ABC Goes Retro – Trots Out 20 Year Old Anti-Wall Street Flicks During Banking Crisis Bailouts

Coverage of the banking crisis is everywhere. Pundits and politicos claim the instability is threatening the financial markets and the overall economy. However, ABC's Sept. 22 "World News with Charles Gibson" used the crisis to take a swipe at the wealthy.

"In just six months, five major investment banks have now vanished from the landscape, ending an era of aggressive deal making and spectacular profits," Stark said. "These masters of the universe immortalized by Hollywood have been humbled."

The two movie examples Stark used in her report -"The Bonfire of the Vanities" from 1990 and "Wall Street" from 1987 - portrayed businessmen as greedy and immoral.

Stark also used Charles Geisst, author of "Wall Street: A History: From Its Beginnings to the Fall of Enron," to back up her claim - adding his analysis that this was the end of the so-called excesses of Wall Street.

"I think the new Wall Street is going to be a little less gilt-edged and a little bit more dressed in everyday wool," Geisst said. "Driving around in your Ferrari with an expensive $100 cigar in your mouth is probably going to become a symbol of excess rather than wealth."