wall st. movies ft. _margin call_: thin layer of humanity covers callous pro-establishment screed

does anyone else like financial dramas like like _wall street_ and _boiler room_? i don't know if i'll ever invest one dollar in stocks but i'm still fascinated by stock markets and their denizens. ultimately, i feel that carefully regulated, democratic-minded capitalism is a seedbed and guarantor for civil rights. nevertheless, i love movies that expose the reality of our entrenched financial system, in which well-connected financial institutions act as reckless, feckless rent-seekers extracting funds from hapless investors and the general public.

though not strictly about wall st, _glengarry glen ross_ is the ultimate movie in this style, i can watch it again and again. _wall st_ isn't quite in the same caliber, but gordon gekko is a fine example of the self-absorbed, exploitative people that usually end up chairing the federal reserve and the treasury department. _margin call_ is a strange beast - objectively, it is a well-made film with great cast and more than enough narrative suspense. like _gone with the wind_, however, the films obvious merits overlay reprehensible moral ideas. the movie lightly lampoons wall st executives for their self-important airs and their salaries, but on a deeper level it really absolves the big investment banks for selling worthless securities that they totally knew were worthless. it seems to say that well, the mortgage crisis was bad but the banks did the best they could and if anyone is to blame it is gullible buyers. did anyone else get this kind of message from the movie?

http://stream1.gifsoup.com/webroot/animatedgifs/939509_o.gif

wait why wouldn't you invest in stocks? you investing in gold or something?

Must see:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cDpsFPM2NF4

ok i think margin call was a much harsher movie than that. remember the buyers were in the film's narrative other large financial firms.

margin call more than anything else was _accurate_, and even the places it was inaccurate it was accurate in the larger sweep and compressing details for the sake of narrative.

it wasn't lampooning the execs about their salaries so much as i thought just leaving the idea on the table of how empty the whole thing was.

my fav scene stil the guy who asks everyone's salary crying in the bathroom, saying 'this is the only thing i ever wanted to do with my life'

and you think 'wow, why would that possibly be the case?'

> wait why wouldn't you invest in stocks? you investing in gold or something?

Investing in bonds and property is underrated. While on paper the returns on these investments can seem paltry compared to stocks, stockholders are bombarded by prophets of financial doom and often sabotage themselves by panicking and cashing out.

I'm not against buying stock, it just isn't something I'll do myself, because I know I don't have the right personality to succeed in that game. Someone like Warren Buffett succeeds as much through iron will and perserverance than anything - he has the will to hold on to his portfolio and not cash out when the sky is falling around him. If everyone could do that we'd have a lot more billionaires. What stockbrokers don't tell people is that most people just don't have the nerve to do what Buffett does. I know I don't so I stay out of the game.

Add to that that the structural weaknesses in China (corruption, weak contracts, surprisingly widespread albeit localized unrest) really do warrant a certain level of worry. I'm no prophet of doom, but Chinese governance is so arbitrary and ad hoc - it really does seem like a shaky foundation for the West's financial future. To say nothing of the exploitation and violence towards ordinary Chinese people that keeps our pockets lined.