While doing research for my power point presentation, I learned that hegemonic theory is relevant in films that are based on true stories. I did my research on The Wolf of Wall Street, which was about Jordan Belfort, a stockbroker who made his money by scamming businesses and people, which led to him becoming insanely rich. The movie portrays hegemonic theory through showing that the best way to achieve happiness and get whatever a person wants is by being rich and the easiest way to get rich in American capitalism is by screwing people over. Due to what it portrays, the movie really struck out to me as an example of hegemonic theory in real life. Throughout the movie, Jordan takes other stockbrokers working for them under his wing and teaches them that the best way to get what they want is through the usage of money. This is evident in the scene we presented where Jordan narrates that him and his apprentice Donnie secretly owned 85% of Steve Madden’s stock and if Madden was able to push his product onto Jordan’s people then him and Donnie would get “filth f***ing rich” (Jordan Belfort, Wolf of Wall Street). It amazes me that this had occurred in real life and brands such as the real Madden Shoe brand were being scammed in such a crude manner.
Another thing that I learned from my research is how closely the hegemonic theory works with the male gaze. Throughout this entire film Jordan Belfort is able to do whatever he wants with whatever girl he wants just because he has money. There are scenes of Belfort bringing in strippers and hookers, from all around and ranging in price too, into the office for his employees to have sex with. He, on the other hand, is a married man who still cheats on his wife on a regular basis and attracting women with all the money he has. Eventually, he decides to cheat on his wife with a woman he found beautiful and brought into his life by simply talking about his excursions with money at a party that he threw in his mansion. His wife finds out and he marries this mistress who he believes to be the hottest girl in the world. As he’s married to this new woman, he cheats on her constantly while he goes on business trips and his new wife eventually finds out, which results in a huge argument, where Belfort dominates her at the end of the argument and results in him having sex with her. This means that the hegemonic theory shown in this movie shows that money is power and with the power that money gives men specifically they can manipulate any woman they want into having sex with them and marrying them
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