Whether you go to the movies on a date, as an escape or just for the popcorn, you probably aren’t looking for a life lesson. But that doesn’t mean you can’t learn a thing or two. Indeed, if there’s any topic that’ll grab people by the heartstrings, it’s a story about men and women who follow their hearts and, along the way, discover what’s really important in life.
Yes, love and family are right up there, but we’re talking about money. In fact, money – or the pursuit of money - is the driving force in more than a few movies. So, what do some classic movies have to teach us about money and finance? Let’s have a look…
1) Jerry Maguire (1996)
We all remember the famous line “show me the money!” What we often forget is that most of the movie involves money – and moral - struggles. Jerry, as played by Tom Cruise, has a personal epiphany about his job, why he got into the field and how greed had steered him and his company wrong. So, he shows up at work the next day and presents a 25-page mission statement on how things oughta be. It inspires his co-workers ...and gets him fired, forcing him out on his own with one last loyal client (and adorably endearing co-worker). Of course, Jerry comes out on top, personally and professionally, in the end.The money moral: Inspiration is everything. It’s the path to money, personal success, love…and one very odd but loveable little kid.
2) Risky Business (1983)
Okay, we like Tom Cruise movies. Here, he plays another great business mogul, albeit a teenaged one. In “Risky Business”, a much younger Cruise is cast as a suburban teenager named Joel whose parents leave on vacation – and leave Joel in charge. He cuts loose, and with the help of some questionable friends, pairs up with a stunning call girl in an adolescent fantasy/adventure that only comes up for air when he sinks his father’s Porsche in Lake Michigan. In an effort to make some quick cash, Joel agrees to turn the family home into a bit of a business venture...a bawdy one. In the end, Joel almost pulls off the whole scheme before his parents come home. Remember, we said almost.The money moral: With great freedom comes great (financial) responsibility. Bonus lesson: Singing and dancing in your underwear can be a great career move!
3) Trading Places (1983)
Ah, a good rags-to-riches story! In “Trading Places”, a Wall Street broker named Louis Winthorpe III (Dan Aykroyd) and a homeless hustler named Billy Ray Valentine (Eddie Murphy) end up trading places as part of a bet between two rich brothers about what sets the rich and poor apart. As it turns out, Valentine is able to get by as a broker based on street smarts and what his life as a con artist has taught him about human behavior. Winthorpe, on the other hand, finds that when he’s stripped of his position of power, he loses a lot more than wealth. In the end, Winthorpe and Valentine join forces against the brothers who set them up, by trading orange juice futures based on insider information and putting the millionaire duo hundreds of millions in the hole.The money moral: You don’t need an Ivy League degree to understand the financial markets. Bonus lesson: Putting on airs is a sure path to personal annihilation.
4) Working Girl (1988)
In “Working Girl”, we see Melanie Griffith work it as a stockbroker’s secretary named Tess who shares a killer business idea with her boss, Katherine, played by Sigourney Weaver. The idea is dismissed...at least until Tess discovers that Katherine plans to present it to a client as her own. Tess begins to impersonate her boss while she’s away on vacation and presents her idea. The plan almost falls apart when Katherine returns and attempts to discredit Tess. Ultimately, Tess prevails and is offered an executive position.The money moral: In a movie where most of the women were shown working as secretaries while the men dominated the top executive spots, Tess makes a bold move to land a top job. The moral? Go after what you want in your career!
5) Wall Street (1987)
You can’t talk about money movies without digging into “Wall Street”. In this movie, a naive Bud Fox (played by Charlie Sheen) provides a cutthroat stockbroker and vulture capitalist named Gordon Gekko (played by Michael Douglas) with insider information in an attempt to land a job. Instead, he is lured into fishing for insider information in pursuit of greater profit. In the end, Bud disentangles himself from the scheme - and takes the hit for his financial crimes - when he discovers that Gekko aims to destroy his own father’s company, costing its employees their jobs and pensions.The money moral: The movie rests around Gekko’s insistence that “greed is good”, which is delivered in a speech about how self-interest can drive corporate profit. In the end, Gekko serves to prove that when greed is allowed to go too far, it hurts far more people than it helps.
6) Boiler Room (2000)
In “Boiler Room,” Seth Davis, played by Giovanni Ribisi, interviews for a job at a suburban investment firm in order to live up to his father’s high standards. He excels at sales, and it isn’t long before he’s making a huge salary...and wondering why. As it turns out, the firm is involved in an illegal pump-and-dump scheme, in which they create artificial demand for stocks in order to generate a return for themselves (yes, this does occasionally happen in real life). In the end, Seth is arrested by the FBI for SEC violations and is disowned by his father, but gains immunity from prosecution by turning in his co-workers. He walks away a free man, but a penniless one with a need to carve out a new career.The money moral: Big money isn’t earned quickly or easily, at least not if you aim to do it honestly. As with all the lessons here, that’s true in the movies – and in life!
From: Goldengirlfinance.com/ Posted by Mags
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