Ocampo, Jacob Luis C.

BSLM 2A Movie Reaction Paper

As well all know in the movie, Bud Fox is a "salesman" in the stock industry. I would agree from
his father's perspective with its term because stock industry is about making money, but not in a
material way- hence, the term salesman. The movie relates from the real events accurately with
the environment when Bud Fox started to enter in his office. It is full of shouting and it really
shows that they don't waste time chit-chatting to each other. This means that in stock industry,
time is even rarer than gold- it is so precious that if you waste even a second, that only means
you're wasting an opportunity for you to be successful. Bud Fox's work is not for everyone. It
takes patience and extra hard work that if you do not have what it takes, you might be homeless
and that you would wish to change your job, and it is not an exaggeration. Fortunately, Bud Fox
shows in the movie what would a stockbroker should be in order for you to create and grab big
opportunities for oneself. You could even see the scene where his apartment is a mess but he
still focuses on his work that he doesn't have the time on cleaning or organizing his apartment.
However, in my opinion, an organized place should be a priority as well. It would be more
efficient to work and the environment would be peaceful since in the office, it would be too
disastrous for others. The movie was placed in the year of 1985, wherein this generation the
flow of stocks and cash are faster than ever. Meaning, the opportunities between stockbrokers
are being given equally. The movie also depicts the terms that are used in the work
environment. Slang words are being used commonly so that the communication between them
would be faster precise even though it would be informal. In the first part that talks about how
everything works, the movie introduces Michael Douglas' role, which named as Gordon Gekko-
one of the most successful men in the industry. His role to Bud Fox is like from Star Wars, a
Master to his apprentice. Geeko is from the other end of the line when you have become a
stockbroker- a successful and very rich one. Gordon Gekko has been in the industry since
1969. Then, the movie was placed in 1985. So, this depicts that Gordon took so many years for
him to be successful. Like what I have said in this essay, it really takes patience and hard work.
As what he had said as well, that winning has perks, it may mean that as long as you are
focusing on the goal in the long-term, everything will be worthwhile. So, in this part of the era, I
could see on how everything works in the stock industry: calling clients to advice what’s best for
them, getting clients as well in order for them to create commissions, and doing whatever it
takes to be rich.
Now, I would like to talk about where the relationship between Bud Fox and Gordon Gekko are
now being made in the movie. See, one of Bud Fox’s goal is to have Gordon Gekko as one of
his clients because of his reputation in the free market. He has been doing that for many days
until the days has come where he could meet him personally. As you could see in the movie,
Gekko has taught Bud Fox his teaching with regards on how their world works. Gordon Gekko’s
true intentions and personality is being slipped out in this part and for me, it is pretty obvious
that his ways and teachings are being immoral or unethical in all ways. One of the actions that
are pretty common to do it would be money laundering. It is a process where the money is being
hidden from the government. When Bud Fox has created losses in trading stocks, Gordon
Gekko has been given him another chance to redeem himself from his mistake. This is where
Gordon Gekko talks about how important information is. My reaction for this scene would be the
fact that it is very smart thing to say but it could go on in many ways- like in the scene where
Bud Fox follows Sir Larry in order to get information on what they should be doing for their next
move. This might be one of the most unethical, unprofessional, and unproper to do in any
businesses, not only ion stock industry. It is an invasion of privacy and any event which must be
confidential. However, I may have realized in this part that this might be one of Gordon Gekko’s
tactics in order to be a successful stockholder- he gets information from his competitors in order
to create a strategy which would favor Gordon Gekko’s business. Doing whatever it takes is
necessary for you to be successful in life, but that does not mean you have to use immoral
actions to get what we call the prize or the goal. This is why patience is necessary in their world,
like what Bud Fox’s Father said, there are no shortcuts in life. I also hate the fact where Gordon
Gekko thinks that what they are doing would not have consequences later on. It only depicts
that rich people does not care about what could happen to them or to others as long as it would
make them richer and richer. Basically, rich people are arrogant. I appreciate the fact that Bud
Fox is actually questioning him before doing it, showing that he still has morals throughout the
movie, However, everything changed when there was a scene that concludes their relationship
and Bud Fox has become another Gordon Gekko- a successful stockholder. What I would from
this scene is that I would now be disappointed to Bud Fox. Bud Fox has become greedy and
arrogant just like his mentor and eventually would use his connections in order to get
information and use it immorally.

