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Wednesday, January 1, 2014

An Open Letter To The Makers Of The Wolf of Wall Street, And The Wolf Himself

prousalis-plane.jpg
Courtesy of Christina McDowell
Christina McDowell (then Prousalis) with her father and his private plane during headier times.
By LA Weekly Thu., Dec. 26 2013
BY CHRISTINA MCDOWELL
I hate to be the bearer of bad news, dear Kings of Hollywood, but you have been conned.
Let me introduce myself. My name is Christina McDowell, formerly Christina Prousalis. I am the daughter of Tom Prousalis, a man the Washington Post described as "just some guy on trial for penny-stock fraud." (I had to change my name after my father stole my identity and then threatened to steal it again, but I'll get to that part later.) I was 18 and a freshman in college when my father and his attorneys forced me to attend his trial at New York City's federal courthouse so that he "looked good" for the jury -- the consummate family man.
And you, Jordan Belfort, Wall Street's self-described Wolf: You remember my father, right? You were chosen to be the government's star witness in testifying against him. You had pleaded guilty to money laundering and securities fraud (it was the least you could do) and become a government witness in two dozen cases involving your former business associate, but my father's attorneys blocked your testimony because had you testified it would have revealed more than a half-dozen other corrupt stock offerings too. And, well, that would have been a disaster. It would have just been too many liars, and too many schemes for the jurors, attorneys or the judge to follow.
But the record shows you and my father were in cahoots together with MVSI Inc. of Vienna, e-Net Inc. of Germantown, Md., Octagon Corp. of Arlington, Va., and Czech Industries Inc. of Washington, D.C., and so on -- a list of seemingly innocuous, legitimate companies that stretches on. I'll spare you. Nobody cares. None of these companies actually existed, yet all of them were taken public by the one and only Wolf of Wall Street and his firm Stratton Oakmont Inc in order to defraud unwitting investors and enrich yourselves.
As an 18-year-old, I had no idea what was going on. But then again, did anyone? Certainly your investors didn't -- and they were left holding the bag when you cashed out your holdings and got rich off their money.
So Marty and Leo, while you glide through press junkets and look forward to awards season, let me tell you the truth -- what happened to my mother, my two sisters and me. 

arthurreid
Well written article and interesting story but I'm afraid the writer seems to have missed the point of the film. Martin Scorsese, unarguably one of the world's greatest filmmakers even historically, doesn't make easy movies to stomach. Instead, he creates thought-provoking films with well-rounded characters and debateable subjects that reflect our world, leaving the viewer to actually ponder themselves and their own lives, not just the ones on-screen. There is a lot of thoughtless, corny, one-sided and frankly unrealistic crap coming out of Hollywood these days, but luckily we still have a few filmmakers around that make the audience walk out of the theater in a bit of shock and discomfort due to what they just watched, hopefully leaving them to truly think about the subject witnessed. 

The film is clearly satirical but there are brief moments watching it where you're not quite sure if it is, and I think the filmmakers have made it clear that the protagonist in the film is in no way a hero, or someone to be idolized. But hell, he had some admirable qualities. This is a true story after all, and the guy wouldn't have made it to the top without some charisma, charm, leadership and skill. The audience is challenged to think for themselves to realize that in the end although these Wall Street assholes may represent the abuse and in turn peaking of the American Dream, these guys are human, and like a lot of people reading this probably would, they saw an opportunity to get filthy rich despite the feelings and well-being of others and they took it by storm, rationalizing that the rest are weak and don't deserve squat. Rather than having the labels of "good guys" and "bad guys" shoved down our throats, Scorsese has presented us with the perfect real-life setting to show us what happens to individuals when grandiose personal opportunity arises (even if it means a great cost to others).  

Either way, because of Christina's (writer) personal involvement she will be offended by the film, and the subject in general as anyone would. Who wouldn't be upset watching full-of-life, wealthy characters based on the ones who ruined ones family party, celebrate their wealth, and fornicate for 3 hours? Her hurt is no doubt real and justified, but I have faith that most of the world will walk out of the theater as I did, with the question in mind that I guarantee the filmmakers intended, which is an important one - "DO I ADMIRE OR HATE THESE GUYS?" It's a challenging and uncomfortable question to ask oneself, because although your ego says "These guys are the scum of the Earth!", there's a small part of you that wonders if given the same opportunity, you'd have done the same. The individuals involved aren't the only subject here - it's about our culture, and just like animals, the human race tends to desire to be on top, to wear the Alpha badge and trample others, often victoriously. 

Is it a sickness, or is it the way of nature?
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