11 Brilliantly Controversial Martin Scorsese Moments

5. The Wolf Of Wall Street - The Lionization Of Drugs

Drugs have been a part of culture for as long as there have been depictions of culture. Film has become one of the strongest mediums for exploring these substances, and Scorsese has never been reticent in addressing them (the first scene of Mean Streets is a man being kicked out of a bar for shooting up heroin). The Wolf On Wall Street, however, takes Scorsese's fascination with barbiturates to another level. Between Jordan Belfort's many soliloquies to Quaaludes, cocaine abuse set to the Popeye Theme, and frank discussions on how to balance uppers and downers, The Wolf On Wall Street assumes something that most polite society chooses to frequently ignore: regardless of your position, drugs can have an impact on your life. While using drugs as a chief pillar of his story, Scorsese again uses his penchant for black comedy to turn them into deeper symbols within Belfort's life. The Quaaludes, much like the romanticized existence of the stockbrokers, are headed for their end, their supply slowly but surely running out. The cocaine provides a temporary boost, but makes the user's predicament worse. Scorsese looks upon the afflicted characters with pity, a reluctance to let them appear as invincible as they want. Despite the power that the stockbrokers wield in The Wolf Of Wall Street, they are all slaves to addiction.