Greed is good

Some movies cannot be seen with the same eyes again. “The Wizard of Oz” cannot because we first saw it as five year olds full of wonderment. Then we changed. The movie “Wall Street” cannot because the world changed.

In 1987 Gordon Gekko was, the movie’s producers insist, an unintentional hero and his guiding principle, “Greed is good”, became a credo. Today . . . well . . . today “Wall Street” wouldn’t play the same way to our suddenly wizened eyes and investment portfolios. And, as with childhood fantasies, we’ll go through a period during which we’ll feel a bit foolish for having once been taken in, but we’ll soothe ourselves with the knowledge that so was the redoubtable Alan Greenspan (Was he any less a wizard than the one in Oz?). And when we watch “Wall Street” again, we’ll be struck as much by the movie’s naivete as our own. After all, Gordon Gekko was eventually brought down because he disobeyed the law and was caught. The real life Gordon Gekko’s who brought us all down, didn’t have to violate any laws.