Gordon Gekko is a fictional character in the 1987 film Wall Street and its 2010 sequel Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps, both directed by Oliver Stone. Gekko was portrayed by actor Michael Douglas, whose performance in the first film won him an Oscar for Best Actor.
Co-written by Stone and screenwriter Stanley Weiser, Gekko is claimed to be based loosely on several actual financiers, including Stone's own father Louis Stone and corporate raider Asher Edelman. According to Edward R. Pressman, producer of the film, "Originally, there was no one individual who Gekko was modeled on," he adds. "But Gekko was partly Milken", who was the "Junk Bond King" of the 1980s.
In 2003, the American Film Institute named Gordon Gekko No. 24 on its Top 50 movie villains of all time.
Video Gordon Gekko
Cultural impact
Gekko has become a symbol in popular culture for unrestrained greed (with the signature line, "Greed, for lack of a better word, is good"), often in fields outside corporate finance.
On September 25, 2008, Michael Douglas, acting as a UN ambassador for peace, was at the 2008 session of the United Nations General Assembly. Reporters sought to ask him off-topic questions about Gekko. He was asked whether he "bore some responsibility for the behavior of the greed merchants who had brought the world to its knees". Trying to return to topic, Douglas suggested that "the same level of passion Wall Street investors showed should also apply to getting rid of nuclear weapons."
Douglas was also asked to compare nuclear Armageddon with the "financial Armageddon on Wall Street". After one reporter inquired, "Are you saying, Gordon, that greed is not good?" Douglas stated, "I'm not saying that. And my name is not Gordon. It's a character I played 20 years ago."
On October 8, 2008, the character was referenced by Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd in his speech, "The Children of Gordon Gekko" concerning the Financial crisis of 2007-2010. Rudd stated "It is perhaps time now to admit that we did not learn the full lessons of the greed-is-good ideology. And today we are still cleaning up the mess of the 21st-century children of Gordon Gekko."
On July 28, 2009, Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone cited Gekko's Greed is good slogan in a speech to the Italian Senate, saying that the free market had been replaced by a greed market, and also blamed such a mentality for the 2007-2008 financial crisis.
Maps Gordon Gekko
In popular culture
- In the computer game Fallout 2, a non-player character named Gordon resides in the town of Gecko. Upon initial conversation by one's character, Gordon proceeds to recite a "Greed is Good" monologue.
- In the UK sitcom Only Fools and Horses, the main character Derek Trotter sees the film Wall Street and tries to dress like Gordon Gekko, even commenting, "I've got Gordon Gekko braces".
- In the movie Boiler Room (2000), the characters played by Nicky Katt and Vin Diesel recite by heart lines of Gordon Gekko in front of a crew of their co-workers, while Wall Street is playing on a television.
- In season 1, episode 4 of The Sarah Silverman Program, "Not Without My Daughter", Sarah witnesses a young girl, who later becomes her protégé, reciting Gordon Gekko's famous "Greed is Good" speech before a panel of beauty pageant judges.
- In season 4 of Robot Chicken, Gordon the Gecko appears as Kermit the Frog's businessman cousin. The majority of his lines are direct quotes from the movie, including his "Greed is Good" speech.
- In season 4, episode 14 of Psych, Shawn Spencer gives a "Greed is Good" speech while stalling on-stage at a business presentation.
- In season 5, episode 6 of the U.S. TV series The Office, Ryan Howard dresses as Gordon Gekko for Halloween. Kelly Kapoor asks if he is supposed to be Larry King.
- In a 2010 radio advertisement, AFSCME tried to paint United States Senate candidate Pat Toomey as a Wall Street villain. In the commercial, the narrator says that it was Gordon Gekko who introduced the idea that "Greed, for lack of a better word, is good." All throughout the commercial, bullet points of Toomey's faults are listed--each one followed by the haunting words, "Greed is Good."
- In 2012, United States presidential candidate Mitt Romney's career with Bain Capital was likened to Gekko's by his political rivals, with an ABC News political blogger saying "Gekko's ghost has haunted the Romney campaign from the start."
- The FBI has used Michael Douglas' Gekko for an anti-insider trading campaign.
See also
- Narcissism in the workplace
- Psychopathy in the workplace
- Margin Call
- Swimming with Sharks
- The Wolf of Wall Street
- Wall Street (1987 film)
- Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps
Notes
External links
- Speech before stockholders
- Forbes profile
- Is Gordon Gekko Back in Fashion?
- Analysis of Gekko's character and legal status
- Gekko's Art collection and Wall Street movie art pieces identification
- Episode of NBC's The Office
- Reptile Database listing for Cyrtodactylus gordongekkoi
Source of the article : Wikipedia
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