Text / The old city Oliver Stone filmed "Wall Street" when the skyscraper that symbolized modernity was still standing impressively. But 20 years later, it is hard to find its uprightness in the glimpse of "Wall Street 2". Stone seems to be deliberately avoiding the scars of ten years ago, using family and family to smooth the smoke of the past, and also trying to smooth the Wall Street. greedy. Is Greed Good? "Wall Street 2" was filmed after the US financial crisis in 2008, which was the best time for Stone to return to the theme of Wall Street. Wall Street, once the weather vane of the world economy and the symbol of American elite culture, this behemoth that claims to be able to "leverage the earth" has lost its credibility and authority with the collapse of Bear Stearns and Lehman Brothers. So far, the nightmare of the subprime mortgage crisis still lingers, and scholars have begun to reflect on whether the crisis stems from the system or from human greed. People may still remember Gordon Geiger's defense of greed at the shareholders meeting in "Wall Street." "Greed is a virtue, it can clarify everything and is where all forms are... Greed stimulates the upward momentum of human beings. It can not only save the TEDA paper industry, but also save the United States from a dysfunctional mechanism." In "Wall Street 2", just now Gordon, who was released from prison, seems to have come to his senses. His new book shows a puzzled expression about his former beliefs, "Is greed really a virtue?" Perfidious with survival greed. But then we saw the truth, Gordon hid his greed from the public eye, won the trust of his daughter and prospective son-in-law, and gained the capital to make a comeback. Engels said, "Human greed, desire and insatiability are the levers that drive human history forward". Capitalism has seized on the opportunism in human beings, allowing our greedy nature to spread endlessly, it is omnipresent, and it can make everyone immune to it. Although the voice-over of "Wall Street 2" always emphasizes that Wall Street is a systemic cancer, it can devour everyone who is rushing to it, although Gordon suddenly chooses to pull back from the precipice and return to his family when the capital market is in full swing, but who can deny that this may be just a matter of What about a brief retreat from financial predators in the face of family pressure? The Canadian News Agency's Christian Le Maire said that while "Wall Street 2"'s ending seemed bland and comical, it still proved the saying "greed is a virtue." In the face of the temptation to invest as much as 30 times leverage, who would remain indifferent when he saw Gordon turning 100 million capital into 1 billion in the financial market? a growth education In "Wall Street", Bud, an ambitious young man, exchanged business secrets learned from his father for Gordon's trust, and with his help, he became mature and confident. However, when his father's airline fell victim to Gordon's wealth, Bud decided to part ways with the "spiritual mentor", and collected evidence of his illegal transactions through secret recordings, and finally completed a counter-attack. In "Wall Street 2", although Bud is replaced by Jack, it is still young people's ambition in exchange for Gordon's trust. Both films have themes of growing up and being involved in the world. Oliver Stone said in an interview with Time Magazine, "This is a story about a young man growing up at the center of a financial crisis, and he has to use Gordon's help to navigate the murky waters of Wall Street." Not ugly. In both story structures, both young men matured because of the impaired authority of the "Father". Bud's father's company, Blue Star Airlines, is in danger of being disintegrated and sold because of being involved in Gordon's acquisition and reorganization plan. When Budd visits his father, whose hospital bed is full of catheters, he has to face the game of morality and money, and chooses to maintain the integrity of his father's The interests of the working class inside, or Gordon, who chooses to pursue money by any means necessary? In "Wall Street 2", Jack's "spiritual godfather" practiced and is expected to invest in his dream-the Ocean Energy Project, but fell victim to Wall Street's business speculation, so whenever he faced a choice in the film, Jack's mind always came to mind The "spiritual godfather" flogged him for chasing his dreams. There is a drag racing scene in "Wall Street 2". In the galloping speed, the audience can appreciate the characters' tension. As a junior Jack, the competition itself with the boss of the Wall Street investment bank is not balanced, because Jack is obviously at a disadvantage in the competition of market experience and social status. However, in racing, it is courage and physical ability that determine the outcome. Obviously Oliver Stone Trying to use this scene to reverse the imbalance in the contest between the two, telling the audience that the younger and more aggressive Jack is the future of Wall Street, and those old antiques who have made Wall Street smoky will eventually withdraw from the stage of history. During this contest, the two have their own plans. The investment bank boss wants to test Jack's loyalty, while Jack wants to use his influence to win over Chinese people to invest in his marine energy plan. How much like the battle between Gordon and Bud in "Wall Street", the world has changed over time, but the relationship between people using each other has never changed. The American Dream and the Spirit of Wall Street The term "American Dream" first appeared in Adams' "American Epic" in 1931, and it contains not only the American dream of cars and high wages, but also a dream of social order. At the heart of the American Dream is a highly liberal individualism and materialism, which convinces people that success is the creation and accumulation of unparalleled wealth through individual effort. Adams said, "In America, poverty is not a problem to solve, it's to defeat your enemy." With the changes of the times, the American dream has also changed. Americans no longer adhere to the traditional Puritan life like their fathers did. They pay attention to individuality and hedonism. The most popular philosophy in this era is that consumption comes first. A status symbol has become an important measure to reflect the value of life. Someone once compared today's American Dream: It's like a jeweled Statue of Liberty in a luxurious Cadillac. In the reception of "Wall Street 2", the director frequently cuts the camera to those women