Why do they make a big deal out of the kid cleaning the fish bowl? I get that it was a big day for them but given that the entire office ends up heckling and throwing stuff at Steve Madden what was the big deal? Surely throwing stuff at him was going to jeopardise their relationship more than some kid cleaning a fish bowl before he even showed up?
shareIt's aimed at showing the real "wolf pack mentality" of the company and their employees, which Belfort strived for and created. No weaklings allowed, in any circumstances - especially on the super important introducing of Steve Madden, the biggest IPO to that day - to soil the company's/Belfort's image as strongest of the strongest. Taking care of your fish pet, wearing a "cute" bow tie, wouldn't last in that kind of milieu. Belfort has built this empire thanks to his wolflike, cunny and no-mercy mindset and strategies, and in that arena a guy polishing a fish bowl simply doesn't cut it. That's not how a super-professional on-the-top company can portray itself, even if it's only one guy, The wolflike mentality would also explain why the new guy is ridiculed and being made into a laughing stock for his sort of innocent action. He simply doesn't cut it, and in order to entice the other's he is being ridiculed of it. No weakness, no mercy!
That's my opinion and interpretation!
Plus, I don't think Steve was there at that particular moment, it was the last "cleaning up" before he entered.
Finally a person who understands this film and why certain scenes were filmed. This one is questioned all the time, it's just another "Bloated Scene" to many... You nailed it. Donnie eating the fish is just the culmination of it all
shareYes
shareIn my opinion it was blatantly obvious why they berated the man cleaning his fish bowl. I'm not trying to be mean, but I don't understand how people don't get scenes like this, or this entire movie, it's not like we were watching a documentary about quantum physics.
shareAccording to the book, this actually happened exactly how we saw it play out in the film,
That's interesting! I imagined this scene being a fictional one, inserted as a quick way to build resentment towards Donnie before his eventual fall.
The Job Interview Poem https://youtu.be/MtkmC4kCSTs
Jordan and his friends are like pedophiles
they prey on people
they get off on bullying people
that young man with the fish bowl was the victim that day
Yes, everyone who isn’t the target of the bullying bonds over their shared enjoyment at the target’s humiliation. I think it’s staff to assume that bullying of that sort was commonplace.
shareYea, that was a plot hole because Donnie would have choked to death if he really swallowed a fish like that
share