Pop Culture Indicator: Wall Street Sequel Release Foretells "Collapse of our Society"
Oliver Stone’s latest effort to tap into the “collective unconscious” of Americans at this juncture in history by releasing a “Wall Street” movie sequel could indicate that a new economic collapse is in the offing. Or, so suggests Paul Farrell in a recent MarketMatch commentary.
The new film, “Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps” (trailer below), is coming to movie theaters about 23 years after the original was released. Yet, Farrell reminds us that the timing may not be as arbitrary as it seems. The first “Wall Street” film arrived in theaters just prior to 1987’s Black Monday, when the Dow fell by a precipitous 23 percent.
Here’s his reasoning…
“Seriously, why now? Why after 23 years, did Stone decide to update the message of his famous 1987 movie. Great question: The interviewer was Michael Lewis, former Salomon trader, author of ‘Liar’s Poker,’ a guy who understands Wall Street’s soul.
“Stone’s answer is in ‘Greed Never Left,’ Lewis’ Vanity Fair review of Stone’s new movie, ‘Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps.’ Stone had to think about it: ‘Why did I go back?’ Why? ‘Because it’s important. It’s the collapse of capitalism and the collapse of our society. It is. Our way of life is going to change.’
“The collapse of capitalism? Not just a stock market crash. He’s predicting the ‘collapse of our society.’ Worse, Stone’s predicting: ‘Our way of life is going to change.’ Is this really a market-timing signal? Hey, it was in 1987. Will history repeat? The odds say yes.”
It’s not clear what “odds” Farrell is referring to… nor does it sound like the most credible or scientific theory… but it sure is creative. Aside from the movie, he points to a number of cultural touchstones that, by his description, support the same conclusion. A biased process of data collection no doubt, but the movie is set to be released on September 24, 2010… so we’ll know soon enough.
You can read more about the details and the additional sources he cites in MarketWatch commentary on how the “Wall Street” sequel is an omen of US collapse.
Best,
Rocky Vega,
The Daily Reckoning
P.S. Here’s the trailer…
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