Materialism in the “Me Decade”

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History of Popular Culture—Week 5, Assignment 2

After viewing Wall Street, discuss how this film reflects the materialism that dominated the Reagan Era.

“Greed, for lack of a better word, is good,” said character Gordon Gekko in the 1987 movie Wall Street. This one sentence from a speech he made to a company which he planned to buy captures the essence of the fast-buck, “me” culture of the 1980s.

Bud Fox, the main character of the story, is a young stock broker who wants to make his mark on the world. He desires money, fame and power—the American dream. Gekko is his role model. Forsaking his traditional, hard-working, blue-collar roots, Fox shuns his own morals for the pursuit of what is, in his mind, success.

Fox managed to schedule a meeting with Gekko and offered him some inside information on an airline for which Fox’s father, from whom he had obtained the information, worked. Gekko used the information to make a small profit, and he consequently began to mentor the young Fox in his underhanded business dealings.

Ultimately, Fox decides to stand up for what he believes, for the traditional values with which he was raised, but not before getting himself indicted for insider trading. Fox was willing to risk everything to gain everything.

Also discuss the reasons that, in your opinion the film, could foster this materialism in the “Me Decade” of the ’80s.

The 80s were a time when individuals’ focus was in large part on themselves. It was the common American dream to obtain money, fame and power. The film put a face to that dream, helped to make it seem attainable. It showed how a little information could be turned to big profits.

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