Jordan Belfort is not gonna die sober!
Something I think about a lot is the scene in The Wolf of Wall Street where Jordan Belfort (Leonardo DiCaprio) famously says "I’m not fuckin’ leavin’!” But the part I dwell on is earlier in the scene where he, addressing the full staff of his brokerage firm Stratton Oakmont, tells a story about one of their original twenty traders, Kimmie (Stephanie Kurtzuba). Jordan originally met Kimmie when she didn’t have a dollar to her name. She was a single mom, struggling to put dinner on the table. Now, she is a millionaire; she wears Chanel suits and rides in limousines.
Kimmie is deeply moved as Jordan recounts her personal history. When he hired her, she asked for a $5,000 advance for her son’s tuition, so Jordan wrote her a check for $25,000. She is still touched by his generosity. She says she loves Jordan, and she means it. He helped her when she was at her lowest and now she is more prosperous than ever. Because of him. Later in the film, we see Stephanie being dragged away in handcuffs when the FBI finally shut down Stratton.
This is the whole movie for me. Kimmie lived the American Dream! She rose from nothing and through grit and determination she became a wealthy stockbroker. She thinks she did everything right. I’m sure she knew that Stratton’s practices were illegal, but what Wall Street firm doesn’t engage in illegal activity? What is any major American corporation except a criminal enterprise? How has any personal fortune in the history of the world been built except through crime?
But the powers that be declared that what Stratton was doing was worth raiding and arresting the staff. Because the American Dream has always been only for certain Americans and this is one of the central themes across Martin Scorsese’s six decade body of work. I have a Letterboxd list called “Moves That Mean America to Me” and The Wolf of Wall Street is at the top of the list. It is the Great American Novel. It shows us the sociopathic mania at the heart of America.
Wolf tells the true story of Jordan Belfort, who started his own investment banking firm in 1989 selling penny stocks. He became obscenely wealthy, and just as he started gaining respectability, his criminal activity took him down. Wolf is one of the funniest movies ever made, yet still finds room these sobering moments like the scene with Kimmie. She really loves Jordan. He really helped her. Her story illustrates that for the people at the bottom, money is incredibly real, but for the people at the top, money is imaginary, just a line on an account statement. People like that have no idea what the rest of us go through.
Wolf is one of the great tales of American excess and the film is excessive to match that. Elongated scenes of drunken debauchery on a private jet; a 20-minute tour de force sequence of the experience of taking too many quaaludes (a sequence that DiCaprio will likely never be able to top in terms of absolute control of his instrument); an office bacchanal with a parade, sex workers, and little people (to be used as bowling balls).
Many people who are stupid do not think Scorsese moralizes enough in the film about what Belfort and his staff are doing. I am reminded of the people who think a Frederick Wiseman film does not have a point of view—but the mere fact of the film’s existence, what the film chooses to depict at all, is the point of view.
Just because Kyle Chandler’s FBI agent character Patrick Denham is a schmuck, that does not mean that Jordan Belfort isn’t a schmuck. Belfort goes to an upscale, luxurious white collar prison. That doesn’t make him a hero, just because he “wins” in his way. He becomes a celebrity, and Americans love celebrity criminals. We love hating them, and secretly, we just love them.
Deep in the American psyche is the desire to commit crime for personal benefit, and we love learning from people who have successfully done so. Hence the ending of the film. This is sort of the loophole of the American Dream, right? Belfort is not the type of person that is “supposed” to be wealthy, but because he gains celebrity, he gets a pass. Belfort gets to begin rebuilding his wealth, because he chose to be a king for a night instead of a schmuck for a lifetime. But what of Kimmie? The other Stratton staffers? I doubt any of them were able to bounce back with a book deal and a speaking tour like their old boss Jordan Belfort. And Agent Denham still has to ride the subway home, sweating his balls off.
Another moment in the film that sticks with me is the young woman at Stratton who gets $50,000 or whatever to have her head shaved in the bull pen. The entire office cheers as she follows through with it. Then she is left alone with her money and the slow crawl of horror and embarrassment crosses her face. We never see her again.
Also, in honor of The Wolf of Wall Street, I’m going capitalist! You can now subscribe to movies, regrettably for a small fee if you feel the spirit move you. Soon, there will be more posts more often just for paid subscribers! Thank you to anyone who chooses to support me economically xoxo