Everything I said in this essay is all about market manipulation and what should be considered
as illegal or immoral actions in doing so. Michael Douglas has showed us on how an illegal
stockbroker would do in order for the industry to be in favor in him without being detected. One
of the ways that Gordon Gekko is using would be information. It is very common for everyone to
know that information is very important because this would set our mind on what to do in the
next step. Confidential information like companies’ lifeblood is being leaked to stockbrokers in
order for them to have a strategy on where should the stockbrokers be focusing on to have
much more gains and dividends. Bud Fox has been doing this tactic for himself because he
happens to have a friend who is a lawyer. Second tactic that I have seen in the movie would be
moving the money to an offshore account. This is commonly used for people like Gordon Gekko
in order to hide some undeclared income. That is how basic it is but it is very effective since the
government wouldn’t be able to check offshore accounts since they do not have any jurisdiction
to do so. Bud Fox has been applying these ways for himself and I felt disappointed from the fact
that he has been brainwashed because of greed. I mean, eventually, when you are going to be
a stockbroker, you would actually think about doing these things since “it is an easy way to get
rich”. But there are rules and regulations that we should be following so everything is in order.
Apparently, in this movie, it would show the consequences on what would happen otherwise.
Eventually, Gordon Geeko’s true intentions have been revealed and it was not the best thing for
everyone. Unemployment rises because of getting rid of the company to create money for the
stockholders. This is where Bud Fox’s Father’s Bluestar Airline is being used in order to sell its
assets once the stock has increase significantly. This is also one of the tactics that they use in
order to create a significant profit. This part is where Bud Fox has done something good and I
think this is the most important of the movie- that we still should be humane when it comes to
stock industry. This only makes me think and realize that being in this kind of business actually
has a big impact to everyone that is involved. This is very important for everyone who is
planning to be like Bud Fox because the movie shows everything what could be doing in the
future. Financial systems would be ruin and it could create stock crashes, which would lead to
another Great Depression. Doing his job would be arguably the hardest job to do as well
because it involves middle class people as well.

In conclusion, the movie basically talks about the consequences for manipulating stocks in favor
of oneself. It has a great story which can be related when it comes to other aspects of life, not
only to stock business. However, I think the 2 main characters of the movie are actually at the
same side of a coin. Come to think of it, I have been asking myself that if Bud Fox’s Father
would not be working to Bluestar Airlines, would Bud Fox still stop Gordon Gekko? I think not.
Greed is something that we should not be taking it easily. I actually watched the Gordon
Gekko’s speech in meeting with Teldar Papers Inc. which he basically says that Greed is good.
Well, I strongly disagree with Gordon Gekko’s statement because it is actually bad. It can be
clearly seen from his actions when it comes to manipulating the stocks. His love for money
made him do things that would affect everyone around him, which actually happened in the
movie. In Bud Fox’s perspective, we could see that he has learned from his lessons in his past
mistakes. He wanted to be like Gordon Gekko that he was willing to do everything in order to be
one of the most successful as well. He has been saying statements like “Everybody’s doing it”
and “Who knows except us?”. I think that would be a sign of greed. I would like to appreciate the
director of this film because even with a story, it actually made my mind open when it comes to
stock manipulation which can be followed by anyone who is watching. Meaning, even though it
is kind of complicated to watch, eventually everyone understands what is happening in the end.
The film actually depicts also about the role of Michael Douglas in the film. There are people
who exist that create money like him using illegal methods but still can excuse themselves from
doing it. Who knows? Maybe they are bribing the government right now. Capitalism is also one
of the reasons why Gordon Gekko exists because of his mentality. There is a scene which he
depicts on how does capitalism works and why he can get away from doing it illegally. This
movie shows on how irrelevant morals and ethics are in stock business as well. As long as
money is involved, everyone can get out of any bad situation. This shows how bad stock
industry could be if we are being greedy. Like what happened to Gordon Geeko and Bud Fox,
everyone could be arrested for doing for greed. Basically, greed is straight up bad. Manipulating
stocks could be unethical and immoral because you are deceiving people into believing them
that they could be saved from their debt once and for all. It could ruin anyone’s lives which could
be affected by it. The movie also included unions which depicts on how much it would affect by
someone’s greed. In the end, this movie basically shows everything that could be about stock
industry and how does it work behind the scenes.