Ethics in Film: Wall Street and Michael Clayton Analyzed
This paper examines two films — Wall Street (1987) and Michael Clayton — through the lens of applied ethics, drawing on utilitarian and Kantian moral frameworks as outlined in Boatright's Ethics and the Conduct of Business. The analysis identifies the central ethical issues depicted in each film, including corporate greed, insider trading, legal corruption, and professional misconduct, and connects these issues to competing ethical theories. The paper argues that both films reflect real-world organizational failures rooted in the prioritization of personal gain over moral law and societal welfare.
- Introduction: Film and ethics reflect real organizational behavior
- Wall Street (1987): Plot and Ethical Issues: Greed, insider trading, and moral disregard
- Wall Street and Utilitarian Ethics: Personal gain justified through utilitarian reasoning
- Michael Clayton: Plot and Ethical Issues: Legal corruption and professional misconduct depicted
- Michael Clayton and Kantian Ethics: Defying moral law yields no genuine good
- Conclusion: Both films expose ethics failures in organizations
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What makes this paper effective
- The paper pairs each film with a distinct ethical framework — utilitarianism for Wall Street and Kantian theory for Michael Clayton — creating a clear and parallel analytical structure.
- It grounds its ethical analysis in a cited academic source (Boatright), lending scholarly credibility to what could otherwise be a purely descriptive film summary.
- The paper moves efficiently from plot summary to ethical identification to theoretical application, keeping each film's treatment concise and self-contained.
Key academic technique demonstrated
The paper demonstrates applied ethical analysis: taking a real-world scenario (here, a fictional but realistic film narrative) and systematically evaluating it using formal ethical frameworks. This technique requires the writer to first identify morally relevant behaviors, then match those behaviors to a theoretical lens, and finally explain what the theory reveals or condemns about those behaviors — a standard method in business ethics coursework.
Structure breakdown
The paper is organized into two parallel film analyses, each containing three subsections: plot summary, ethical issues, and connection to ethical theory. An introduction frames the broader argument that film reflects real organizational ethics, and a shared reference list closes the paper. This parallel structure makes the comparative logic transparent and easy to follow at the undergraduate level.
Introduction
The daily operations of organizations across the globe are shaped and directed by the ethical decisions they make. The ethical approach an organization adopts as part of its culture will ultimately determine its performance and long-term stability. Business ethics has long been a lens through which society evaluates corporate behavior, and art has always helped imitate real life. Films, in particular, often depict the actual workings of corporations — including those hailed as pillars of the economy — and in doing so teach audiences lessons they might never otherwise encounter. This paper takes a close look at two films, Wall Street (1987) and Michael Clayton, and examines the association between these films and established ethical theories.
Wall Street (1987): Plot and Ethical Issues
The film revolves around two central characters: Gordon Gekko and Bud Fox, and the choices they make in the business arena. Fox is depicted as a young stockbroker who initially struggles to earn an honest living until Gekko draws him into his fold. Because Gekko is a wealthy and influential stock market trader and predictor, Fox is enticed by his lifestyle and gradually learns the illegal side of the trade alongside the legal. Gekko teaches Fox that greed is good, and Fox is swallowed by that philosophy — a transformation that brings him significant material wealth but at a serious moral cost.
The film brings to the fore the greed that is prevalent among corporations and the wealthy within society. It shows how readily people disregard human welfare for personal gain, and it exposes the immoral dealings that occur among illicit traders, including the commodification of relationships and people. There is a total disregard for the societal ethics of fair wealth distribution and equal opportunity for economic advancement. A segment of society is suppressed economically by a powerful few who justify their dominance through the "greed is good" philosophy, treating the entire economic system as their personal domain.
Wall Street and Utilitarian Ethics
Utilitarian ethics holds that an action is deemed right or wrong based on the amount of good or harm it produces. An action that maximizes pleasure or benefit — even if it involves deception — may be considered ethically justified under this framework. For instance, telling a lie to save a life is considered acceptable because the outcome is positive. In his text, Boatright (2012, p. 52) outlines the utilitarian theory as advocating for actions that produce the maximum possible pleasure or benefit as the ethical actions to take.
This is precisely the approach that Fox, Gekko, and other traders adopt in the film. Their underhand deals, deceit, and coercion of debtors do not trouble them as long as their personal needs are ultimately met and a luxurious lifestyle is maintained. Their ethical calculus is entirely self-serving — a distortion of utilitarian reasoning in which "the greatest good" is understood solely in terms of personal gain rather than collective welfare.
Michael Clayton: Plot and Ethical Issues
Michael Clayton is a film centered on individual connections and the misuse of those connections to circumvent the legal process. Michael Clayton, the central character, is known as someone who can "fix" problems within the criminal justice system and among law enforcement agencies. He is, however, deeply entangled in gambling and alcohol — habits that erode his financial stability and drive him toward increasingly dubious methods of sustaining himself.
Clayton uses his personal connections to resolve problems for his clients, yet he remains unable to address his own challenges. A particularly consequential case he handles involves Arthur Eden, a lawyer who has been working on litigation against an agrochemical company for six years. Arthur relies on medication for his mental and emotional stability, but when he stops taking it, he begins behaving erratically — stripping naked during a legal deposition that Clayton also attends. This episode draws Clayton deeper into the case, bringing him closer to danger as the stakes rise around him.
Clayton is a trained legal professional working within a reputable firm, yet he is addicted to gambling and alcohol — facts that push him into corrupt dealings with the law in order to win cases and stay financially afloat. The legal system itself is depicted as deeply flawed, with case outcomes depending heavily on personal connections rather than merit or justice. The professional environment in which Clayton operates involves dangerous arrangements and, as depicted by the car bomb he narrowly escapes, even potential violence.
Conclusion
Both Wall Street and Michael Clayton illustrate how organizations and individuals that abandon moral frameworks — whether utilitarian or Kantian — ultimately undermine not only their own stability but the broader social systems they operate within. The films serve as cautionary reflections of real corporate and legal cultures, demonstrating that the pursuit of personal gain at the expense of ethical conduct carries significant consequences for individuals, institutions, and society at large.
Reference
Boatright, J. R. (2012). Ethics and the Conduct of Business (7th ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Education Inc.
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