My favorite part of a crime drama, you ask? It’s when the antagonist justifies his actions. Not that they’re speaking sense always (many times it’s pure delusion), but I always look forward to the ones that make you conflicted. It’s always good to know how the other part of the world feels and believes.
When discussing an antagonist’s perspective, Gordon Gekko’s (Michael Douglas) speech in Wall Street (1987), at the Teldar Paper’s shareholders’ meeting definitely comes to mind. “Greed, for the lack of a better word, is a good thing,” emphasizes Gekko.
Ranked amongst the top 100 movie quotes of all time by the American Film Institute, in this article, we’re examining cinema’s one of the most dichotomous quotes, which almost feels like a rebellion against the oppression of ambition.
The Story
Directed by Oliver Stone, Wall Street follows a young and overly ambitious stockbroker, Bud Fox (Charlie Sheen), as he navigates a desperate path to success, idolizing a senior broker, Gordon Gekko, and ultimately embarks on a path of self-destruction and financial treachery.
Wall Street explores universal themes including greed, corruption, and the internal struggle between ambition and integrity.
The Origin of the Quote
Gekko’s character was inspired by some of the most infamous real-life financiers, most notably Ivan Boesky, Carl Icahn, and Michael Milken. The iconic one-liner, “Greed, for the lack of a better word, is a good thing,” is directly influenced by Ivan Boesky. In fact, you can literally say that Gekko’s speech is a cinematic variation of what Boesky said in his speech while addressing the 1986 batch of Berkley’s business school, at their graduation. While the video is no longer available online, here’s what his speech looked like-
“I urge you as a part of your mission to seek wealth,” he said, “Greed is all right, by the way. I want you to know that. I think greed is healthy. You can be greedy and still feel good about yourself.” The speech was reported by the Chicago Tribune with a headline, “A $100 Million Idea: Use Greed for Good.”
Just a year later, Stone’s Wall Street was released, featuring a quote that captured Boesky’s spirit and outlook through Gekko in absolute style, becoming an enduring legacy.
The Significance of the Quote In Building Gekko’s Personality
Whether it is Gekko or Boesky, it is quite clear to us that they were rebels at their core. With their sharp minds, they wanted to make the world a more favorable place for themselves. As financiers, they knew that the world runs on money, and so, money became their priority. Soon, the competent stockbroker had switched teams to be the bad guy.
Gekko’s dialogue knocks the concept of the seven deadly sins right out of the park. He explains how greed is the mother of all growth and progression. He emphasizes that while greed is often considered to be a vice, it is more of a good thing to be greedy. Whether one is greedy for money, love, or knowledge, it always works out in the end for them because greed brings the drive.
Wall Street (1987)Source: 20th Century Fox
The quote perfectly explains Gekko’s perspective on life and success. While we often limit his greed to money, by the end of the movie, we realize that it was more than money for him. Gekko enjoyed the power and recognition that his twisted success brought with it. At the same time, it was the adrenaline of outsmarting his peers, the economy, and even the country, that made every action justifiable to him.
If you think about it, somewhere down the line, Gekko is correct. It is indeed of some kind of greed that has brought about the biggest revolutions in the economy and the country. But when one twists the idea like how Gekko (or Boesky) does, it turns into an impossible-to-stop menace.
Although he is seemingly trying to beat the system, people like Gekko fail to realize that they have become the system in their fight against it. In the race of survival of the fittest, they have indeed risen above the ordinary, but only to achieve success at the expense of others.
A movie quote like, “Greed, for the lack of a better word, is a good thing,” is all about accepting your vices and turning them into your biggest strength (at least until you don’t overexploit it and bring about your own doom). What do you think about the idea behind the quote?