who are full of jewels. Their bracelets, necklaces, earrings, and headwear make the whole reception dazzling. And more than 20 years later, Bud, who had completed the righteous counterattack in "Wall Street", suddenly appeared. He has long lost the heroic spirit and sense of justice of the year, holding two beauties in his arms and having fun. Many critics see Bud in "Wall Street 2" and can't help but think of Fitzgerald ("The Great Gatsby") 80 years ago. The former suffered the financial turmoil in 2008, while the latter suffered from the Great Depression in 1930. They both embraced the American Dream, but in the end, they all fell into depravity because of their shattered dreams. Bud in "Wall Street 2" may still be able to enjoy the night and night, but after the song is over and the lead is washed away, isn't his fate another Gatsby, another Fitzgerald? ? Historically, the success of Wall Street is the product of the combination of the spirit of capitalism and the mechanism of the market. As early as the mid-17th century, it was the seat of the Governor of New Amsterdam. In order to facilitate the passage of the guards, the Governor ordered a wall made of wood and built a street named "Wall Street" (Wall Street). Street). Wall Street was subsequently occupied by the British, but the Dutch tradition of loving business and advocating money continued. "Wall Street 2" refers to the "tulip bubble" that occurred in the Netherlands in 1630, which actually implies that Wall Street is facing the danger of a bubble all the time. The most interesting story is that in the 18th century, representatives of 24 businessmen gathered under the plane trees on Wall Street and signed the famous "Planet Tree Agreement", which stipulated that securities transactions could be conducted among them, which was the predecessor of the New York Stock Exchange. This self-initiated, market-led mechanism has inherent expansion advantages, and Wall Street has since become a symbol of the American banking industry. The biggest difference between the banking industry and the real economy is that the former itself does not create value, but many people think that Wall Street creates wealth and value, and it represents an American enterprising spirit. Gordon always said in "Wall Street": "No one will be hurt, but you will get a lot of money." It is under this argument that American neoliberal ideas begin to spread, spread, and they advocate efficiency and oppose state intervention. . So the financial adventurers on Wall Street can gluttonously grab wealth in the market under the aegis of liberalism, leaving the benefits to themselves and the risks and disasters to others. Blue Star Airlines in "Wall Street" and Ocean Energy Research Institute in "Wall Street 2" belong to the real economy of the United States. These value-creating companies are bloated and unprofitable in the eyes of these Wall Street predators, and they are used as bargaining chips Or tools, easily changed hands, and participated in this financial game as a doomed tragedy, and it was always the ordinary laborer like Bud's father or Jack's friend who finally swallowed the bitter fruit. Conservative Shift The opening of "Wall Street", Oliver Stone's fancy montage editing, reproduces the high-speed living conditions of people in the urban jungle of New York, while "Wall Street 2" starts from the leisurely family life, the camera moves slowly, and Jack is still hiding in Stretching and daydreaming in the hotbed. From fast-paced to lazy leisure, from the pursuit of efficiency and career success to the pursuit of happiness and family harmony, this is a huge shift from "Wall Street" to "Wall Street 2". Oliver Stone is not the Oliver Stone of twenty-five years ago, and America is not the America of twenty-five years ago. At that time, Stone had just finished filming the famous "Field Platoon", and now Stone is over sixty years old. At that time, the United States began to pursue liberalism economically, and today's United States has just changed from 9/11 and The financial crisis of 2008 recovered, and conservatism prevailed. The changes of the two films just reflect the changes in the mainstream ideology in the United States, and we can also explore the spiritual clues and missing meanings that have been broken in the long run of time. For a long time in the United States, there have been both Locke-style liberalism, which advocates freedom, equality, and democracy, and Burke-style conservatism, which advocates authority, hierarchy, and elitism. These two ideological trends are intertwined, compete and dialogue, and form the "American Creed". Creed's two traditions. In the past 25 years, liberalism and conservatism have changed and repeated. First, in the 1980s, the "Reaganism" restored American conservatism, then the liberalism represented by Clinton occupied the entire 1990s, and now the "Bush Doctrine" and The winds of Obama-era conservatism are picking up again. As a mainstream Hollywood filmmaker, Oliver Stone's works are also influenced by mainstream American ideology. His film works from the late 1980s to the mid-1990s ("Wall Street", "Assassination of Kennedy" and "Born to Kill"), Most of them advocate the tendency of mass culture to enter the elite cultural class. For example, Bud in "Wall Street" originally represented the lowest working class in the United States, but he entered Wall Street representing the elite culture. However, his works from the late 1990s to the present have begun to express a maintenance of order and authority ("World Trade Center", "Alexander the Great" and "Wall Street 2"), that is, standing on the top of the elite's view of popular culture, such as "Wall Street" 2", Gordon, who was once bloodthirsty, was moved by the picture of his wriggling grandson in the womb, and gave up chasing money to return to his family. "Wall Street 2" was born after the financial crisis in 911 and 2008. Although its subtitle still uses "Money Never Sleeps" to continue the audience's reverie of "Wall Street", in fact, this sequel film is more responsible for soothing pain and recovering mission of faith. Perhaps warmth and returning home are the best ways for Americans today to relive the American Dream. Therefore, the "Wall Street 2" we see continues to describe the America that Americans want to see in Hollywood, and it also continues to write the ever-changing and conservative American political and cultural traditions in the United States. 2010-10-16 19:25 "Hainan Daily"
View more about Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps reviews
