Bulls: Shut up and take my money!!Submitted by CrackCody t3_10p5ozv in wallstreetbets
InterstellarBlue t1_j6mvko2 wrote
Reply to comment by Fausterion18 in Bulls: Shut up and take my money!! by CrackCody
If you think that the movie was not intended as a criticism of some of the characters, you completely missed the point of the movie.
There are so many scenes that represent this, where characters regret spending their careers at the bank (Stanley Tucci's character talking about building a bridge and implicitly lamenting not spending more time doing something worthwhile, Kevin Spacey's character's speech to his team where he disappointingly assures his team that what they've done has been "for the greater good" when he of course doesn't believe it, Kevin Spacey's character "wishing" that he had spent his time digging trenches so that "at least there'd be some holes in the ground to show for it) where characters get fucked over and discarded (Stanley Tucci's character, Demi Moore's character), and other scenes (e.g. Zachary Quinto's character telling Kevin Spacey's character that his son is "a good person", strongly implying that many of the characters we've seen are not). Not even mentioning all the scenes that are meant to bring out the selfishness, ruthlessness, and greed (As Paul Bettany's character reminded us, "Whatever they do, this firm does not lose money.")
The tonal climax of the movie is Kevin Spacey's character protesting to Jeremy Iron's character about selling their securities and kickstarting the financial collapse during the board meeting. Just look at the scene right after the sale scene where Jeremy Irons's character literally goes through a list of disasters that were arguably caused by shortsightedness and greed, and literally saying something like "we never learn". Some of the best acting I've seen is Jeremy Irons trying to justify what they did, saying something like, "It's just money. It's not wrong". Cut to Kevin Spacey looking absolutely disgusted.
This movie was absolutely a moral indictment of the characters in it, and Kevin Spacey's character represented a protest to Wall Street greed, excess, and myopia. His dog dying represents his own corruption and the death of his conscience and soul, as he realizes he's never going to escape. Trading is absolutely a zero sum game and the movie was a criticism of it and everything Wall Street represents.
Fausterion18 t1_j6okhqv wrote
Cool story, the fact remains that the CEO is completely correct and the fire sale was not morally wrong.
That the director and writer didn't understand that is irrelevant.
InterstellarBlue t1_j6omepj wrote
It sounds like you're completely and deliberately missing the point. The greed, shortsightedness, and ruthlessness on Wall Street are 100% morally wrong. They cost American taxpayers trillions and are representative of how the wealthy wield disproportionate power in this country.
All of the things I pointed to, from the movie, in my comment above are criticisms of that. The whole movie worked to criticize Wall Street. It's like you're insisting that someone who wins at poker isn't doing anything wrong, and I'm trying to explain to you that the whole point is that the game is messed up and all the players in it are greedily trying to screw each other over, while costing the audience their money and livelihoods.
Fausterion18 t1_j6omllc wrote
Cool story, nothing you said is even remotely relevant to my post, which is the fire sale itself that Kevin spacey had so much trouble with was not morally wrong.
There is nothing "messed up" about trading, just like there's nothing wrong with poker. Otherwise why the fuck are you here? What they did is no different from what all of wsb does.
InterstellarBlue t1_j6p02dr wrote
Honest question. Do you think that the many individuals working at big banks during 2008 did something wrong? I think there is a huge difference between what individual retail traders do and what is done at the big banks on Wall Street.
This movie was an indictment of that. I'm surprised you're not seeing that. That is what my original point was in my first comment.
Fausterion18 t1_j6p2ugs wrote
Totally irrelvant, I'm only addressing the fire sale and the CEO speech.
> I think there is a huge difference between what individual retail traders do and what is done at the big banks on Wall Street.
There is zero difference from a wsber selling an option and one of the traders in that scene selling a bunch of mbs.
> This movie was an indictment of that. I'm surprised you're not seeing that. That is what my original point was in my first comment.
Your original point is a red herring.
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