Wall Street Film - Essay Example

There are three important ethical issues faced by both the characters in the movie Wall Street. Probably, the most significant and important ethical issue highlighted in the movie is that of the greed which derives other ethical dilemmas for both the characters. Greed to earn more and achieve the fame and fortune forces Bud Fox and Garden Gekko to actually start to prefer self over the family and indulge into actions which may be against the law. Garden Gekko openly said that greed is good, thus, giving the impression that earning money regardless of whether it comes from ethical ways is always a good thing to do in life. The movie shows that the characters deliberately broke the law and engaged into activities which were detrimental to the interests of others. The ethical issues highlighted also indicates as to how Bud Fox was lured into doing business with Garden Gekko and over the period of time lost his innocence and concerns for the rule of law and abiding the principles laid down by SEC. As things move on, Bud Fox seems to involve his friends also in the process of making money. This has shown that instinctively, being professionals, we can bet on the money of those who supported us in difficult times; as such, our relationships may become driven more by the money rather than the feelings of love and compassion which as individuals fee for each other in our relationships. The ethical failings of Bud and Gekko may be in their tendency to be lured away by earning more money and in that process of earning more money lose sight of what is right and what is wrong. What is critical to understand, however, that is both the characters seems to honest in showing their weakness to sacrifice everything for money and greed. Their greed for money and power, therefore, seem to be the weak point in pushing them to engage into activities like insider trading. 2) Considering the actions of both Bud Fox, as well as those of Garden Gekko, it is important to understand the way they have attempted to fulfill their personal ambitions. Consequentialism and, more importantly, utilitarianism can be used to understand the behavior of the persons involved in various ethical dilemmas. Utilitarianism outlines that an action can be taken if it provides greatest happiness to an individual while at the same time it also suggests that such actions should also promote best consequences. Best consequences always suggest that actions should be such that they are helpful and maximize utility for most number of people. Accordingly, any action which is considered to bring more happiness or bring greatest good is considered as an ethical and moral action regardless of the actual consequences. Utilitarianism however, counts those acts as unethical which are done in a manner that can provide maximum utility to individuals and create harm for others. The notion of greatest good for the greatest number of people, therefore, prevails in utilitarianism, as well as how individual and collective actions should be driven ethically. (Ferrell, Fraedrich and Ferrell) The situation described in the movie clearly indicates that the actions of both characters are actually offering greatest happiness to them only. This limits the positive consequences of their actions to themselves only, whereas the negative consequences of their actions are spilled over to the general public. The way financial institutions are managed and the kind of speculative activities are taking place indicate that financial managers may be taking bets rather than calculated risks. Taking bets without actually involving rational, prudent and conservative investment approach results into greater losses for the investors and the society as a whole. Using utilitarian approach, therefore, outlines that the characters actually engaged into activities which were speculative in nature and were detrimental to not only the financial services industry as a whole but for the society in general also. The current financial meltdown is often considered as the result of the imprudent actions taken by financial managers managing investments of small investors. 3) There are two important implications for the relationships shown in the movie and how they are actually depicted. One relationship between father-son is being depicted in its original sense, i.e. biological relationship, whereas other relationship is being shown figuratively to indicate the mentors can be considered as daddies to teach their followers the tricks of the trade. From a cultural metaphor view, Bud Fox had a family which seemed to stand with him when he was passing through tough times. He started to engage himself into illegal activities, such as insider trading, for the sake of his family, at the same time trying to find a better future for them; however, in that process he seems to have lost the ground and engage into activities which destroyed his family life. However, from a cultural point of view, a family is considered as most important social unit with grand cultural significance. Movie has depicted very rightly that family stands behind each of us in our good, as well as bad, times and as such provides necessary emotional resources to deal with failures and setbacks in our lives. The other relationship, however, is that of the mentorship and how Garden Gekko has actually took Fox under his mentorship to develop him into a person who went against his nature to engage into illegal activities. This figurative relationship may also outline as to how finance industry is currently operating and what methods are used to push employees to engage into doing illegal activities. It is also critical to note that this relationship clearly outlines the need to have a relationship which is based upon confidentiality even in the matters which are either illegal or can have serious consequences for financial services industry as a whole. It is also important to note that the way mentoring takes place within financial services industry can be potentially detrimental. Such relationships actually allow the development of confidential relationships under which employees become obligated to each other and hardly take courage to blow the whistle regarding illegal practices adapted by certain personnel or firms. Works Cited Ferrell, O. C., John Fraedrich and Linda Ferrell. Business Ethics: Ethical Decision Making and Cases. London: Cengage Learning, 2010. Print. Read More