and it was covered wall to wall with expensive art and home furnishings.  The money culture fed the materialism epically during this period.  click here

On the other hand, we have Carl Fox (Martin Sheen’s character) who represents the working class, he was the union leader for the maintenance worker at the Airline and made a reputation for himself as he constantly attacked the big businesses, money, mandatory drug screening, greedy manufacturers, and anything that he sees as a threat to his union.  The conflict between Gekko’s relentless pursuit of wealth and Carl’s pursuit of taking down men like Gekko forms the basis of the films subtext.  This subtext is a clear parallel of the concept of the two fathers fighting for control over the moral compass of the son.  The producers of the film use Carl as a voice of reason amid the creative destruction brought about by Gekko's unrestrained personal philosophy.  Carl was the father who constantly held Bud to a higher standard and remaindered him of the values and morals he was taught throughout his life – he asked him the hard questions that forced him to think and question his motives and loyalties.

The concept of greed has always had a negative undertone to it, I think this movie heightened the negativity to that concept if that is even possible.  In the scene where Gekko delivers a speech to the shareholders of the company he was planning to take over he seduces the audience and pledges his allegiance to the power of money (see clip here)  This  scene tries to humanize Gekko and the other Wall Street raiders giving them the chance to justify their actions, which he memorably does, portraying himself as a liberator of the company value from the ineffective and excessively compensated executives.  This speech became known as “Greed is good” speech which justified the money culture, the unethical greed that existed and encouraged people to seek greed in all its form. Before I forget to mention,  I think the name Gekko was deliberate and symbolic because its the name of the lizard from the popular commercial; lizards are known to shed their skin according to the environment they find themselves and regain full functionality,  so too the character Gekko does in the context of Wall Street.

The 1980s were about the quick-buck culture, where becoming a millionaire in the shortest possible time was how success was measured. The value of hard work, honesty and good moral values were no longer seen as something good or noble but rather frowned upon from people like Gekko.  Gekko in his own personal experience saw his father work hard his entire life and die in debt, which I surmised was the underlying motivation for Gekko need for financial success, no matter what he had to forfeit in the process of acquiring such, however in the sequel concept of greed changes… Greed is NOT Good speech!