Sex, Drugs, and Greed — What “The Wolf of Wall Street” Says About Us
Within the first two minutes of “The Wolf of Wall Street” the audience is shown Jordan Belfort (the “protagonist” of this story, though that term is used rather loosely here) receiving a blowjob by a faceless woman while he drives towards his mansion in his white Ferrari. Within the next two minutes, the audience sees significantly more than just the top of the previously faceless woman’s head, in addition to seeing Jordan snort oh so innocent white powder off of a different naked woman’s body, and being given his daily laundry list of drugs (if you’re wondering, it includes Quaaludes, Adderall, Xanax, pot, cocaine, and morphine).
The next three hours of the movie essentially proceed as a wrestling match between casual nudity, uncomfortable and unnecessary sex scenes, chaotic, uncontrolled parties, and fraudulent businessmen getting higher and richer.
The objectification of women, however, remains an undeniably consistent part of the film. Jordan’s wife, Naomi, exists solely as the movie’s and Jordan’s gold standard for sexual appeal; her character’s purpose is to satisfy Jordan and allow him to gloat to his fellow misogynists about his ability to obtain such a beautiful woman. Jordan first comes to know Naomi at a party; the audience sees Jordan checking Naomi out while comments like “I’d let her give me AIDS” and “I’d f- her if she were my sister” are shouted from people in the background. Later in the movie, when Naomi tries to punish Jordan for cheating on her, she taunts him with not being able to have sex with her, as if that is the only part of her and their relationship that Jordan values. Even at the end of their relationship, Naomi is coerced into having sex with Jordan before finally being able to tell him she’s leaving.
It doesn’t stop with Naomi, though. The other female characters in the movie include: Jordan’s first wife, Teresa, whom Jordan ditched for Naomi for no other reason but sex, a woman in the office who shaved her head for ten thousand dollars, promising to use the money to purchase breast implants, and, of course, the countless strippers and hookers that Jordan and his associates hire.
Unfortunately, what had excited me to watch the movie — that is, a plot of master mind crime and a thrilling cat and mouse chase between law enforcement and a stock broker firm — was not present. In fact, the one break from the seemingly endless montages of wild nights and wilder days came when Jordan started to explain the IPO scam that Stratton Oakmont was running, but even that was cut off by Jordan himself declaring that we (the audience) wouldn’t want to hear it. In portraying itself as so self-aware that the main character even breaks the fourth wall to acknowledge the audience’s disinterest in relevant plot information, the movie reveals that it assumes its audience to be content watching nothing but naked Leonardo DiCaprio bathing with similarly naked women in stolen money while high off drugs. And, the movie’s assumptions are correct.
Despite the film’s clear objectification of women, glorification of drugs, reckless behavior and a hedonistic lifestyle, as well as its general disregard for the value of human life, “The Wolf of Wall Street” has been nominated for “Best Screenplay” or “Best Adapted Screenplay” 21 times and won 4 times; it was even nominated for the “Best Adapted Screenplay of the Decade” by Gold Derby Awards in 2020. Moreover, the movie amassed $392 million in the box office, and remains a beloved pop culture icon.
It’s not necessarily that the movie itself is trying to condone sexism, greed, or the impetuous behavior displayed throughout the film, but one must wonder why we as a society revere it and find the consumption of this type of content so enjoyable.
Especially now, as we continue to pull back the curtain and unveil the harmful roots of many parts of our culture and policies, we have to understand why movies like “The Wolf of Wall Street” can’t just be taken at face value. Even in the recent year of 2013, these ideals of successful men using women as accessories or playthings, and of wealthy people getting richer by means of corruption, without any acknowledgement to the many lives they took from and ruined, are still being championed.
Not to mention, the movie is based on a true story — one where Jordan Belfort crashing his helicopter while high, and paying a woman ten grand to shave her head are legitimate events. Don’t even get me started on the fact that Belfort only ended up spending 22 months in prison for illegal schemes that costed up to two hundred million dollars, and he’s now a motivational speaker. What does it say when our society is so in awe of Belfort’s lifestyle that we ignore how he obtained it, alleviate the inconvenience of his punishment, put him on a pedestal, pay money to read his words and hear him speak about how glorious your life can be if only you have ‘ambition’, make a movie about him that aggrandizes the corruption, sexism, and self-indulgence, and then proceed to praise the movie?
We need to stop admiring these fantastic tales of wealth and grandeur that belittle a women’s worth to her sex appeal, and are achieved through sacrificing the livelihood of others. It’s not just entertainment; it’s normalizing — promoting — behavior and attitudes that are harmful, and exclusive only for certain people in our society to be able to get away with.
All I’m saying is, the next time you sit down to watch “The Wolf of Wall Street,” take a moment to ask yourself what exactly you like about it.
