GUEST EDITORIAL: People Would Prefer It if the Story of "The Wolf of Wall Street" Weren't True

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People Would Prefer It if the Story of "The Wolf of Wall Street" Weren't True

by Lewis Robinson

In 2013, the film "The Wolf of Wall Street" was released in theatres all over the world. It became a blockbuster that earned $392 million and received 5 Oscar nominations and earned lead actor, Leonardo DiCaprio, the Golden Globe for Best Actor.

The film depicts acts and behaviors that are so outrageous and despicable that it has become a guilty pleasure for many moviegoers who comfort themselves by assuming that the story can't possibly be true. But it is. Almost entirely. In fact, there are only minor instances within the film that have been disputed at all.

Danny's Disputes

So the character of Donnie Azoff in the film is based on real-life former stockbroker Danny Porush, who was the best friend to Jordan Belfort, the titular character in "The Wolf of Wall Street". Porush is the only significant character depicted in the book and film that has come forward to argue the legitimacy of Belfort's story. And his protestations don't offer much relief from the sheer awfulness of this tale.

Porush admits to engaging in such questionable sales enablement techniques as throwing lit cigarettes at underperforming brokers and, in one instance, eating one of their goldfish as a punishment; however, he swears that he never did any drugs. As though this incident looks better coming from a sober person.

He also denies that he and Belfort ever engaged in a threesome with one of their underage employees. He doesn't hesitate to brag that he's had many group sexual experiences, but stresses that they were always with women only. And of course, none of the women were underage. He also wants to make sure that everyone understands that he just wants to set the record straight; he's not homophobic or anything. But just to be clear, he's never, ever, ever done anything with a man.

Porush also insists that the scene in the movie in which he and Belfort have small people don helmets and get tossed across the room during an office party is completely made up. Oh, they did hire small people for the party because their size makes them so entertaining. And they did have them engage in a variety of demeaning activities. But they never tossed them. So anyone who might feel bad about loving a story that depicts the abuse and mistreatment of a minority group can relax. There was no tossing.

The Changing of Names

Several characters in the film have had their names changed from the real people they are based on. Many denialists have held this up as proof that these characters and their actions must be fabricated. Unfortunately, that simply isn't how it works in major films. 

Major motion pictures are multi-million dollar projects. Producers and directors guard their budget and their time very carefully. Porush's name was changed because, although he has no problem with being named in the book, he threatened to sue if they used his name in the movie. The fact that the producers caved and changed the name does not in any way indicate that they were portraying Porush untruthfully, only that they did not want to go through the time and expense to fight with him about it. They determined that the story was enough and that the use of his name was secondary.

It is also common when filmmakers are adapting a book, to combine certain characters into one for brevity. If they do this, they must change the name of the characters since they are creating a single person out of two or several in the book. This doesn't mean that the actions of these people aren't factual, simply that what you see being done by one character in the movie was actually done by a couple of people in real life. The names have changed, but the actions remain the same.

So, are there details in the film "The Wolf of Wall Street" that aren't entirely true? Probably. You can chip away at the edges if that makes you feel better about loving the characters in this film, but the film is based in fact and depicts the actions of some truly despicable men doing some truly awful things.