华尔街之狼:狼·羊·人
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龙源期刊网
华尔街之狼:狼·羊·人
作者:韦玮
来源:《新东方英语》2014年第08期
由马丁·斯科塞斯导演、莱昂纳多·迪卡普里奥主演的电影《华尔街之狼》(The Wolf of
Wall Street)改编自金融巨鳄Jordan Belfort的同名自传。现实中的Jordan Belfort以及他创办的公司Stratton Oakmont都与华尔街关系不大,Jordan真正意义上在华尔街工作也不过几个月时间,而且还是处于学徒期。他之所以成为金融巨鳄靠的是将极差的仙股(penny stock,指价格低于一定金额的便宜股票)卖给愚蠢又贪婪的普罗大众,后来他还做了一家公司的IPO,暗箱操作,最终因涉嫌大规模有价证券欺诈入狱,出狱后他又华丽转身为著名的职业演说家,赚到的钞票比坐牢前风光无限的金融事业巅峰期还要多。根据该自传改编的长达三个小时的电影并没有真正揭露任何华尔街不为人知的内幕,没有透露股市背后的任何铁律或是投行工作的秘辛,它更像是一场无比喧闹的成人版游园会,铺陈着各种不着边际的浮夸享乐。透过这层层浮云,你感受不到经济的脉动,推断不出制度的弊端,但确实可以看得到人类内心的欲望,听得到体内的狼嚎、羊叫或仅仅是自己的低语。
作为黑帮片界的殿堂级人物,马丁·斯科塞斯也许比很多人更了解人性的丑恶,但他没有一板一眼告诉观众要弘扬有标准答案的真善美,而是将光鲜、阴暗、智慧、奸诈、勤奋、凶残都统统展示出来,让观众自己去评判与选择。是想成为像Jordan那样嗜血成性、贪婪凶狠的狼,还是成为愚蠢、软弱、任人宰割的羊,抑或是做个“君子爱财,取之有道”的人,我们内心的属性决定了我们的立场和选择。
如同被困海上的纯良少年Pi被逼出了心中的猛虎,每个人都有狼性的一面,这是人类同命运抗争进而生存与繁衍的生物本能。华尔街这个信奉丛林法则的地方无疑集合了各种条件,能使人狼性的一面集中爆发。
二十出头的Jordan是一个出身中产家庭、对金钱有着强烈渴望的年轻人。他怀揣发财梦来到华尔街,在Mark 手下当一名初入行的股票经纪人。Jordan进入华尔街的第一天就被华尔街激烈残酷的狼性文化所吸引。在午间休息时间,他与上司Mark一起吃饭,Mark一边喝酒嗑药,一边向Jordan道出了在华尔街工作与赚钱的秘诀。
Mark: Your only responsibility is to put meat on the table.… Name of the game. Move the
money from your client’s pocket into your pocket.
Jordan: Right. But if you make your clients money at the same time, it’s advantageous to
everyone. Correct?
Mark: No. Number one rule of Wall Street. Nobody ... I don’t care if you’re Warren Buffett or
if you’re Jimmy Buffett. Nobody knows if a stock is gonna go up, down, sideways, or in fucking 龙源期刊网
circles. Least of all stockbrokers, right? It’s all a fugazi (源自意大利语,假货). You know
what a fugazi is?
Jordan: Uh. Fugayzi. It’s a fake.
Mark: Fugayzi, fugazi, it’s a whazy, it’s a woozy, it’s ... fairy dust. It doesn’t exist. It’s
never landed. It is no matter. It’s not on the elemental chart. It’s not fucking real. We don’t create shit.
We don’t build anything.
Jordan: No.
Mark: So if you got a client who bought stock at 8 and it now sits at 16, he’s all fucking
happy. He wants to cash in, liquidate, take his fucking money and run home. You don’t let him do
that…. What do you do? You get another brilliant idea. A special idea. Another “situation.” Another
stock to reinvest his earnings and then some. And he will, every single time. ’Cause they’re fucking
addicted. And you just keep doing this, again and again and again. Meanwhile, he thinks he’s
getting shit rich, which he is, on paper. But you and me, the brokers, we’re taking home cold
hard cash via commission, motherfucker.
