Recognizing Truth

Recognizing Truth

                                              

The over dramatized portrayals we see in movies aren't always necessarily accurate representations of real life. Hollywood tends to stretch the truth of what really happened for dramatic effect. Everyone is familiar with Martin Scorsese's The Wolf of Wall Street, the story of Jordan Belfort's rise to wealth. In the film, the office looks more like a club than a place of work. The party scenes are full of drugs, alcohol, sex and a whole lot of money that was spent on it. This film created a stereotype that people who work on Wall Street have lavish, party animal lifestyles.


This representation might hold some credibility when it comes to the individuals depicted in The Wolf of Wall Street but this doesn't hold true for the majority of investment bankers on Wall Street. Investment banking is a highly sought after profession that requires a countless amount of hours at the office. The job is one of the hardest and most time consuming jobs in business. The job requires too much energy and focus for there to be time for partying and drugs. The film makes the job seem like a party and doesn't show all the hard work that goes into their work.

Along with the fact that partying on the job would be anti-productive, all Wall Street firms have random drug test for their employees. If an individual does not pass the drug test he or she would be fired which strongly discourages employees from doing drugs. Along with testing employees banks require a drug test for all people applying for jobs with the company. This feeds out anyone who had a drug problem prior to working for the company. 

The way things are portrayed in movies often differ from the truth in some ways. Although there is some truth in what in was shown in The Wolf of Wall Street but this is not the way Wall Street operates. It is a much more respectable position that has no place for drugs and alcohol.


Jack H


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Ross, Sean. “A Day in the Life of an Investment Banker.” Investopedia, 17 Nov. 2015, www.investopedia.com/articles/professionals/111715/day-life-investment-banker.asp.

Survivor, Team Wall Street. “The Real Wolf of Wall Street: Fact or Fiction.” The Real Wolf of Wall Street: Fact or Fiction - Wall Street Survivor Blog, 8 Aug. 2016, blog.wallstreetsurvivor.com/2013/12/30/the-real-wolf-of-wall-street-fact-or-fiction/.

@edockterman, Eliana Dockterman. “The Wolf of Wall Street: The True Story.” Time, Time, 26 Dec. 2013, entertainment.time.com/2013/12/26/wolf-wall-street-true-story/.