The Secret of My Success

The Yuppie is defined as being a well-educated young individual that was born during the baby boom. The Yuppie had a high paying job that was centred in an urban environment and was of a higher class. During the 1980s the Yuppie could be described as an ‘influential demographic group and as a new lifestyle and value orientation that places extreme emphasis on the pursuit of financial rewards and career success.’ This highlights how ambitious this social group was within the 80s as these highly educated young individuals believed they had the potential to become an economic powerhouse.

The Secret of My Success is a 1987 film which stars Michael J. Fox and portrays the Yuppie in a comedic manner. Brantley Foster (Michael J. Fox) is a recent graduate from the University of Kansas who decides to move to New York where he has a job as a financier. When he arrives he discovers that the company has been taken over by a competitor and is fired before he even starts his job. As the film continues he gets a job in the mailroom through the help of his uncle who is the CEO. This shows how being of this certain class has instant positives as it allows Foster to have the opportunity to climb the company ladder. Due to his role in the company Brantley is able to see where ill-advised decisions are occurring and as he has no power in the board room he creates a new persona through the access of the mail room and his great understanding of company processes. This new identity is the most generic image of a Yuppie from image to personality. The film portrays the Yuppie as a successful well motivated individual that achieves high ambitions and this can reflect on 80s in terms of meritocracy.

This film portrays the positives and negatives of the Yuppie, the negative being their lifestyle and the moral decisions that are made within their personal relationships. The positive being their highly ambitious nature and determination to improve their social ranking.     

Wesley Perkins, H. ‘Religious Commitment, Yuppie Values, and Well-Being in Post-Collegiate Life’. March 1991, Pg 244.