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Essay / Gender stereotypes in The Wolf of Wall Street
Martin Scorsese, an American-Italian filmmaker produced and directed “The Wolf of Wall Street” which was released to the public in 2013. This film tells the story of Jordan Belfort , who was a stockbroker living a luxurious life on Wall Street in the late 90s. Belfort found himself unemployed due to the crash of all stock markets, but then landed at a company where penny stocks are sold through a small brokerage where Jordan was able to earn a 50% commission at the end of each sale. He managed to quickly win over many clients thanks to the charming manners he had learned on Wall Street. Jordan became so good at his job that he immediately started his own company, Stratton Oakmont, where he was able to acquire all of his wealth. He continued to manipulate the stock market and persuaded many potential investors to buy his shares with false information. Although the result of his unethical stock sales resulted in many people losing investments, it was still completely legal, until he lost control and screwed everything up. Thanks to Belfort's riches, he became addicted to the money he acquired, as well as drugs and alcohol, which led him to commit federal crimes. Additionally, throughout the film, many scenes depict and reinforce gender stereotypes as well as the human desire for wealth. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get an original essay For example, women are constantly objectified while men hold all the power. In the opening scene, it is obvious that the women in this film are only depicted as objects and only exist among men. To emphasize this point, Naomi Lapaglia who is one of the main actors appears to orally please Jordan Belfort as he rides in his Lamborghini at the beginning of the film. This shows the audience how masculinity's desire is to have sexual interactions with women as well as the power of wealth. It's also important to realize that there is very little dialogue exchanged between Naomi and Jordan throughout the film. When Naomi becomes Jordan's fiancée, she seems to have no life of her own. She is caught talking mostly about housekeeping and is most certainly portrayed as just a sex object. To demonstrate this point, there are many scenes where she is completely nude and mostly dressed in short, tight dresses to of course dominate the male gaze. With the added bonus of a very striking scene where Belfort is punished for having cheated on Naomi. While he is punished, she ends up having sex against his will, saying things like "Mommy is so tired of wearing panties". This shows the audience how. Additionally, the concept of reinforcing gender stereotypes portrayed through this film is encapsulated through all the female characters who are all primarily whores and strippers, who are naturally categorized by Jordan based on their status and quality. After Jorand begins to become more successful, we see how money can instantly dramatically change people's lifestyles. In front of Belfort's riches, the audience can see how much love he had for his fiancée Terressa and how he always denied any drugs, whatever they were, that were offered to him. However, as his wealth began to grow through his stock trading activities, he eventually continued to sell and manipulate his clients, resulting in a stack of millions of dollars. Throughout this process we can see how Belfort becomes unrecognizableand energized by the power of the riches he has acquired. He begins to abuse his power and begins using a large amount of drugs daily as the money accumulates and begins throwing huge parties at his house filled with drugs, alcohol and women. This is where we see how wealth can cause people to lose control and start becoming drug addicts and alcoholics. Above all, Jordan and his stockbrokers show no signs of guilt for selling their consumers' horrible stocks in which they can potentially lose everything. All they seek to value is their thirst for wealth and prove throughout the film that they will do anything to overcome their fortune. He lets his hunger and thirst for money get in the way of his morals and even lies to legal authorities who are investigating Jordan for his illegal stock trading. Most importantly, I can relate many aspects of this film to today's world and society's expectations of how men are supposed to act. In a way where men are constantly driven by masculinity and always have to be stronger than other men. This is why this film is a perfect example of how gender representations depict a patriarchal society since the women in the film are associated with femininity. Even though this is Jordan's company, the public can see that the ratio of male employees is significantly higher than the ratio of female employees at Stratton Oakmont. Indeed, society stigmatizes women because they are considered weak and treated as inferior to men. We see that men hold all the power in our society and that is why Naomi is able to live such a luxurious lifestyle throughout the film. Without Jordan's financial income, Naomi would have been perceived differently and that is why she depends on Jordan. These gender stereotypes about masculinity and femininity have become naturalized in society. Keep in mind: this is just a sample. Get a personalized article from our expert writers now. Get a Custom Essay Nonetheless, many scenes depict and reinforce gender stereotypes as well as the human desire for wealth and it is clear how money can influence a person towards direct evil. The audience saw the result of Jordan's lust for wealth and how it drove him to become a drug addict and alcoholic. This is the case in many incidents, but it is traditionally seen in men because they have many more opportunities than women. However, Jordan's success allows him to pursue enjoyable activities, such as spending all his money on drugs and alcohol. This film succeeds in depicting Jordan's masculinity urges, who still feels the need to seek out sexual interactions with other women, even though he is married and has a family of his own. As also stated, Naomi is treated as an object throughout the film and this is why she denied Jordan any sexual activity to represent the way women are presented as nothing more than sexual objects in society's society. Today. However, she manages to break away from these stereotypes and decides to divorce Jordan and gain sole custody of their child. Additionally, he is sentenced to thirty-six months in security prison, due to his illegal fraud leading to the downfall of Jordan Belfort's life. In conclusion, Jordan Belfort demonstrates what a life of money and power can lead to if we let ourselves be guided by it. The Wolf of Wall Street shows how history continues to repeat itself and shows how gender stereotypes are reinforced in our society. Works Cited Aitken, R., & Dupuis, M. (2017). Risk, governance.