In a compelling conversation featured on Alec Baldwin’s podcast “Here’s The Thing,” Michael Douglas, the acclaimed actor synonymous with the iconic Gordon Gekko from Wall Street, delved into the complex legacy of his character and the film’s enduring impact on popular culture. This insightful discussion offers a fresh perspective on the famous “greed is good” mantra and its surprising reception over the years.
Baldwin initiated the dialogue by drawing a parallel between his own portrayal of Blake in Glengarry Glen Ross, another film dissecting the cutthroat world of sales, and Douglas’s defining role in Oliver Stone’s Wall Street. He noted the ironic phenomenon of audiences embracing the corrosive lines from both films, particularly Gekko’s infamous declaration. “The world is so different now,” Baldwin remarked, “I’ve got people coming up to me all the time quoting some of the most corrosive lines from Glengarry Glen Ross… when I say, you know, ‘coffee is for closers,’ and you say ‘greed is good.’ Do you think in our lifetime that that line has changed, ‘greed is good,’ where people really believe it’s true?”
Douglas responded by highlighting the unsettling affirmation he received from the very community Wall Street critiqued. “Well, the affirmation that I got from that villain—,” Douglas began, before Baldwin interjected, “From that community!” Douglas continued, “From that community. If I get one more drunken guy from the Street saying ‘Hey, man, greed is good! You’re the man! You’re why I got into this business.’ Hey, I was the villain.” This anecdote underscores a critical point about the reception of Wall Street: while intended as a cautionary tale about the excesses of corporate greed in the 1980s, many viewers, especially those within the financial industry, paradoxically celebrated Gordon Gekko as an aspirational figure.
Baldwin echoed this sentiment, sharing his own experience with fans misinterpreting the message of Glengarry Glen Ross. He recounted encounters with sales professionals who enthusiastically quoted his character’s aggressive sales tactics, completely missing the satirical and critical intent. “I’ve got people walking up to me drunk in lobbies of hotels and they’re going, ‘Come do that speech! I’m in sales, baby!’ And I’m sitting there going, ‘You don’t get it, man. This is like Arthur Miller. We’re trying to wake you up.’ But they’re like… no, they don’t get it.”
This exchange between Baldwin and Douglas reveals a fascinating disconnect between the creators’ intentions and audience interpretation. Both actors, in their respective films, aimed to expose the dark side of ambition and unchecked capitalism. However, the charismatic portrayal of characters like Gordon Gekko and Blake, coupled with the allure of wealth and power, inadvertently led to a degree of admiration for the very behaviors they were meant to critique. Douglas aptly summarized this phenomenon, “No. They love the accoutrements. And you spoke well.”
Beyond their discussion on Wall Street and Glengarry Glen Ross, the podcast episode also touched upon other interesting topics, including Douglas’s experiences producing One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest and the challenges of casting Nurse Ratched. Baldwin even shared a humorous anecdote about playing Nurse Ratched himself in a gender-swapped production, further showcasing the range of their conversation.
Ultimately, the dialogue between Michael Douglas and Alec Baldwin serves as a valuable reflection on the power of cinema and its often unpredictable reception. Their insights into the enduring, and sometimes misconstrued, legacy of Wall Street and Gordon Gekko provide a compelling reminder of how art can both reflect and inadvertently shape societal values, particularly concerning ambition, success, and the ever-relevant question of “greed is good.”
