Final Draft.

Steven Figueroa
ENG 103
Dr. Luke Vasileiou
11/13/10
Wall Street: The Mentality of The 1980’s
After the success of Platoon director Oliver Stone wanted to write and direct a movie that was inspired by his father’s occupation. According to Oliver Stone in a CNN interview Oliver Stone not only wanted to dedicate his new film Wall Street to his father but also inform people about the business world. Oliver Stone along with his co-writer Stanley Weiser did their best to research and interview people who worked on Wall Street as tycoons, stock brokers, and business executives to base the movie characters on. People like Ace Greenberg and Ken Lipper helped supervise the script in order to be accurate of what Oliver and Stanley were trying to depict. The film’s characters like Gordon Gekko were inspired by Ivan Boesky and Asher Edelman respectively to display the mentality of a greedy tycoon of the corporate world.
Oliver Stone did his best to portray the political, economical, and social lifestyle of a young stockbroker of the nineteen eighties in a realistic light. To inform his audience of the corporate world and how it can destroy lives and alienates ordinary hard working people from what really matters in life. Not only greed from big business but also the ideals of the American dream and how far people would go to obtain it during the materialistic pro capitalism society known as the Reagan era. Oliver also used references Ivan Boesky and Dennis Levine scandal of insider trade into the storyline of Wall Street to make the movie a parallel to bring out its meaning to the viewing public. Wall Street realistically depicts on social, economical, and political of New York City during the films setting of nineteen eighty five.
During the mid eighties which the movie was set in the salary for the average stockbroker was eighty thousand dollars (according to the Dallasnews). Housing for a stockbroker who is fresh off of college in New York would be around six to eighty four thousand dollars living on the west side (socialexploer.com). Real estate prices of selling properties like lofts were about 74,111 and the fictional Blue Star company if were real would be around 118,373 and 29,414 on average at best during the nineteen eighties according to (Socialexplorer.com). The eighties also suffered from the inflation of the nineteen seventies that suffered the American economy.
Ronald Reagan invented an economical system called Reaganomics which only benefited the wealthy and reduce government regulations. Its main purpose was to trickle down and hope the wealthy to save their money and invest on stocks to bring the economy back up. However it made the inflation increased by 3.79 %( according to Global-rates.com) increasing the cost of essential needs. Also the financial crash or plunge of 1987 brought about a percentage of 100 points (http://www.workers.org/marcy/cd/samwall/wallst/wallst.htm). Eventually the economic revived it’s wages were lower than usual.
In the social aspect of the nineteen eighties it was the belief in philosophy of Laissez fair capitalism for big business. The belief of ethical egoism meaning only the strong and the smartest will survive. Failure to achieve the goals of your employer would get you fired since you are not economically viable on their percentages. Being a stockbroker during the nineteen eighties you have to be persuasive and willing to adapt to the environment around you in order to live the next day. Also during the nineteen eighties society especially in New York started to lose their moral values to materialistic desires. The belief of looking out for yourself and everyone else is second was the dominate idea of living in New York City during the eighties.
The purpose of money was to spend it on things that never really made anyone happy but gives them the illusion of the necessity and purpose of having more property. It can be best summarized by this saying “The "Me" generation was reaching its earnings peak and trading beads and flowers for power ties and dress-for-success outfits” ( Eric Feigenbaum, VMSD.com).
An example of capitalistic greed during the eighties in would be the Ivan Boesky scandal of being a part of an inside trade corporate conspiracy. Ivan a leading stock speculator along with Dennis Levine in New York City were manipulating trading information and brokages for their own gain on stock bonds that were outside the trade floor. Eventually both men were arrested for committing a white collar crime and getting sued by the companies they’ve caused damaged too like FMC and group investors who worked with the two. When jailed both were willing to sell information at each other in order to get shorted sentences in prison. Ivan went to prison for only one year and Levine under IRS investigation lost all his funds from the scandal and was left with nothing.
