The new “Wall Street” film has been drooled over for months. A lot of individuals have been waiting for “Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps”. The original movie was launched not long following the stock market crash in the 1980s. The sequel, with Michael Douglas reprising the legendary role of Gordon Gekko, takes place just following the crash in 2008. The dilemmas and perils of unchecked avarice are the popular threads of both films.
’Wall Street’: The Merchants Strike Back
The real estate crisis of 2008 is the setting for the second film, as the stock market crash of the 1980s was the setting of the first. What is assumed is that notorious corporate raider Gordon Gekko is just being released from prison, as a result of events from the first film. The legendary role earned Douglas an Oscar. Gekko starts giving lectures to students, and then decides to help his daughter’s fiancé, played by Shia LeBeouf, to bring down a corrupt hedge fund manager. It is partly a story of sabotage of the wicked. However, the film, nicknamed however not actually titled “Wall Street 2,” is also a story of redemption.
Real life of Wall Street
Actual people on Wall Street know it is only fiction. The 2008 crash was actually more complex than a movie will do justice to. That is the subject of a recent post about the film by Martin Fridson in the Wall Street Journal. On the ABC website, a corporate lawyer who works on Wall Street also opined that the film is great entertainment, however little more than that. Dramatic portrayals of historic events often leave out crucial details, for the sake of sensation. Oliver Stone is no stranger to this kind of criticism, and Wall Street heavyweights that were technical advisors lamented his liberal use of license over portraying the complexities of real life.
Poor examples
There is some truth in the cliché that a bad apple ruins a bunch. It is kind of a shame. Many on Wall Street work incredibly ethically and unbelievably hard. If “Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps” was about those type of individuals, it wouldn’t sell numerous tickets.
Further reading
ABC News
abcnews.go.com/Business/films-taking-wall-street/story?id=11712654 and page=3
Wall Street Journal
blogs.wsj.com/marketbeat/2010/09/24/a-wall-street-veteran-on-wall-street-2/
