The False Promises of Work on Wall Street: 

Morning breaks and sunlight strikes and glistens off of massive, glass covered skyscrapers. The impressive and imposing skyline of New York City is on full display and conveyed through it is the admirable skill and will of mankind in creating such a formidable metropolis. As the sun continues to rise so does the din and bustle of the city. People eager to get to work crowd the subway and elevators, ready and willing to take on another day.

This is the opening of Oliver Stone’s Wall Street. The film, set in New York City and released in 1987, follows the upward climb of Bud Fox, a young “account executive” looking to make a name and fortune through the financial markets. Gordon Gecko an infamous and highly successful corporate raider takes Bud under his wing with the promise to make him rich. However, it quickly becomes clear to Bud that the relationship comes with strings attached as he is forced to engage in illegal acts of insider trading to both prove himself and hold his position within Gecko’s inner circle. Bud complies with these demands from Gecko and in doing so is introduced into a world defined by luxury and excess. Ultimately, the relationship and movie end with Fox turning on Gekko and the two facing jail but, over the course of the two hours, the viewer gets a glimpse into the fast passed, cut-throat, and glamorous world of Wall Street in the 1980’s.

However, juxtaposing these alluring images of power and wealth are a number of conflicts (barring his eventual fall) that Bud is forced to confront throughout his upward climb. These conflicts call into question the nature of Fox’s work and the values, or lack thereof, prevalent on Wall Street. It is through this discord, created by questions of what constitutes “real” work and when one should compromise their morals, that the delusions of those who labor on Wall Street are displayed and the false promises of “quick money” made through the finance and knowledge economies that permeated the psyche of the United States citizenry in the 1980’s are called into question. 

One of the essential conflicts within Wall Street is between Bud and his father, Carl. Carl is a mechanic and union leader for the airline company BlueStar and by almost every standard of the word, a blue-collar worker. The discord that arises between Carl and Bud stems from their diverging understandings and definitions of what constitutes work. Carl neither understands, nor appreciates the work done by Bud in the financial world of Wall Street. On multiple occasions he implores his son to “stop going for the easy buck and start producing something with your life. Create, instead of living off the buying and selling of others.”  Bud responds to this by arguing that “there is no nobility in poverty” and that his work on Wall Street earns him more money in a month than he could make in a year working with his father. The antagonism between father and son is indicative of a conflict that has been inherent in American society since the 19^th century between two gospels, one of work and one of wealth.   

Describe in an article by Paul Durrenberger and Dimitra Doukas entitled “Gospel of Wealth, Gospel of Work: Counterhegemony in the U.S. Working Class.” The gospel of work also known as producerism is the belief that, “work was a sacred duty” and individuals should “pride themselves on hard work and hard-won skills.” Carl is quite clearly a disciple of the gospel of work viewing his son’s job within the finance industry, where individuals never produce a physical result, as work that is not only unworthy but cannot really be considered work at all. Bud comes from the other side of the conflict, arguing for the gospel of wealth. Although he does not view his father’s work as illegitimate, Bud believes, “that capital, not labor creates wealth and prosperity” and it is through this capital that individuals can attain true economic success. At the core of the conflict is that while Carl believes that simply the act of work can endow one’s life with meaning, Bud sees work not as a form of meaning but a mechanism, through which he can achieve what is really important, the product. Bud’s belief in and want for products can more broadly be understood as consumerism and Wall Street was the avenue through which one could achieve the goals set forth by consumerism in the fastest way. Thus, Bud views his work as wholly legitimate as it allows him to consume products on an efficient and increasing large scale.

The conflict between Bud and Carl is important because it calls into question the entire profession of stock trading. Questioning whether this form of work can be considered work at all and piercing the delusion that Wall Street offered a viable and meaningful place of employment. The skewed delusions of Bud and those on Wall Street is only heightened when one considers that Carl was working under the assumption that his son’s work was legal. What Bud and Gekko’s relationship reveals is that not only could the financial industry as a whole be called into question but so too could the belief that success and “quick money” could come without compromising one’s morals.

From the start of the film it becomes clear that Gekko is Bud Fox’s hero. Bud understands Gordon to be a hardworking, smart, and successful broker and someone he wishes to work beside and emulate. However, it quickly becomes clear that while these three traits may be true of Gekko, they are not predicated on talent alone. From their first meeting onwards, Bud learns that Gekko’s success is based on knowing more than his competitors or in his words, ‘the public is out there throwing darts at a board, sport. I don’t throw darts at a board. I only bet sure things.” This mantra is antithetical to the nature of the stock market as it is regarded as one of the few places where complete knowledge, and therefore a “sure thing”, is impossible to have. Despite learning what is behind Gekko’s success, Bud continues to work alongside him, as the desire for success outweighs the moral pull of knowing that what he is doing is wrong. This decision by Bud comes as a surprise as one considers his initial portrayal within the film as a young broker who is ambitious but believes that his success resides in being more persistent and out working his competition. The relationship that arises between Bud and Gekko and the conflict within Bud over what he knows to be right and wrong proves important as it illustrates the notion that one cannot come onto Wall Street with success being the main goal and not have one’s moral come into question.   

The lesson implicit in the conflicts between Bud and Carl and Bud and Gekko, is that one cannot forsake the gospel of work for the gospel of wealth and consumerism and still remain standing with morals fully intact. Bud is forced to reconcile with the fact that although Wall Street may be a good place to make money it is not the place to go for work that cannot be consider fulfilling from a producerist or moral standpoint. Returning to the opening shots of New York, but now through this new interpretation of what it means to work on Wall Street, the scene no longer seems to hold the same magic. The shimmer of the buildings is dulled by the toxicity of understanding what occurs in and arounds those buildings. The bustle of the citizens is no longer encouraging but rather highlights the vicious and uncompromising nature of the city and a people so entrenched in their desire for objects and money that they are willing to surrender their decency to obtain them.