The wolf of Wall Street: ambition and power

The wolf of Wall Street (2013) is an American film directed by Martin Scorsese and starring Leonardo DiCaprio, a tandem that seems to work quite well. The wolf of Wall Street, despite its long duration, has a fast and agile pace. A film that, when it seems that everything is going to end, that the end is approaching and that nothing more can happen, surprises us with something even more crazy and, however, quite real.

Scorsese has become one of those directors to whom we do not like to reproach too many things, since there are already many great films that he has given us: Cab drivers, Bull Wild, Goodfellas, Casino, The Aviator and countless other titles that bear his signature. And although for many the film is too long, the truth is that Scorsese achieves his objective: unmasking another of the many facets of North American society, the authentic pack of wolves that lives on Wall Street.

The film, despite how surreal it may seem, is inspired by the memoirs of Jordan Belfort. A stockbroker who has been accused of countless crimes related to money manipulation and who subsequently dedicated himself to giving lectures about his past mistakes and ethics in the business world.

The famous actor Leonardo DiCaprio, still without an Oscar at that time, plays this charismatic and influential character, making the viewer is totally disconcerted in some scenes and questions the morality of this wolf of Wall Street.

The wolf of Wall Street: the personality of the broker

The film begins with a young Jordan Belfort, recently married, who begins to enter the world of the stock market; soon, we will find out that Jordan has an exceptional talent for this job and that, despite not fully knowing the business world, he achieves great professional achievements in a short time.

Jordan is convinced that he knows how to get rich, how to be a real “big shot” in the world of the stock market, and he immediately creates his own company. He begins by selling poor quality stocks to people whom he deceives because of their ignorance of the world of the stock market and will end up selling to the richest in the United States. This company will increase at frenetic speed and, as a consequence, its income. He even gets interviewed by the magazine Forbes, which gave him the nickname “The Wolf of Wall Street”.

What does Jordan demand from his employees? He cares little or nothing about his academic preparation, what is important will be his ability to persuasion; capacity that he has left over. The fundamental thing is to sell, sell and sell. He manages to convince his future employees that they will become rich and, thus, achieve happiness; They will be able to buy the best car, the best house, have the best wife and live a life of infinite luxuries and excesses, above all, excesses.

Jordan’s leadership skills and great communication power will make him the perfect stockbroker: a man lacking scruples, morals or empathy, who only cares about filling his pocket.. All this drunkenness of power will cause him to end up leaving his wife and ending up marrying a young model. It is interesting to see how the profile of the broker It will change over time, although what we are clear about is that the main motivations are: competitiveness, ambition, power, money and status.

The characters that Scorsese portrays lack scruples, they do not mind mistreating, trampling or sabotaging others in order to achieve their goals.. We witness truly disturbing scenes, such as when an employee lets her head be shaved to get money, the violent drug scenes or the orgy on the plane. It seems that these characters have no limits, only money and power, but they always want more. Their ambition becomes stronger and stronger until they become addicts.

In the midst of all the chaos and stress that the world of the stock market entails, Jordan gives his employees certain doses of adrenaline and “happiness,” since it turns your company into a true spectacle where anything is possible. Prostitutes, drugs, parties, money flying through the air… everything, absolutely everything, so that your employees reach a state of euphoria and become more and more ambitious, so that they become real sharks capable of devouring anyone in order to achieve their goal.

Money, drugs, women and power

The wolf of Wall Street It shows us the other side of the world of finance, globalization and current capitalism, specifically, of the most powerful people. Jordan is a middle-class young man who makes his way in a world that seems inaccessible to the vast majority of mortals. Plus, he becomes the biggest shark in the aquarium. Is Jordan a genius? It is undeniable that he has an innate talent and great communication skills, but his ambition will lead him to surpass all the ethical limits that we can imagine..

All that professional success, those businesses of dubious legality and the frenetic pace of life are not easy to cope with, so it is not surprising that Jordan turns to drugs to stay awake. Plunged into a world of excess, he will do crazy things unthinkable for most people. Everything in your life will be excessive: from work to sex, including the family environment..

Drugs, especially cocaine, and unbridled sex give Jordan the energy he requires for his work. He considers himself invincible and, therefore, he offers the same to his employees. However, this effect of ecstasy and euphoria is only momentary and, in the long term, will profoundly deteriorate your life.

In this case, the gangsters seem to wear suits and ties, own yachts, mansions and, instead of a gun, carry a telephone. Ambition leads our character to be a man thirsty for power, for money. And it will be precisely that innumerable amount of money that will lead him to an unreal and irrational world, where his personal relationships will be relegated to a practically non-existent plane.

Everything is artifice in Jordan’s life, he can buy everything and everything is allowed, even women, who will be objectified and relegated solely to the sexual level. There are no unattainable goals in his life, Jordan has complete confidence in himself and knows that he can achieve anything he sets his mind to. The wolf of Wall Street It shows us the other side of the coin in the world of finance, in the world of Wall Street. It presents us with a character who we would have a lot to question, but from whom we can also learn a large number of lessons.

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