Taking Him to the Street

Isn’t it surprising that the richest 1% of Americans own over half of America’s wealth? Do you ever wonder how most of these people manage to make so much money in such a short lifetime? In Wall Street, Bud Fox (Charlie Sheen) seeks to be one of the top shots on Wall Street. However, he soon finds that the life of the elite is not all it is really cut out to be.

The story begins with Bud working as just another stockbroker on Wall Street, desperately waiting for a shot at the top, where he will be making the real money. Each day, he calls the office of Gordon Gekko (Michael Douglass) and asks if he can just have one word with him, hoping he could win him over just enough that it would catapult him to executive status. However, the secretary refuses to send him through. Disappointed, Bud continues to wait until one day when his computer prompts him that it is Gordon Gekko’s birthday. Excited, Bud quickly buys an expensive pack of Cuban cigars and heads to Gekko’s office. He then uses this gift as a means to finally get his word in with Gekko. Hard to impress, Gekko shuts down every stock Bud suggests to purchase, until his last offer, Blue Star Airlines. Bud knew, through his father who works in the company, that Blue Star had just won a favorable case and that the stock was destined to rise. Gekko liked this because Bud had information that nobody else had, a guarantee for an advantage in the stock game. Gekko purchased several thousand shares of the stock and rewarded Bud with one million dollars under the table. Bud was finally in.

However, to stay at the top, Bud would need to play hardball. Gekko would use Bud to follow his competitors and help him piggyback on the stocks they are scoping out. Although he knows what he is doing is wrong, Bud continues moving forward, blinded by the luxury that wealth can bring. Gekko gives him money, beautiful women, and the means to turn nearly any dream into a reality. Bud finally makes the kind of money to live on the East Side of Manhattan, with enough money to allow his decor connoisseur girlfriend, Darien Taylor (Daryl Hannah), to run wild and make his apartment radiate his upmost wealth and class.

Everything seems to be looking up for Bud, until Gekko decides it is time to purchase Blue Star Airline, the very company that Bud used to win Gekko over. Bud begs his father to support and go through with the deal, but his father has his hesitations. Eventually, the ownership is transferred to Gekko, and he immediately sells the airplanes for his personal profit. Disgusted, Bud seeks to get revenge on Gekko by beating him at his own game.

What is interesting is that each of the main characters in the movies the movies reflect three of the most significant views in moral philosophy. Bud’s dad represents Aristotle’s belief that you create your moral character, and that what you have done in the past determines who you are today. Bud follows the philosophy of Deontology, which is that nothing is pure except for intention. He follows through with controversial actions only because he believes what he is working for is right. Gekko, however, follows the radical belief of consequentialism/utilitarianism, which is the belief that the result of an act is what determines its value. This is the subject of Gekko’s Greed is Good speech, possibly the most famous scene of the film.

The lesson you need to take from this film is that all the things Bud sought was an illusion. As he continued to acquire more and more wealth and buy more expensive things, it only pulled him further away from who he was to begin with, an honest hard-working man. So, the message of the film is essentially teaching us not to seek wealth and material success, for it is nothing more than a hallow lie.