Why guys loved Gordon Gekko
-
johndeansmith — 10 years ago(February 03, 2016 03:54 PM)
remember that Oliver Stone also wrote Scarface. Tony Montana was a Cuban refugee with a rags to riches story just like Gekko was a rags to riches story. the audience roots for them. despite being a gangster and a drug kingpin - Oliver Stone made Tony Montana likable. i believe he did the same with Gordon Gekko. people love Tony Montana and they love Gordon Gekko. thank Oliver Stone, Al Pacino, and Michael Douglas. Americans and the entire world love an underdog.
-
Ace_Spade — 10 years ago(February 08, 2016 08:23 AM)
Sure, but aren't viewers missing the point?
It's great to have a relatable protagonist, but Stone isn't trying to make people want to emulate Scarface. Scarface has long been, in my opinion, one of the most misinterpreted movies of all time given that the film's message is: "BEWARE! If you only value money, you will lose everything of real value!" A lot of viewers have misunderstood the film and seem to take away: "HEY! Money is the best, you guys!"
Empathising with Montana or Gekko is one thing. Wanting to be them is missing the boat in a bafflingly obtuse way. -
JackSparrow92 — 9 years ago(April 15, 2016 12:40 PM)
I don't doubt that Stone's goal was for Gekko to be seen as the villain, rather than to be embraced. However, he picked the wrong time to release the movie. For that desired message to resonate, he should have waited a few years.
In 1987 when the movie came out, the recession of the early 80s was over. Reagan's "Morning In America" re-election thing had happened. Big hair, power suits, colourful clothes, hair metal, etc. had replaced the relative austerity, drabness and nuclear doom-laden outlook of the early 80s. The message from the top was that a corner had been turned and everything was now going to be awesome. People were encouraged to borrow and spend and pursue the good life. Then this movie has Gordon Gekko telling the audience that "greed is good" and that it "cuts through, clarifies, and captures the essence of the evolutionary spirit" wow, it couldn't have been better timed for America to embrace, rather than be repulsed by, that message.
At the same time, the Cold War was thawing, and the manner in which it thawed and eventually ended (i.e. with a new Soviet leader who made overtures to the West and started withdrawing from Afghanistan) was seen as a huge vindication for America and for capitalism. Suddenly, not only only was capitalism the key to the good life (whatever that meant), but it could win the Cold War against its most fearsome foe without firing a shot!
Fast forward to the events of 2008, as all the "cheap money sloshing around the world" (which Hal Holbrook's older, wiser, still somewhat idealistic character in Wall Street sagely warned about) all but brought the whole system to its knees. The expansion that started in the 80s had continued for roughly two decades by that point, with a relatively minor hiccup as the late 90s dotcom BS faceplanted, and then a more serious hiccup when Bush II took office but from which the DJIA had rebounded and then some. And now, a further eight years on, the world economy is even shakier.
The whole system is such an enormous shell game.
Revenge is a dish best served cold.
Klingon proverb -
Pervy_Grin — 9 years ago(May 02, 2016 06:59 AM)
Then this movie has Gordon Gekko telling the audience that "greed is good" and that it "cuts through, clarifies, and captures the essence of the evolutionary spirit" wow, it couldn't have been better timed for America to embrace, rather than be repulsed by, that message.
Watching this on Sundance now. Just before the "greed is good" line in his speech to the Teldar Paper shareholders, Gekko criticizes the multitudes of VPs making big salaries while holding very little Teldar stock, and spending the companies money on steak lunches and such. That kind of message was popular then and is very popular today with the progressive left. It might be BS but Gekko sounds like a champion of the working class when he talks like that. -
smoko — 9 years ago(November 27, 2016 02:48 PM)
@Pervy_Grin
Gekko criticizes the multitudes of VPs making big salaries while holding very little Teldar stock, and spending the companies money on steak lunches and such.
I think that message would be popular with anyone in the working class, regardless of whether they were left or right. -
eddysl12 — 9 years ago(May 22, 2016 09:51 PM)
Yes, a lot of fads such as long hair, drug trips, bad fashion, crude or untraditional wedding ceremonies and embracing and emulating the poor were now history.
There was a monumental sea change that occurred in the mid-eighties and being square and wealthy was now the cool thing to be. If one couldn't be wealthy then one could at least cut one's hair and dress in a business like fashion.
TV shows like " Sanford and Son " about low-income poor people were out, shows like " Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous " were now in.
I think now though people have seen the results of unbridled, uncontrolled capitalism and how it is neither patriotic nor moral. As a result a lot of people are embracing Bernie Sanders ( a democratic socialist ) or Donald Trump ( who represents a return to controlled capitalism ). -
firstwinsgop-1 — 9 years ago(June 19, 2016 12:58 PM)
Guys liked Gekko because at the end of the day, Gekko was right. He was a principled outsider battling the corporate corruption and fat cat insiders. America ended becoming one giant Teldar Paper in the years following the release of the film, and the result of that was the financial crisis. Now more than ever, the America is yearning for a real life Gordon Gekko to deliver us from our corrupt fascist system.
-
smoko — 9 years ago(November 27, 2016 03:00 PM)
@firstwinsgop-1
He was a principled outsider battling the corporate corruption and fat cat insiders.
Gekko did insider trading. Hell, he hired Bud to spy on Wildman. And you call that being principled.
Battling the fat cat insiders? Gekko
was
a fat cat insider. -
update724 — 9 years ago(December 10, 2016 04:08 AM)
Bizarre. Didn't I clock you in the library, bored of life after yr "daughters" son made me a conduit and Hollywood threw their hands up in dismay? If only Justice League and all those coming before you in there were enough. As if a 100000+ hex and a broken leg leaving the US Open were enough, huh?
Burger Bro?