When I was a child I used to ask my mother why nothing was free. I thought, wouldn’t it make sense if money didn’t exist? Because then no one would be in poverty, no one would be left out, and everyone would be equal; we could just ask other countries for goods and they can ask us. And she’d sigh and tell me that when I got older, I would understand. And so I did; as the years of my childhood flew past I began to see why my mother never bothered to engage me in these ideas.
In part, these fantasies of creating world peace and equality originated from my experiences in the Dominican Republic. It never fails to amaze me the dichotomy of the rich and poor, not just in my hometown – where there is the extremely poor side where people don’t even have generators to supply electricity or running water versus the side that owns mansions with swimming pools – but all over the country. While some of this comes the fact that some families truly worked hard, honest lives, a large part of it is the result of corruption in the government, professional companies and the drug industry. Seeing this in a country in which I strongly identify with really bothers me, but seeing this in America, a place where I identify with even stronger, is much more disturbing.
Wall Street by Oliver Stone is probably the only movie I’ve seen that manages to completely infuriate and incite me to do something, anything, to stop this gap from growing further. Because it’s knowing that there are people like Buddy who are willing to do anything and everything just to make it to the top, except when their personal lives take a toll of course. But even worse, it’s knowing that there are people like Gordon Gecko in this world that angers me more than just about anything. The way Gecko was easily able to manipulate people was nauseating because I know this exists outside of the movie. This film literally brought to the surface everything I hate about humanity. I’m not saying that we should all live in poverty, but I don’t see the appeal of being wealthy, especially if it means that others suffer at your expense. Throughout the whole thing, I was transfixed and disgusted at the whole thing. And for days after, I kept thinking about how privileged I was. I view myself lucky that I’m not filthy rich, because, in my eyes, its just an overabundance of unnecessary green colored paper shit (I’m sorry, I just don’t think there’s another word for this to express how strongly I feel).
I feel that this film is very representative of our American culture, because we are so geared towards “making it big.” Especially in New York, people come here for fame, money – to live life to the fullest. But, honestly, from this film, I’m very disturbed that people can be so nonchalant about their actions, because I have no doubt that this film mirrors reality for many people around the world. I’m a firm believer that everything you do has a consequence, long- term or short-term, whether you realize it or not. America is supposed to be “the best” but this film just proves that no one area is “the best.” The world is suffering from corruption and greed and some just don’t care. This disregard for others is what true horror really is. That’s what scares me more than anything in this world; it’s not dying, it’s not starving or failing school, it’s fear of what the world will be like in the future, not just in my generation but for generations to come.
What I had never factored into my childhood plan to create world peace was how greedy the human race can be. Realistically, I don’t think this characteristic will ever fade in humans, especially in our capitalistic, competitive American culture. So what can we do? Honestly, I don’t know anymore after this class and watching Wall Street.
