10 Films That Shaped The Course Of History
5. Wall Street (1987)
What comes to mind when you hear the words ‘Wall Street’? – Money and dirty tricks… men in $2000 suits with $1000 hairdos? Whichever one of these rings loudest with you, chances are, this wouldn’t have been the case before this Oliver Stone’s drama.
The ‘80s saw the creation of a new class of wealth following extraordinary freedoms given to financial markets. But considerable backlashes to this new economic order in popular culture, beginning with Hollywood’s 1987 film, meant they acquired the reputation of ‘sharks’, that is, blood-thirsty, unscrupulous animals that are loyal to one thing and one thing only: money.
Starring Charlie Sheen as the new-kid-on-the-block trader who is torn between loyalty to his working class father (Martin Sheen) on the one hand and desire to impress a celebrity trader (Michael Douglas) on the other, the film draws the curtain on the notion that the industry’s top people are simply good, hardworking and law-abiding citizens.
With its most memorable quote being “Greed is good”, ultimately, the decades that have followed Wall Street have seen the reputation of bankers go in that direction, with countless new legislation, numerous imprisonments, not to mention the Great Recession caused precisely by the kind of behaviour the film warrants against.
“The main thing about money… is that it makes you want to do things you don’t want to do”: Ultimately, the film’s underlying ‘warning’ message gave birth to a sentiment that would inspire countless political movements to come…