Marriage and Families in The Wolf of Wall Street - Movie Review Example

Marriage and Families Introduction The Wolf of Wall Street was one of the most successful movies produced in the year The film that grossed about $ 400 million within its first three months globally received nominations for various awards owing to the tactful use of different film developments elements besides its analytical representation of the society (Abigail, 2013). The developers of the film sought to capture the lucrative nature of the stock market in New York and in doing so did not fail to capture several social features and factors that affect the development of an integral and cohesive society. The film analyses the process of developing and dissolving marriages. Using charismatic characters, the film analyses the role of money in the development of a family, family violence and divorce among many other factors as the discussion bellow portrays. The film begins with Jordan Belfort narrating his life. Among the factors he discusses is his relationship with his wife, Naomi Lapaglia. At first, he does not indulge on the nature of their relationship but since at such an early stage, the developers’ main objective is to develop the scope of the problem. In a flashback, Belford begins narrating his life beginning with his first wife especially after the crush of the financial market. Back then, Belford was a young, loving and caring husband. He relates closely with his wife Teresa. Teresa consoles and supports him throughout the hard times. She advises him not to lose hope but to continue searching for jobs in newspaper ads. Teresa is a noble and supportive wife who readily admits to move to a new town with his husband just to keep him happy. Belford later becomes successful after opening up a stock brokerage firm dealing in penny stocks. With the great success, Belford changed thereby indulging in drugs and prostitutes. His relationship with Teresa changes as he becomes more engaged in both his business and prostitutes. He neglects his family roles thereby worsening his relationship with Teresa who becomes withdrawn and stressed. Belford later meets Naomi Lapaglia, a beautiful retired model and falls in love with her spontaneously. He begins utilizing most of his wealth to impress the retired model who eventually falls in love with him too. His relationship with Naomi worsens his relationship with his wife thus compelling Teresa to ask for a divorce, the successful Belford readily divorcees Teresa thereby marrying his latest obsession in a flamboyant wedding ceremony buying her a boat and a humongous villa on the gold coast of Long Island (Flaherty, 2008). The marriage appears successful with the two partners appearing happy most of the time. They have a baby together but their relationship begins worsening. Belford’s obsession with the retired model begins to fade as his addiction to both alcohol and prostitutes heightens. Furthermore, the police begin investigating his businesses accusing him of money laundering among many others. As his relationship with Naomi worsens, Belford turns violence hitting the wife who he accuses of exploiting him (Grisso & Steinberg, 2005). Apparently, the wife had known of his problems with the police and asked to divorce him. He therefore considers the wife exploitative and when they fail to reach a consensus, he beats the wife in front of their two-year-old baby. They later dissolve the marriage after his sentencing to serve a reduced jail term. The above blab portrays a deeply entrenched social vice that deters Belford from developing a peaceful and stable family with either of his two loving wives. The family is one of the basic institution in a society. The relationship between the two partners coupled with the arrival of children makes a family complete but requires an equally daunting task of raising the children in a peaceful and supportive ambiance. The stability and prosperity of the family relies on the understanding between the two adults who must share similar aspirations for their futures. However, since the two are grown adults from different backgrounds, they are likely to encounter myriad problems that require effective solution in order for the family to last. As the film portrays, financial stability is a fundamental factor that influences the stability of families in any society (McClintock, 2013). Money is paramount in the development of a comfortable family home; however, the management of the family money requires effective consideration of several factors in order for the two to cement their relationship thus developing a stronger and cohesive family. As the film portrays, money is a major factor that instigates family violence. Poor management of the family’s money instigates several conflicts most of which caused the divorces that Belford underwent. Violence is a vice that inhibits the development of peaceful and stable families globally. Violence refers to different forms of abuses, which include both physical and verbal (Minuchin, 1998). When partners haul abuses at each other, they portray their inability to solve their differences amicable. Furthermore, the exchange of such harsh words implies a degenerating relationship with both parties failing to change their mindsets on the issues at hand. The degeneration of such conflicts into physical abuses portrays the destruction of the family and often amount to criminal offences. Fighting cause body injuries to either of the partners a feature that qualifies such as criminal offenses thereby requiring legal redress. Belford beat both his wives thereby portraying both immaturity and emotional lapses as he failed to solve the problems they faced at the time. Teresa, his first wife portrayed maturity as he asked for divorce and never bothered him again. The manifestation of the same marital problems in his second marriage with Naomi Lapaglia portrayed him as the source of the family squabbles. Furthermore, he failed to provide an amicable solution thereby resorting to violence. He beat the new wife in front of their baby in a move that epitomized family violence thereby validating the subsequent divorce. Children suffer more than the parents do in instances of family violence and separations. The young members of the family do not understand most of the issues causing the violence. The heightening violence as was the case in Belford’s case affected his relationship with his daughter who was too young to understand the problem between her parents (Abigail, 2013). From the above systematic analysis of Belford’s marriages, the trends portray chaotic marriages. Placing the two successive marriages on the map portrays chaotic relationship between both his two successive wives and child in her marriage with Naomi Lapaglia. In both marriages, Belford portrays impatience and inability to solve problems cordially with his partners. His addiction to drugs and prostitutes are perfect example of outside factors that impaired his judgment besides taking most of his time. He therefore could not spend adequate time with his wives a feature that denied him the chance to bond with his family. His wives missed him and so did his baby. This way, the relationship begins to strain the other partner who could not sit with his wife thereby solve the issues affecting the family. This explains Teresa’s willingness to vacate the marriage since she was used to loneliness at home. She could not reach her husband to discuss issues affecting their family. Belford spent most of his time with his friends doing drugs thereby denying his family the valuable time to solve problems and develop similar commitments. Flexibility and cohesion are two fundamental factors that influence the prosperity of a family. Lack of the two in Belford’s marriages expedited the fall of the two. As discussed earlier, the two partners require adequate time with each other in order to share their feelings and solve some of the challenges that either of the encounters. In both marriages, Belford remained conspicuously absent thereby exposing his wives to loneliness and depression. The lack of companionship as Belford spent most of his time doing either business or drugs rendered him absent at home. This weakened his relationship with both Teresa and Naomi. In retrospect, a family is the most fundamental institution in a society. The stability and prosperity of a family develops a cohesive and stable society. However, such factors as violence and separation inhibit the creation of a stable family thereby contributing to the degeneration of the society. As the above analysis of Belford’s marriages in the film, The Wolf of Wall Street, portrays couples must spare time for each other in order to intensify their relationship. References Abigail, O. (2013). ‘The Power and Limits of Marriage: Married Gay Mens Family Relationships’. Journal of Marriage and Family. 75: 191-205. ProQuest. Minuchin, S. (1998). Where is the family in narrative family therapy? Journal of Marital and Family Therapy, 24, 397405. Flaherty, B. P. (2008). Testing the degree of cross-sectional and longitudinal dependence between two discrete dynamic processes. Developmental Psychology, 44(2), 468-480. Grimm, K. J., Pianta, R. C., & Konold, T. (2009). Longitudinal multitrait-multimethod models for developmental research. Multivariate Behavioral Research, 44(2), 233-258. Grisso, T., & Steinberg, L. (2005). Between a rock and a soft place: Developmental research and the child advocacy process. Journal of Clinical Child & Adolescent Psychology, 34(4), 619-627. McClintock, P. (December 24, 2013). "Box Office: Wolf of Wall Street Devouring 47 Ronin, Walter Mitty on Crowded Christmas". The Hollywood Reporter. Read More