Hedonism Analysis in Martin Scorcese the Wolf of Wall Street

Muhammad Abiyyu De Rossi; Refelina Tabita Sari Rajagukguk; Grace Natalia Sihaloho; Syamsul Bahri

doi:10.59890/ijatss.v3i8.53

Authors

Muhammad Abiyyu De Rossi Medan State University
Refelina Tabita Sari Rajagukguk Medan State University
Grace Natalia Sihaloho Medan State University
Syamsul Bahri Medan State University

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.59890/ijatss.v3i8.53

Keywords:

Hedonism, Film, The Wolf of Wall Street, Martin Scorcese

Abstract

Hedonism is a philosophical and psychological concept that centers on the idea that pleasure is the highest good and the ultimate of human life. In the film, ideology is portrayed through characters driven by excess, indulgence, and the pursuit of personal desire. This study contributes to literary and cinematic discourse by highlighting how narrative media can reflect and interrogate philosophical concepts like hedonism within a performative framework. The film functions as a dramatic critique of consumerist culture, illustrating how unchecked hedonism becomes both a personal downfall and a broader societal pathology. This research aims to explore the representation of hedonistic values in Martin Scorsese’s film The Wolf of Wall Street through a qualitative descriptive analysis. The findings show that while pleasure is portrayed as a desirable goal, it ultimately leads to emotional emptiness, social harm, and personal destruction. The results shows that structural with the most dominant type, Egoistic Hedonism (28.1%) and Normative Hedonism (9.4%) the study examines how the characters' dialogues and actions reflect varying dimensions of pleasureseeking behavior. Each form of hedonism is categorized and analyzed based on selected scenes and dialogues, revealing a dominant pattern of egoistic and folk hedonism that aligns with capitalist excess and personal gratification. The film’s protagonist, Jordan Belfort, epitomizes modern hedonism by pursuing wealth, sex, drugs, and power with little regard for ethical boundaries or long-term consequences

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