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Question for Discussion: What does the film, 
Wall Street (1987), tell us about American culture
and society in the 1980s?

Reading: Quart and Auster, pp. 127-143;
Levine and Papasotiriou, pp. 189-195;
Crawford, "The Rise of the New Right";
Boesky, " Berkeley Graduation Address";
Newsweek, "The Year of the Yuppie";

Video: Wall Street (1987), Tyco Greed DVD (2007);
Global Intro, part. 1: Enron and Energy;
Don Henley's The End of the Innocence (1989);
Huey Lewis It's Hip to be Square (1986)

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Critical Reviews of  Wall Street (1987)

Yuppies and Yuppie Culture in
the 1980s and 1990

President Reagan's Conservative Revolution

The Decline of the American Dream
in the 1980s

The Global Economy and the Decline 
of the American Dream

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The Shift from Yippie to Yuppie

Repudiating activism, he became a stockbroker and then organized Jerry Rubin's Business Networking Salon in New York (1982). He and former compatriot, Abbie Hoffman, staged about 40 Yippie-versus-Yuppie debates nationwide (1985–6) before Rubin turned to selling vitamins in major newspapers (1990s).

1986: Time Ivan Boesky Cover

Ivan Boesky, Berkeley Graduation Address (1986):

"I urge you, as a part of your mission--to seek wealth. It's all right. Does anyone disagree with that? No! But do it in a virtuous and honest way, the purer the process gathering in that way, it is one of the surest ways to having a voice in the system. Having wealth, if you aim high, can allow you to be what you want to become in this great land. You could be more of a person who could make a difference. As you accumulate wealth and power, you must remain God-fearing and responsible to the system that has given you this opportunity. Be respectful of the history of your people andyour nation. Give back to the system with humility, and don't take yourself too seriously."
-------------------------------------------------

"Greed is all right, I want you to
 know that, I think greed is healthy.
 You can be greedy and still feel good
 about yourself."  
            Ivan Boesky, speaker at the School of Business Administration,   University of California, Berkeley; later
sentenced to three years in federal prison.


"What's intriguing about "Wall Street" - what may cause the most discussion in the weeks to come - is that the movie's real target isn't Wall Street criminals who break the law. Stone's target is the value system that places profits and wealth and the Deal above any other consideration. His film is an attack on an atmosphere of financial competitiveness so ferocious that ethics are simply irrelevant, and the laws are sort of like the referee in pro wrestling - part of the show. "
...Roger Ebert, Review of Wall Street


Gordon Gekko : " The richest one percent of this country owns half our country's wealth, five trillion dollars. One third of that comes from hard work, two thirds comes from inheritance, interest on interest accumulating to widows and idiot sons and what I do, stock and real estate speculation. It's bullshit. You got ninety percent of the American public out there with little or no net worth. I create nothing. I own."

Gordon Gekko : "The point is ladies and gentlemen that greed, for lack of a better word, is good. Greed is right. Greed works. Greed clarifies, cuts through and captures the essence of the evolutionary spirit. Greed, in all of it's forms - greed for life, for money, knowledge - has marked the upward surge of mankind and greed - you mark my words - will not only save Teldar Paper but that other malfunctioning corporation called the USA. Thank you. "

The Yuppie's Prayer

Now I lay me down to sleep,

I pray my e-mail to keep.

I pray my stocks are on the rise and that my therapist is wise.

That all the wine I sip is white and that my hot tub is water tight.

That racket ball won't get too tough and that my sushi's fresh enough.

I pray my cell phone always works, and that my career won't lose its perks.

That my microwave won't radiate and my condo won't depreciate.

I pray my health club doesn't close and that my Money Market always grows.

And if I die before I wake, I pray my Lexus they won't take."

Alan Crawford, The Rise of the New Right

"But conservatism achieved a new power in American politics during the 1970s, with the development of the "New Right,' a multifaceted coalition of political forces that drew on the anti-communism and individualism of previous movements, yet added to these a powerful, emotion-based appeal closely connected to evangelical Christianity and moral exhortations to defend traditional morality and the sanctity of the family. According to various New Right leaders, America 's most cherished values were being subverted by a combination of "liberal, " secular forces. The only way to combat such forces, the New Right argued, was to go to the people, galvanize their anger, and seize political power on behalf of old -fashioned values and virtues. "

"Moreover, the New Right exploits social protest and encourages class hostility by trying to fuel the hostilities of lower-middle-class Americans against those above and below them on the economic ladder. Wholly bipartisan, though predominantly Republican, the New Right network supports whoever shares its desire for radical political change and its resentments of the status quo. As such, the New Right is anything but conservative."