In politics during the nineteen eighties Ronald Reagan was elected in office with his promise to end the inflation that was brought over from the seventies. As mention before it was Reaganomics and its idea was to trickle down its spending to the wealthy in order to increase savings and investments. He also restricted government’s regulations on free market trade and gave tax cuts to the wealthy or the Tax Reform act. The tax reform act caused the S&L crisis of nineteen eighty six. Reagan forces the government to allow banks to choose whom can they lend money to either state or federal. This caused inflation and taking advantage of the real estate boom of the eighties.
Ed Koch who was the Mayor of NYC during the nineteen eighties tried to embraced and convinced New Yorkers to accept the financial policies Regan put out. Ed Koch strongly believed in Reaganomics and how it will get NYC out of the financial crisis that was brought over from the seventies. Whoever disagreed with NYC policies Koch would go the distance to insult them; though childish he wanted New Yorkers to accept the economic policies. Little did he know that Reaganomics will put New York deeper into debt during his third term in 1985.
The movie Wall Street is about a young fresh out of NYU stock broker named Bud Fox (played by Charlie Sheen) who wants to make it big and follow the American dream in New York City. Being unsatisfied with his clientele and living with piles of bills to pay. Bud tires to make an offer with his idol and inspiration Gordon Gekko (played by Michael Douglas). Being very persistent Gordon gives Bud a chance to make him an offer on stock bonds. Bud gives his first two and Gordon turns them down. Being desperate Bud tells Gordon on his father’s stock worth of the company he works for. Gordon being interested takes him up on the offer and purchases the stocks of Blue Star. With the success of Gordon’s investment he takes a liking to Bud Fox and would like to work for him. Unfortunately Bud’s second offer didn’t turn out well for Gordon since he lost millions.
Gordon despite being angry for the huge loss, still sees potential with him gives Bud one last chance but wants him to trade his morals with greed. Gordon tells Bud that he knew his father told him about the increase of stocks of Blue Star and that information was his business. He wants Bud to be an inside trade information broker and follow his rival Sir Lawrence Wildman in order to outwit him on his next bid of stock shares. Bud knows this is illegal but was persuade by Gordon philosophy and his materialistic desires so he agreed. Bud became successful in obtaining the information of the next shares Sir Lawrence was planning to buy. Successful by this action Bud became Gordon’s protégé on Wall Street along with the perks Gordon can buy.
Eventually Bud tries to sell the company Blue Star to Gordon to keep it alive and running successfully then the state it is now. Bud tries to convince his father Carl Fox (Played by Martin Sheen) who owns the union to give his share to Gordon. Carl disagrees for he knows who Gordon is and knows he’s only interested in profit. Carl leaves since he does not want the guilt of firing his employees for a quick buck. Bud feeling embarrassed tries to reason with his father but helps Bud realized he has sold his soul to materialism. Eventually Gordon sells his shares and the company to be demolish. Bud fueled by rage he finally sees the truth and tries to renegotiate with Blue Star in order to sell the company to Gordon’s nemesis Sir Lawrence. Bud eventually gets the last laugh on Gordon causing him to lose millions. But Bud’s actions will get him in trouble with the feds who ran background checks with the accounts he’s been putting Gordon’s money on. Bud gets arrested and is put on trial.
This movie realistically depicts New York City during the nineteen eighties Reagan/ Ed Koch era. Bud Fox as I mention before is a Stock broker who graduated from NYU and gains about forty thousand dollars. He lives in a studio apartment on the west side of Manhattan with his rent costing fifth teen grand a month. Mention before housing cost on average around six to eighty four thousand dollars according to (Social Exploer.com). Even when Bud moved to the east side of Manhattan he was willing to pay a loft apartment for nine hundred and fifty thousand dollars. Gordon was also in real estate and claimed to have sold a loft for $800, 000 dollar profit which exceeded the amount that I found from “$74,414” (Socialexplorer.com). The movie also talks about the market crash during nineteen eighty five involving real estate prices being stale in a brief scene thought doesn’t get too detailed with it.
