The Wolf of Wall Street - Money & Power and Sex & Drugs?

Advances: In this photo (Figure 1) from "The Wolf of Wall Street" trailer, you can see a provocatively dressed woman attempting to say "no" to the advances of the man through her actions. The woman says "what's wrong...", and the man doesn't stop his sexual advances. In the Kilbourne article, she explains that, "Men are also encouraged to never take no for an answer.” The Kilbourne article also mentions, "girls and women don't really mean "no" when they say it, that women are only teasing when they resist mens advances.” This excerpt applies to the screenshot because it shows the stereotype.

Objects: In this screenshot (Figure 2), you see a group of women running into an office full of wealthy men, as a reward for how well the men were performing in the workplace. The book addressing Kilbourne’s article addresses, “The way that ads portray bodies - especially women’s bodies - as objects conditions us to see each other in dehumanizing ways, thus “normalizing” attitudes that can lead to sexual aggression.” The men in the image are all yelling and shouting with excitement, not cheering the women on, but because they are sexualizing them based on them being scantily clothed.

Possession: In the image (Figure 3), a man is using a beautiful woman to move large amounts of laundered money. In Kilbourne’s article she talks about ads where men have “possession” of women and it shows in this image from the Wolf of Wall Street. When the camera pans away there is a group of men in the room and one of them is heard saying, “You work for me now.” The man feels like he possesses her, and he has complete control over her. This portrays to the viewer that with money you can get women to do whatever you like. This sexualizes women and portrays that they have no control over what men do to them.

Domination: In Kilbourne’s article she also touches on domination and how men are portrayed as women’s superiors. In the image above (Figure 4) you see Jordan Belfort, played as Leonardo DiCaprio, walking aggressively down the hallway. Ads sometimes, “play into the fantasies of domination…” This image shows that domination, as men and women alike, move quickly out of the way of DiCaprio. DiCaprio doesn’t even flinch, he is portraying an image of toxic masculinity. Kilbourne states that women use this “fantasy domination” to “maintain the illusion of being in control.”

Alpha Male: This image (Figure 5) depicts Leonardo DiCaprio as a hard partier and alpha male. This is related to how ads portray dangerous, bad men as desirable to women. As Kilbourne said, “Indeed the worst kind of man for a woman to be in an intimate relationship with, often a truly dangerous man, is the one considered most sexy and desirable in the popular culture.” In the ad this is a recurring theme for Leonardo DiCaprio, he is shown as a wealthy, wild, sex symbol and this theme of dangerous men is shown in the title of the film, “The Wolf of Wall Street.”

Conclusion

“The Wolf of Wall Street” movie is a prime example of many of the points Kilbourne makes in her article. Through money, power, sex, and drugs Leonardo DiCaprio mesmerizes the women throughout this film and they sensationalize him. He is a figure of toxic masculinity and power throughout the ad. There are also very few minorities shown throughout the trailer and Kilbourne talks about how minorities are not as sexualized as white women. Kilbourne also states “…people who are above the rules do enormous harm to other people, as well as themselves.” Leonardo DiCaprio is shown as a reckless man who feels no responsibility for the harm he causes or the people he wrongs.