"At stake, as they see it, is nothing less than the future of society itself and the values that will prevail in it. On one side, threatening traditional values, are the feminists, the liberals, the university communities, minorities, residents of the urban centers, and the media. On the other—side of the angels—are the "pro-family" forces, the leadership of the New Right and its disgruntled constituents, plus a growing political movement of fundamentalist evangelical ministers speaking from their television and radio pulpits in support of right­wing politics. Both sides are competing for the soul of America."

"The "new majority" has been described by William Rusher as a union of economic conservatism, "the dominant secular faith of the American middle class," and of social conservatism, "predominantly a movement of the lower middle class and portions of what would be the American `proletariat' if its behavior warranted that Marxist term."

"Nothing less is at stake, as the American Right moves from a traditional conservative defense of representative government against the onslaughts of direct democracy into a celebration of government by rabble-rousing, by adding machine, by majorities of the moment."

Ivan Boesky, Berkeley Graduation Address (1986)

"I urge you, as a part of your mission--to seek wealth. It's all right. Does anyone disagree with that? No! But do it in a virtuous and honest way, the purer the process gathering in that way, it is one of the surest ways to having a voice in the system. Having wealth, if you aim high, can allow you to be what you want to become in this great land. You could be more of a person who could make a difference. As you accumulate wealth and power, you must remain God-fearing and responsible to the system that has given you this opportunity. Be respectful of the history of your people andyour nation. Give back to the system with humility, and don't take yourself too seriously."

Newsweek, The Year of the Yuppie (1984)

"Unfortunately. the glamour of this group (theYuppie) obscures a more significant trend toward downward mobility among their peers. The Research Institute of America has found that median income for families in the 25-to -34 age bracket fell 14 percent (in constant dollars) from 1979 to 1983."

"Much of the energy and optimism and passion of the '60s seems to have been turned inward, on lives, careers, apartments and dinners. "We were upper-middle-class white kids who were used to getting what we wanted," recalls onetime Columbia radical James S. Kunen, now a lawyer and editor."

"Yuppies are known she says,"not so much by their willingness to work hard for the corporation, but their devotion to accumulating power and
getting rich."

"All this, of course, gives the lie to the facile notion occasionally expressed that Yuppies have merely resurrected the corporate-zombie culture of their fathers. At their best, says Rubin—who has been touring the nation with his old ally Abbie Hoffman is what is billed as a "Yuppie Versus Yippie" debate—Yuppies are challenging the ossified corporate structures, just as they once challenged the sacred traditions of academia, and forcing them into more imaginative solutions."

"What Yuppies have discovered is nothing less than a new plane of consciousness, a state of Transcendental Acquisition, in which the perfection of their possessions enables them to rise above the messy turmoil of their emotional lives. They know that Beauty Is Truth, and Truth Is Beauty, which is why their most eloquent symbol is the Rolex watch, which has both. Of course, some Yuppies prefer to worship money in more traditional ways. One place they can do so is at the Yuppie church of the Rev. Terry Cole-Whittaker, the beautiful 44- year-old author of "How to Have More in a Have-Not World." BMW's crowd the parking lot of the San Diego hall from which Cole-Whittaker's message, " You can have it all—now, " is broadcast to 19 cities in North America around the country. Her newsletter is sprinkled with testimonials from people who received miraculous inter ­ vention to help closea real-estatedeal or pay off their American Express bills."

"As Yuppies grow older and richer they will lead the baby boom into spending patterns yet uncharted. People who consider a six-figure income the threshold of respectability should, for example, be natural targets for the financial-services industry. (At the moment, most are too busy spending their money to worry about investing it.) Keeping up with Yuppie tastes, as they mature, promises to be a rewarding experi ­ ence for American business. The first step, of course, will be to invent a catchy acronym for the aging wonders."

