Gordon Gekko
 | This article needs additional citations for verification. (August 2008) |
| Gordon Gekko | |
|---|---|
| 'Wall Street' character | |
| File:1Gordon-gekko.jpg | |
| First appearance | Wall Street |
| Last appearance | Money Never Sleeps |
| Created by | Oliver Stone Stanley Weiser |
| Portrayed by | Michael Douglas |
| In-universe information | |
| Occupation | Investment banker, arbitrageur |
| Nationality | United States |
| Place of birth | Long Island |
| Education | City College |
| Residence | New York City |
Gordon Gekko is a fictional character from the 1987 film Wall Street by director Oliver Stone. Gekko was portrayed by actor-producer Michael Douglas, in a performance that won him an Oscar for Best Actor. Gekko may return in Money Never Sleeps which is currently in pre-production.
Co-written by Stone and screenwriter Stanley Weiser, Gekko is claimed to be based loosely on arbitrageur Ivan Boesky, who gave a speech on greed at the University of California, Berkeley in 1986 and real-life activist investor / corporate raider Carl Icahn. In 2002 Gordon Gekko was named one of the Fifteen Richest Fictional Characters according to Forbes who attributed him with 650 million dollars. In 2003, the AFI named him number 24 of the top 50 movie villains of all time.
Fashion
Gekko's clothing selections were both a nod to 1980s corporate culture fashion trends and an innovator in those trends. The colorful suspenders, shiny shoulder-padded suits and permanently slicked-back hair became the official look of power and fortune.
GG's trouser braces were manufactured by Albert Thurston Ltd. The blue braces with singular white stripe that you see him wear are Eton College colours.
Cultural symbol
Gekko has become a symbol in popular culture for unrestrained greed (with the signature line, "Greed, for lack of a better word, is good"), often in fields outside corporate finance.
On September 25, 2008 Michael Douglas, acting as a UN ambassador for peace, was at the 2008 session of the United Nations General Assembly advocating that the decade-old Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty be ratified by the nine nations yet to do so - USA, India, Indonesia, Iran, Israel, Pakistan, China, Egypt and Korea. He accompanied Australian Foreign Minister Stephen Smith, the foreign ministers of Austria and Costa Rica, former Japanese Foreign Minister Yoriko Kawaguchi and former US defense secretary William Perry. Due to the ongoing political debate over a bailout to address the Financial crisis of 2007-2008 reporters sought to ask him off topic questions about Gordon Gekko; "Douglas was asked whether he bore some responsibility for the behaviour of the greed merchants who had brought the world to its knees thanks to his (aka Gekko's) encouragement."[1] Trying to return to topic Douglas tried to "suggest that the same level of passion Wall Street investors showed should also apply to getting rid of nuclear weapons."[1] The actor was also asked to compare nuclear Armageddon with the "financial Armageddon on Wall Street".[2] After one reporter inquired "Are you saying, Gordon, that greed is not good?"[2] Douglas stated "I'm not saying that. And my name is not Gordon. It's a character I played 20 years ago."[2][1]
On October 8, 2008 the character was referenced in a speech by the Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd in his speech "The Children of Gordon Gekko" concerning the Financial crisis of 2007-2008. Rudd stated “It is perhaps time now to admit that we did not learn the full lessons of the greed-is-good ideology. And today we are still cleaning up the mess of the 21st-century children of Gordon Gekko.”[3]
In the October 30, 2008 episode of the popular NBC TV series, The Office, B.J. Novak's character Ryan Howard dressed up as Gordon Gekko for Halloween.
Footnotes
- ^ a b c Phillip Coorey (26 September 2008). "Michael who? It's Gekko we're after". The Sydney Morning Herald.
{{cite news}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^ a b c "Douglas goes nuclear: I'm not Gordon Gekko!". Fairfax Digital. 25 September 2008.
{{cite news}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^ Kevin Rudd (06 October 2008). "Edited extract of the speech: The children of Gordon Gekko". The Australian.
{{cite news}}: Check date values in:|date=(help)
External links
