5 Things The Wolf Of Wall Street Celebrates (And Condemns) About America

5. Money

American currency proudly states "One Nation Under God" on its bills and coins, but an asterisk should be stamped on the word "God" and the note next to the asterisk should clearly state "Me." Money makes the world go 'round and it's one of my incentives for writing this very article. We could always use more of it, but we never seem to have enough of it. The latter is incredibly true of the Wolf himself and he tells us why money is so great.

"Money doesn't just buy you a better life -- better food, better cars, better p*ssy -- it also makes you a better person. You can give generously to the church of your choice or the political party. You can save the f*cking spotted owl with money."

Forget the cape and cowl: you can save the world with enough money. When Belfort is about to call it quits, he toots his own horn by talking about how he took in Kimmie, one of the senior brokers, when she was a single mother in debt. He reminisces about the time when she asked for a $5,000 advance and he generously gave her $25,000 instead. Kimmie breaks down in tears as she recollects on this (and on why money is so great). It is the means to saving someone, but instead of thankfully making enough money, Kimmie catches the greed bug from the Wolf. She becomes vain and spends $3,000 on Armani suits and Lord knows how much vacationing in the Hamptons and Bahamas. Kimmie becomes an example of what happens when the money changes from being a means to an end to being the end in itself. Once money becomes the very thing you love instead of the good you can do with it, you can be sure that no amount of the stuff will ever be enough. Which leads to our next point...