Wall Street also realistically portrays New York on a social level of class in terms of how the wealthy views the poor. Example the scene with Bud’s landlady made a remark about the market crashing and even the rich are complaining about it. “The only things that are moving in this city are cockroaches and the Puerto Ricans in this city” (Oliver Stone, Wall Street 1987). Gordon Gekko is the epitome of the egoistic philosophy and the big business tycoon who lost his humanity in which he states in several parts throughout the film the importance of making it big in America. Gordon says to Bud when he lost Gordon’s money “When you feel, you lose a few, but you keep on fighting. And if you need a friend get a dog. It’s trench warfare out there” (Oliver Stone, Wall Street. 1987).
Another instance was when Gordon Gekko gives Blue Star an offer to sell him their company. Carl Fox sees through his lies and wants no plan a part of it since he knows Gordon will sell the company anyway. Carl says “I know what this guy is about, Greed. He doesn’t give a damn about Blue Star or the unions. He’s in it and out for the buck, and he don’t take prisoners” and Gordon replies “Sure, whats worth doing is doing for money.” (Oliver Stone, Wall Street.1987). Gordon is trying to fill his empty vase with material desires of having what the world best has to offer. Gordon like the wealthy tycoon on Wall Street justifies his actions with his infamous “Greed is good” speech during the auction of stocks.
Bud Fox also represents the average guy who wants to be rich during the Reagan era. Most people like Bud who have jobs in the corporate world would have done the same thing and sold their souls down the river for promotions. Bud represents the social aspect of Dennis Levine during the inside trade scandal that this movie was based on. Since Oliver Stone dedicated this film to his father a character named Lou Mannheim who showed that not everyone at Wall Street was corrupted and showed that investing on stocks can do good for people on an economical scale like create jobs. Also there was a scene in the movie where a stock broker who worked for the company for over sixty years was fired for not getting the numbers he needed to stay Hence, the egoism mentality that most eighty businessmen had on making a quick buck.
The movie also realistically portrays citizens of New York City to be very anti social and alienate themselves from one another when walking on the street. Specifically Wall Street how stockbrokers and business men/women are very busy and don’t have enough time to stop or even care about anything else around them except for making money. When Bud fox was walking outside of Gordon’s company not one person made eye contact with one another. This scene showed people in Wall Street believe in the philosophy “time is money” and wouldn’t want to miss the opportunity to obtain it.
Oliver Stone did a fantastic portrayal of how society in New York City was during the Go-go Reagan era of the trickle down eighties. Ordinary people consumed by greed separated by the haves and have not’s, people willing to sell their souls to obtain money to survive the rise of income of New York City. People who once had family changed once they’ve become business tycoons and information brokers who have holes to feed. With that whole their appetite never satisfied with what they have, constantly wanting more and more. Selling the lives of employees or companies like live stock and cattle in order to make a quick buck, while Reagan taxes the middle to poor of the caste system.
Wall Street is more a reflection of how far we as a society will go to obtain a dream that never existed. The dream of living well off with more then what we expect and give in our selfish desires and not the needs of others. Especially in New York City how we constantly treat each other as wild savages from the concrete jungle wanting our scraps. Oliver was trying to inform us that “Greed, for the lack of a better term is”(Oliver Stone, Wall Street.1987) not good. Sure we can be selfish all we want and yet look how it affects our economy on a global scale. We as people of New York should abandon our instinct of greed and focus on aiding other like Oliver’s father believes Wall Street can do.














Footnotes:
Wall Street. Dir. Oliver Stone. Perf. Michael Douglas. 1987. 20th Century Fox, 2010.DVD
Feigenbaum, Eric. “The 1980s: Search for Identity” Oct. 24.2001.
http://vmsd.com/content/the-1980s-search-identity
SocialExplorer.com
“Wall Street crash:
What does it mean?. November 1987. Sam Marcy. 12 November 2010.
http://www.workers.org/marcy/cd/samwall/wallst/wallst.htm).