Gordon Gekko: A Modern Day Reincarnation Of The Biblical Villain

The primordial villain from the biblical world goes by Satan, Devil or Lucifer. Different names, same identifying trait – seducing humans into sins. If Wall Street is the garden of Eden for corporate America, Gordon Gekko is the devil in designer wear. A modern-day Sun Tzu quoting, high-end corporate raider reincarnation from Oliver Stone's Wall Street, Michael Douglas playing Gordon Gekko famously remarks "Greed, for lack of a better word, is good". Blowing away ethics in his cigarette smoke and gulping down insider information with the finest scotch, Gekko is one of the best onscreen villains of all time.

Armed with a genius-level intellect, a knack for crunching numbers, charming looks, and a quiver full of alluring quotes ("Lunch is for wimps", "If this guy owned a funeral parlour, no one would die"), Gekko's stock in the dog-eat-dog corporate is on an ascending curve. A regular college graduate, buying his way into the hallowed halls of Ivy League dominated Wall Street and collecting proteges and spies along with the zeroes in his bank account. Much before data became the new oil in business parlance, Gekko dubbed information the most valuable commodity. Chances of one running into a real-life prototype of some other iconic onscreen villains, like a high functioning sociopath with cannibalistic taste buds or a Jedi turned to the dark side are flimsy. It is also easy to pass a moral judgement on these dark characters. The Gordon Gekkos of the world on the other hand fill corporate board rooms and high roller suites, like walking sales pitch for fresh blood in organizations to turn over to the dark side.

Gekko quoted liberally from Art of War, but he was also a master in the art of seducing brilliant minds to dance to his tunes. He stared at stockbrokers and investment bankers from the covers of Fortune magazine and they all wanted to be Gordon Gekko. One such face from the crowd, Bud Fox (Charlie Sheen) got "lucky" to reach his inner circle, only to trade his tomorrow for the today full of penthouse, women, and a quick buck. The ease with which Michael Douglas moves into the character of Gekko, it might seem the role was written with him in mind (it wasn't) His "Greed is Good" monologue makes a near convincing case for the emotion, turning it into an extension of our evolutionary spirit. Yet, like all excesses it finally brings his downfall. His fate at the end leaves every rising Bud Fox with a lesson for life: never aspire to be Gordon Gekko. Greed is good but ethics and a good night's sleep are just better. Gordon Gekko is the manifestation of a close to perfect onscreen antagonist: one that towers over the protagonist, poses him a seemingly implausible challenge and even in defeat ends up becoming the most memorable character of the movie.