Margin Call and Digging Ditches

In Margin Call, writer/director J.C. Chandor often compares the jobs that exist on Wall Street to other professions that produce more tangible results, such as construction or engineering. Peter Sullivan, the young but exceedingly bright analyst that discovers the crisis that the bank he works for is in, often questions the worth and morality of his job. Admittedly, he himself was drawn to Wall Street for the attractive pay and the fact that the job only requires that he "move numbers around." However, as he learns what his bosses are getting paid, Sullivan is shocked. He knows the little knowledge that those above him have, and does not believe anyone in any profession deserves that much money.

Sullivan is not the only one who perceives his job to be of little value though. In one scene, Sullivan is trying to explain to board members the crisis their bank is facing. The members, who would rather ignore bad news than address it and fix it, immediately begin to question Sullivan's background. As they find out that Sullivan is essentially a rocket scientist, with degrees from UPenn and MIT, they all retreat from their interrogation, fully aware that although he is simply an analyst, he is clearly the smartest person in the room.

Near the conclusion of the film, Sam Rodgers, a senior executive at the firm, also questions the worth and morality of his job. As his boss tells him, "come on, you could be digging ditches right now," Rodgers points out that at least if he was digging ditches, there would be evidence of his work in the soil of the earth.

Through these muses on worth and morality, Candor emphasizes the little value that Wall Street adds to society. I personally cannot comment on that, because I still don't really understand how Wall Street works. When I talk to my friends, all of whom are pursuing careers in finance and investment banking, I always find myself completely lost, and usually tell them, "you guys are just making terms, numbers, and money up." It was refreshing to me when watching Margin Call that someone else agrees with me.

- Bryan Stuke