The American Dream In The Film Wall Street

The American Dream is interpreted differently by everyone, but falls along the lines of the pursuit of opportunity and satisfaction of needs and wants. In movies and television shows individuals venture out into New York City with hope of finding this opportunity. Unfortunately, media only portrays only one side of the American Dream, this is the side of success and achievement. In contrast, there is a group of individuals who are not successful and unable to reach the American Dream, they make up the other half. New York City is the home to both groups of people. Yet, media only displays the successful individuals, as seen in the movie Wall Street. The movie displays the life of Bud Fox and Gordon Gecco, who are the fortunate few to reach this point of success. The other half of life in New York City is not seen through media but …show more content…
His main goal in the movie is to become wealthy and create a name for himself. The stock market is a fast passed business where someone can invest money in a company with hope they will gain more than what was invested. At first glance it seems as if Bud just wants to keep moving up the ladder to reach a point of success which he considers the American Dream. However, what is there to say that he is not successful. He has a stable income and earns a decent salary, $50,000 a year, that should be able to support a comfortable lifestyle. Yet, we can see from the conversation with his father the lifestyle he chooses to live does not correspond with his income. Bud Fox is still in debt to student loans, which he goes on to explain that it is because his expenses are high that he cannot pay it off. His father offers to help by telling him he can live at home rent free, so he can pay off his debts, but Bud refuses. Instead, Bud asks his father for some money to help cover the cost of his