Duldulao, Angelo M.

Act1110 Sec5
The Wizard of Lies Reaction Paper
The Wizard of Lies (2017) that was directed by Barry Levinson is one of the most
interesting movies I watched. The main character (Bernard Madoff) was well portrayed by
Robert De Niro, and also the other supporting character done their job perfectly. The movie is all
about the story of Bernard Madoff and how he fooled everyone in the business that he have. The
first scene that catches my attention was when Bernie told his sons all of the fraudulent action he
have done such as faking all of the investors and activities of the company. In this particular
scene, I still don’t know the reasons why Bernie suddenly want to turn over himself. After his
sons tell the government of what he have done, he was immediately arrested and the news
immediately spread. All of his victims feel devastated and even one of them committed suicide
because their life savings suddenly banished. But the most frustrating part for me is when Bernie
is not bothered by his own actions, actions that ruined the life of his victims, and it doesn’t look
like that he also not blame himself totally because he called people greedy because of their
actions.
I think the reason why Bernie started to fool everyone and fake the majority of
transactions is because the success get to his head and he don’t want his success to go into waste.
One of the questionable business ethics is the fact that he Bernie doesn’t let his 2 son to enter the
seventeenth floor because even I will question the activities in seventeenth floor. When the SEC
learned that there is seventeenth floor, the man in charge of all the fraudulent actions
immediately tried to delete all of the files that the company had to hide their activities, I think
this scene shows that this man doesn’t know that Bernie will eventually turn himself to the
authority. Another questionable scene is when the woman that works in the company did not
suspect anything when a big amount of money is transferred to her account because as an
employee, you must be able to tell whether this money comes from legal transaction. Another
questionable ethics is when the SEC doesn’t know what Bernie is doing the whole time. Because
of his reputations, no one dares to question his actions, just like when the SEC personal do not
verify the account number Bernie had. I think this kind of action is outrageous because it shows
how the world works, if you have a lot of connections and money, and a high reputations, no one
will dare to step on your wrong sides. Another business ethics that is questionable is when
Bernie tries to cover the loss his having by looking for more investors that will bring a lot of
money to his company. As a man in the top of the company, you must be able to identify the
right from wrong, instead of covering the loss, you must find the appropriate solutions for your
problem, but Bernie still do the another way, he still do the fraudulent actions knowing that many
lives will be ruined.
Because of his actions, his life and his family’s life are ruined. One of his son committed
suicide while the other one died because of cancer, and his wife doesn’t even talk to him. All
actions have great judgment, and for Bernie, he lost everything including his family. For me,
when you start a company, think of all the actions you will do, analyze if this actions will ruin all
of the things you have and always pick the right actions. Business ethics must be always observe
because without the business ethics, the business might result in the worst possible scenario.