The Wolf of Wall Street’s Legacy: Andrew Tate & Toxic Masculinity

ENTERTAINMENT | MAHI

Written by Jack Macpherson (he/him) | @jack_mac10 (Instagram) / @jackmacpherson (Letterboxd) | Contributing Writer

Content warning: This article includes mentions of drug abuse, sexual harassment, and violence.

“Name of the game. Move the money from the client’s pocket into your pocket.” In the first ten minutes of 2013’s The Wolf of Wall Street, Matthew McConaughey, as Mark Hanna, lays it all on the table. The stakes are instantly set. Jordan Belfort, played by the charming Leo DiCaprio, is determined to join the hedonism of Wall Street. Money is what makes Belfort’s heartbeat. It’s luxury, it’s power, it’s excess. 

Martin Scorsese's The Wolf of Wall Street depicts the rise and fall of Jordan Belfort, a stockbroker whose success leads to a life of excess, addiction, and crime. The film frequently depicts debauchery in full detail, with some of the more extreme cases including a character eating a live goldfish, throwing dwarves at an inflatable dart board, and public masturbation.

Hustle culture is the heart and soul of The Wolf of Wall Street. Wealth is power, and Belfort becomes a God of Wall Street, with his sales script becoming gospel for his disciples at his firm Stratton Oakmont. He is the American Dream exemplified, a man who built himself up off the ground and became the largest over-the-counter investment firm of the late 80’s. For the young men who adopt this religion, they’re quickly handed Belfort's bible and welcomed in. His disciples adopt his moral values, worshipping the dollar above all else. It doesn’t matter what they need to do to get rich, no matter how many people they screw over. They trade penny stocks and equity of small businesses, to get large commissions from each investor. When that isn’t enough, they run pump-and-dump schemes. They’re the epitome of the finance bro, dedicating their entire lives and personalities to the accumulation of wealth.

The Wolf of Wall Street presents its world through Belfort’s eyes, and to Belfort, money is masculinity. He shows off his wealth to be more of a 'man'. He gets a luxurious mansion and multiple supercars. Money is power, and Belfort uses that power over women. The women in the film are treated as nothing more than disposable objects, whether it be a surface to snort cocaine off of, or a sex toy to keep in the office. Margot Robbie, in her breakout role, plays Belfort's wife, Naomi Campbell. Belfort, and by extension the camera, ogles her every chance he gets. Sex appeal becomes her character. Her line “Nothing like short short skirts around the house” is now iconic. She’s a trophy object, a status symbol to show off Belfort’s wealth and success. 

“I have everything every man has ever dreamed of. I got a big mansion, I got super cars, I can live anywhere I want, I got unlimited women, I go where I want; I do anything I want all the time.”

You’d think the above quote comes from The Wolf of Wall Street, but it comes from Andrew Tate, an online influencer and self-proclaimed misogynist. He's taken over the TikTok algorithm of impressionable young men globally, going viral by constantly spouting misogynistic rhetoric and parading his wealthy lifestyle. When asked what would happen if he was accused of cheating, his answer was “Slap, slap, grab, choke, shut up bitch, sex.” He moved to Romania, explaining, “I like the idea of just being able to do what I want. I like being free.” He is currently under investigation in the UK and Romania for several cases of sexual assault and human trafficking.

Belfort and Tate are similar, having both built a money-hungry audience and frat-like community where misogyny is fostered. The Wolf of Wall Street’s demonstrations of depravity are there to condemn, mock and diminish the Wall Street system and the finance bro. The Wolf of Wall Street tells you from the start that the system is “a fugazi … it’s fairy dust, it doesn’t exist.” The brokers are a product of a capitalist system that generates speculative wealth by buying and selling shares. They shuffle money around and get rich doing it, taking advantage of the system to hoard as much wealth as possible. The film’s satire is weakened by its appeal. Belfort and his disciples have been able to make hundreds of millions and live a life of hedonism. They don’t care about contributing to society, or the clients whose investments they use to fatten their pockets. 

When Belfort's fall from grace was complete, there was no significant punishment. 22 months of jail time for securities fraud and money laundering. He's now grifting cryptocurrencies whilst his victims are still owed restitution payments, many of whom lost their life savings. 

Just like Belfort espoused his Wall Street gospel to his broker disciples, Andrew Tate leveraged his fame to establish 'Hustler’s University', a platform priced at $50 per month where subscribers could learn drop shipping techniques and how to push cryptocurrencies. The cornerstone of 'Hustler’s University' was its affiliate program, promising participants 50% of the profits from new members they recruited. Tate created a pyramid scheme wealth distribution system, where the primary route to financial success lay in convincing others to join his community. He tied wealth to his ideas of toxic masculinity, pushing the idea that men are the providers and protectors in relationships. He says women don’t want a poor man who isn’t a provider, so if you pay him he can teach you to make money and thus become a 'man', who can ‘own’ a woman.

Even when the film is admonishing Belfort and what he stands for, finance bros revere him. At several screenings of the film near Wall Street, crowds of brokers cheered as Belfort snorted cocaine and worked against the FBI. In the film, Belfort is dubbed as the titular ‘Wolf of Wall Street’ in a scathing Forbes article. The actual article doesn’t use the phrase but is equally scathing in its description of Belfort’s sale tactics, calling him a “twisted Robin Hood who takes from the rich and gives to himself and his merry band of brokers.” In the film, the article leads to the Stratton Oakmont offices being hounded with eager young brokers desperate to join the firm. This scene mirrored the impact that The Wolf of Wall Street had, which unintentionally inspired a generation of new finance bros. The film allows itself to be appropriated by placing Jordan Belfort as the narrator and protagonist, putting the audience in his shoes allows them to empathise and relate to him. The Wolf of Wall Street feeds into the desires and insecurities of young men who are trying to find ways to express their masculinity. Those who see the rise of feminism as diminishing their own personal chances of success, disillusioned by a system that is slowly working to level the playing field and oust them from the top. They turn to Belfort and figures like Andrew Tate, seeking a role model who offers ‘quick-fix’ answers to the complex issues of wealth and masculinity. 

There is real danger in having figures like Belfort or Tate as a role model. They prey on insecurity and fear to succeed. After The Wolf of Wall Street was released in cinemas around the globe, the real life Belfort became a motivational speaker, author, sales trainer and consultant. The position of the male role model and self-improvement influencer is easily used to manipulate an audience for personal gain. It’s important to be cautious when listening to these figures. The key is to listen to how they uplift their audience. If it's by putting others down or promising wealth, it’s likely another Tate or Belfort. Don’t stand by while your friends or family fall under the influence of a negative role model. Sit down and have important conversations about how these mindsets damage others. There needs to be more role models in the community who can promote healthy masculinity and show the importance of uplifting others. People we can point to and promote when having this discussion, so that fewer people fall for the rhetoric of Belfort or Tate. That’s the key to pushing past the influence of The Wolf of Wall Street.