初出茅庐的Jordan还怀着“互惠双赢”的仁慈之心,但上司Mark第一天就将华尔街的真相赤裸裸地“剥”给Jordan看:只管自己吃肉,哪管别人喝汤。如果说本片揭露了华尔街股票经纪人的秘密,那秘密可能就在这里:那些所谓金融精英与财富管理者根本只在乎自己的利益,你真金白银放进来,他们才不管你是赔是赚,唯一重要的就是诱导你不停地买进卖出,每一笔交易都会为他们带来佣金收入。你的股票涨涨跌跌,看似热闹,其实都是账面游戏,实实在在的钱早已落入经纪人的口袋里。听Mark一席话,Jordan胜读十年书,自己的价值观得以重塑,热血开始沸腾,心中贪婪的猛兽被彻底唤醒。
贪婪是基督教中的七宗罪之一,但也正是贪婪使得人类社会不断创造,奋勇前进。另一部经典的华尔街主题电影《华尔街》中对此有着精辟的表述:“Greed is good. Greed is right. Greed
works. Greed clarifies, cuts through and captures the essence of the evolutionary spirit. Greed, in
all of its forms, greed for life, for money, for love, knowledge, has marked the upward surge
of mankind. ”正是秉持这种信念,Jordan比普通人更犀利,更敏锐,更冷酷,更如鱼得水。
华尔街如同汪洋大海,有风和日丽的时候就有暴雨狂风的时候。当Jordan取得证券牌照、准备大干一场时,股市遭遇了几十年不遇的大动荡,Jordan所在的公司遭遇了破产,Jordan被华尔街无情抛弃。在失意期间,Jordan机缘巧合地了解到仙股的存在。他发现仙股市场的客户更好对付,自己所获的报酬也更高——华尔街股票经纪人的佣金只有1%,而仙股的经纪人佣金高达50%。于是Jordan立即加入到仙股市场,成为专门忽悠散户的仙股券商。他凭借自己出色的推销技能迅速暴富,火速积累了资本,之后招揽了Donnie等鸡鸣狗盗之徒,成立了Stratton Oakmont投资公司,开始以“拉高出货”的方式违规赚大钱。在组建了自己的公司后,他向自己招募来的不学无术但深谙销售之道的三教九流之士鼓舞士气,传授销售秘诀。 龙源期刊网
Jordan: You listening? It’s easier than you think. Every person you’re on the phone with,
they want to get rich and they want to get rich quickly. They all want something for nothing….
Everyone wants to get rich. Am I crazy? Do you guys not want to make money?
Chester: I want to make some money…. I can sell anything.
Jordan: That’s the attitude. You can sell anything? Sell me this fucking pen right here. You
can sell anything. Sell that. Go ahead. Brad (Jordan满意但未招募成功的销售员), show them
how it’s done. Boom. Sell me that pen. Watch. Go on.
Brad: You want me to sell this fucking pen?
Jordan: That’s my boy right there. Can fucking sell anything.
Brad: Why don’t you do me a favor? Write your name down on that napkin for me.
Jordan: I don’t have a pen.
Brad: Exactly. Supply and demand, my friend.
People: Holy shit.
Jordan: See what I’m saying? He’s creating urgency. Get them to want to buy the stock.
Convince them it’s something they need, you know what I mean? And that’s the thing.
只有Jordan和那些股票经纪人们贪婪吗?被忽悠买入垃圾仙股的普罗大众又何尝不是被贪婪所驱使?人人为贪婪所累,只是华尔街之狼们爬到了高坡,他们利用别人的贪婪牟利。供需关系也许是市场经济中最根本的一点,精明的狼人们就是不断为贪婪的普罗大众创造需求,让大家相信自己必须拥有,让大家心甘情愿地为自己的贪婪和愚蠢买单。