A major takeaway theme for me was that the wages of sin... can be fabulous. Well, in the short run: Jordan eventually gets taken down by his nemesis. But because he's rich -- or used to be -- he gets better treatment than other convicts: he serves 'soft' time in a country-club prison for white collar felons. Another major theme is how it is standard operating procedure in Jordan's world for women to be treated as sex objects. Jordan even makes a pass at Aunt Emma. And if they aren't treated as sex objects, then they are manipulated and demeaned. Like the token female broker, Danielle. Of course, Jordan hires people who are so greedy, they will stoop to do anything-- anything no matter how low, how personally degrading-- to make money. But only a woman, Danielle, is shown submitting to an act of personal debasement, submitting to having her hair shaved for $10,000 in cash. If they aren't sex objects or objects for ridicule and humiliation, the're just dumped, like Terri, Jordan's first wife.

Money is obviously at the center of the movie as it not only drives Jordan, his motivation to obtain wealth, but also enables him to indulge in his 'sinful' appetites. So, Paul, the 'wages of sin' is linked to 'the love of money is the root of all evil,' intertwined themes. And we can extend your idea about how women are treated as objects to EVERYONE who isn't part of the financial crew is an object: * Customers are marks. Zero remorse in selling them bad products. * Police and legal authorities are not people, they are assholes out to get Jordan. And apart from the incredible Quaalude slow chase scene, my favorite moment in the movie has to be the discussion about the midgets. Watch this scene carefully: * They refer to the midgets as "it". * They talk about how you can't look at midgets in the eyes. * They are built to be thrown like a lawn dart. * They are ornery. And this comment about legal liability: "Stick with the loophole. If we don't consider him a human, if we consider it an act, I think we're in the clear." If we don't consider him a human. Everything Jordan does to make money is predicated on a complete and total LACK OF EMPATHY for their financial victims. And they are able to have this attitude toward their marks because they do not recognize their humanity. That is their 'moral' loophole for everything they do in terms of their business. And it extends to all aspects of their lives. That's why I see this movie as a morality tale and it shocked me when some people criticized the movie for - what they claimed - its aggrandizement of the lifestyle it depicts. I think the OPPOSITE is true: The complete degradation of their lives is a portrayal of the dehumanizing power of putting money at the center of one's moral universe. I think Karl Marx, if he were to see this movie, would after the final credits roll, stand up in a crowded theater and proclaim, "See, THIS is what I'm talking about," a depiction of the moral bankruptcy of soulless capitalism.