Eugene Grygo, Chief Content Editor, FTF News
A new movie, “The Big Short,” full of Hollywood heavyweights who might know what a derivative is, is getting a lot of Oscar buzz and some headlines that suggest it will make you mad all over again about the Great Recession.
Paramount Pictures has slated a limited release for the movie for this Friday, Dec. 11, and then a wider release on Dec. 23, just before Christmas Day when you need a reminder of how bad things can get in global financial markets. The movie is an adaptation of the Michael Lewis book that’s based on the reality that some bankers/traders/analysts foresaw the cratering of the mortgage-backed derivatives phenomenon and positioned themselves to benefit from it.
The movie will have pretty faces — Christian Bale, Brad Pitt, Steve Carell and Ryan Gosling — to tell an ugly story. I won’t prejudge the piece as I have not seen it yet. But I’m a little worried that it and movies like it may actually backfire for some key members of the audience.
I’m reminded of the time when I first saw Francis Ford Coppola’s “Apocalypse Now” in 1979 during my senior year in high school. (Yes, I’m that old.) I was dumbfounded and horrified as I had no idea about the realities of the Vietnam War. (Yes, I was that naïve.)
However, my two companions left the movie thinking how wonderful an adventure war could be, and decided to visit the nearest U.S. Army recruitment center as soon as possible. Their reaction was almost as stunning as the now-classic scenes from what I consider to be a masterpiece. I could not believe that they wouldn’t think twice about signing up for the rigors and sacrifices of military service. Many members of my family have served in a variety of branches of the military and their reticence to talk about their experiences tells me that it’s not anything like a Hollywood movie.
So, I think there is a parallel here between the reactions to “Apocalypse Now” and the reactions to the relatively new genre of Wall Street Crime movies such as “The Wolf of Wall Street.”
When I saw Martin Scorsese’s “The Wolf of Wall Street” two years ago, I was a little shocked by the excess and the cynical disregard for investors — it’s another Wall Street movie based on real people. However, I was more impressed with the acting and the improvisation that made it come to life.
I also loved the last shot when the main character looks into the faces of those who have come to a seminar he is giving based on his life. The expressions of quiet desperation were haunting because they were so pathetic. The main character, who was steeped in corruption and fraud, was seen an antihero, a demigod. It’s a great moment because we get a glimpse into the sad fact that when we give such people god-like status and power, and we make ourselves victims and perpetuate a horrible dynamic.
In a way, Scorsese was having it both ways — he was glamorizing a Wall Street crook and then turning the mirror of judgment back on us.
I hope “The Big Short” avoids creating new antiheros that give license to those who want to fleece investors any way they can. I hope it’s more like “Margin Call,” which although fiction was more realistic about financial fiascos and how they’re born and their consequences.
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