< Wall Street

Wall Street/YMMV


  • Draco in Leather Pants: Many consider Gordon Gekko's "Greed Is Good" speech to be brilliant.
  • Magnificent Bastard: Gordon Gekko, who else?
  • Misaimed Fandom: Michael Douglas said that every time a broker said he went to Wall Street after seeing him as Gordon Gekko, he gets a little sad.
    • And in the DVD, Douglas and Oliver Stone say the 2008 financial crisis was caused by those Gordon Gekko wannabes, while saying people should have gone for Bud Fox instead.
    • The movie is oft-cited as an inspiration to people who went on to earn MBAs, despite the film's explicitly anti-greed message. The villain of the film is sometimes not even recognized as such by his fans--as in, they don't realize he's supposed to be the bad guy. Possibly caused by Straw Man Has a Point.
  • Moral Event Horizon: It's pretty obvious early on that Gekko is a shady character, but when he lies right to Bud Fox's face about what the deal with Bluestar involves, it makes clear just how much of a scumbag Gekko is.
  • Retroactive Recognition: Dr. Cox works with Bud Fox.
    • And fans of Warehouse 13 might be surprised to see Artie as a corporate lawyer.
  • Snicket Warning Label: Inverted in Money Never Sleeps. If you turn off the film about five minutes before the end credits roll, it's a Downer Ending: Gordon Gekko reminds us all why he's a quintessential Magnificent Bastard by winning the Financial Crisis of 2008, and everyone else gets screwed over, whether they deserve to or not. Keep watching the last five minutes, however, and for no adequately explained reason everything resolves itself into a perfectly happy ending for everyone involved. Your Mileage May Vary [1]
  • "Stop Having Fun!" Guys: Transport the venue from video games to high finance and you have a perfect analysis of Gordon Gekko.
    • Elaborated on in the sequel, in a way. In a speech, Gekko clarifies the point made in his famous earlier speech. It amounts to a gentle denunciation of stupid greed. The villain of the film could've been any one of Gekko's many young acolytes who didn't understand that crucial distinction. This may be why, in his famous first speech, he says "Greed, for lack of a better word, is good."
  • Straw Man Has a Point: Debatably. Gordon's "Greed is Good" speech arguably counts as having a point, but he doesn't really fit the strawman aspect, as the film's creators denied that they intended an Author Tract against capitalism. Kind of complicating things, is that as noted above, Gordon's actions weren't actually criminal at the time the film was set (although they were by the time it was made), although they could still be considered unethical. All in all, Gekko was definitely not intended to be a positive character, but it does not make his business ideas and practices reprehensible per se.
  1. ↑ that's why it's on this page rather than the main one
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