The new “Wall Street” film has been drooled over for months. A lot of people have been waiting for “Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps”. The very first film was launched, and partly inspired by, the stock exchange crash within the 1980s. Comparable events coincide with the sequel. Douglas returns as Gordon Gekko, and it is set in the real estate crisis of 2008. Both films address unchecked greed and immoral trading within the realm of investment and high finance after scandal.
’Wall Street’: The Traders Hit Back
The real estate crisis of 2008 is the setting for the second film, as the stock exchange crash of the 1980s was the setting of the first. The presumption is that Gordon Gekko, the role Michael Douglas plays, went to jail after the first film ended, as the second film opens with his release from prison. It is an iconic role. It won Douglas an Oscar, and legions of enthusiasts. 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. The film, often wrongly called “Wall Street 2″ is mostly about redemption.
Real life of Wall Street
People that work on Wall Street are aware that it is just a movie. A post within the Wall Street Journal by Martin Fridson opines the movie captured popular outrage, but that it ignores real causes of the 2008 crash. An anonymous corporate attorney, according to ABC, said the movie is fine as entertainment, but can’t be taken seriously as a critique of actual events. Dramatic portrayals of historic events often leave out crucial details, for the sake of sensation. Stone is no stranger to this kind of criticism, and Wall Street heavyweights which were technical advisors lamented his liberal use of license over portraying the complexities of real life.
Fine people of Wall Street do not get seen
The adage about bad apples spoiling the bunch is true. Actual Wall Street traders and administrators are not the evil hounds they are made out to be. In fact, many are highly ethical and work incredibly hard. That said, that type of thing does not sell tickets or magazines unfortunately. The movie “Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps” would be uninteresting if that was the subject.
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/
