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viewpoints of criminals can remain untainted, because there are too
many people who have twisted tales of crimes to unthinkable
proportions. Soon, we too may begin to adopt questionable morals
as our own.
The notorious stockbroking antics of Jordan Belfort were
captured in Martin Scorsese’s film,
The Wolf of Wall Street
. The film
once more enraptured audiences with the notion that ordinary
mortals like us could be easily making millions of dollars a week.
Now, Scorsese and Belfort have asserted over and over that this
story is intended to be a cautionary tale, and indeed, Belfort and
many of his colleagues served time in prison on charges of fraud and
money laundering.
Clearly though, not everybody in the audience came away having
really absorbed the moral of the story. After the film was released,
the number of people searching for stockbroking jobs in the United
States suddenly escalated 80%, and in the United Kingdom, 44%.
I’m guessing that none of us here have the sudden burning desire to
smuggle drugs into third-world countries, or launch into illegal
stockbroking escapades, but such glorification of these offences can
lead us to wonder, ‘Maybe crime does pay.’ And then? What if
everybody suddenly decided they wanted to become the next Wolf
of Wall Street? We cannot possibly live in a society where the law
comes beneath greed and immorality. And all because one film
made crime look a little too rewarding. Even if it is accidental, our
morals can be remoulded so that we are tempted by the fake world
offered in the deification of crimes.
Now, I’m not saying that we should simply halt all media coverage
of crimes, or that all entertainment should only depict sunshine and
rainbows, but when the deification of crimes has become socially,
morally and psychologically damaging, we can no longer consider
our perspective of crimes as a trivial matter anymore. Glorification
is the ultimate crime now, and unless we’re aware of that, we will all
remain guilty.
‘
Glorification
Of Crime
12