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1.  Is Gordon Gekko's larger goal the money he makes on his deals or making the deal and beating someone else out of their money?

Bud: How much is enough?

Gekko: It's not a question of enough, pal. It's a zero sum game, somebody wins, somebody loses. Money itself isn't lost or made, it's simply transferred from one perception to another.

2. Is Gordon Gekko like Donald Trump, who wrote in his autobiography, The Art of the Deal, " that money no longer interests him very much....[I am]  more motivated by the challenge of a deal and by the desire to win."

3.  What does Gordon Gekko mean in his speech to the Teldar board when he say: "The point is, ladies and gentlemen, that greed, for lack of a better word, is good. Greed is right. Greed works."

4.  Why is Bud Fox so attracted to Gordon Gekko?  Why does he want to be a player?

Gekko: I'm gonna make you rich, Bud Fox. I'm talking about liquid. Rich enough to have your own jet. Rich enough not to waste time. Fifty, a hundred million dollars, buddy. A player. Or nothing.

5.  Why do "players" need to wear good suits, own fancy highrise apartments, own the best artwork, and generally flaunt their wealth?  These are the same characteristics associated with Yuppies.  What does this tell us about the Yuppie stereotype?

6. Does Gordon Gekko earn his money honestly?  If he uses "insider information" to buy stocks that
 are sure things, is he really playing by the rules? 
 Is Wall Street (1987) suggesting that stock speculators  like Gekko are sharks feeding
 off the gullible average investor and mismanaged
 corporations?

7.  Why does Bud Fox keep telling his father to get a better suit?  Why is dress so important to Bud?

8. How does Wall Street illustrate what William Palmer calls "the yuppie drive to make large amounts of money quickly, to succeed in a ruthless competitive world, to acquire the most expensive material goods, to spend rather than save, to party extremely hard as a reward for working extremely hard, to sacrifice human relationships for one's job"?

9. Why are yuppies like Bud Fox and Darien Taylor willing to give up or risk their personal relationships, their emotional integrity, and their characters for money and power and social status?

10.  Why does Bud Fox turn against Gordon Gekko in the end?  Does he side with his father's principles of character, integrity, and honor over Gekko's obsession with money and power at any cost?

11.  What does Bud Fox mean when he tells Gordon Gekko that no matter how hard he tried he couldn't become Gordon Gekko because he was still just Bud Fox?

12.  When Bud Fox turns against Gekko, Darien tells him that Gekko will destroy him and take everything he has.  Is this the ultimate yuppie nightmare that money, success, power, and status will be pulled out from under them despite what they do?

13.  Did Gekko really expect Bud Fox to stand by while his father's company, Bluestar Airlines, was bought and sold off into pieces so that Gekko could make a killing?

14. Is the American economy described by Gordon Gekko really a social darwinian "survival of the fittest" world in which the strongest prey on and destroy the weak and innocent?Gekko: The richest one percent of this country owns half our country's wealth, five trillion dollars. One third of that comes from hard work, two thirds comes from inheritance, interest on interest accumulating to widows and idiot sons and what I do, stock and real estate speculation. It's bullshit. You got ninety percent of the American public out there with little or no net worth. I create nothing. I own.

15.  One of the larger yuppie fears portrayed in Wall Street is the fear that if you're not a player, if you're not on top of the money game, then you will be one of the losers, one of a great mass of Americans who are being screwed by the players and the money men.  Is this why Gordon Gekko tells Bud he can either be a player or be nothing?

16. Bud's father, Carl Fox, says: "Stop going for the easy buck and start producing something with your life. Create, instead of living off the buying and selling of others."  Is Bud Fox afraid that the only way to make it is to become a player because the only way to really make it in this world is to "live off the buying and selling of others"?  If you're not preying on others and exploiting others weaknesses, then you are just one of the prey for the stronger, more ruthless players.

17.  Why is money and power so much more attractive to Gordon Gekko than love, family, and emotional and psychological integrity?  Does Gekko see love and emotional relationships as weaknesses?

18. Does American society really value those who work hard, produce, and create even though most of these people are not wealthy, powerful, and socially prominent?  Why are Americans so fascinated with men like Donald Trump?

 


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Sewall Academic Program; University of Colorado at Boulder
Created 7 August 2002:  Last Modified: 3 April, 2008
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