Do you think violent television shows effect the viewers’
morals? Do some television shows portray antagonists as protagonists?
Television show “Breaking Bad,” which was aired in 2008 until 2013. It was
produced by Vince Gilligan and it is about Walter White, an elderly chemistry
teacher in high school who learns of his terminal cancer and begins cooking
methamphetamine to provide his family with enough money to live comfortably
after he dies. In one of the episodes, Walter begins to question the morality
of his actions. Walter White is viewed as a protagonist because even though he
commits criminal actions, he does that to benefit his family. With that said,
the popular culture was supportive of a criminal’s actions based on the
“justifications” of it being with good intentions. The popular culture
struggles with the morals of right and wrong.
People get emotionally attached to the characters in the
shows that they watch. David Pierson, author of Breaking Bad: Critical Essays
on the Contexts, Politics, Style, and Reception of the Television Series stated
“When viewing a drama, we come to like characters whose actions and motivations
we judge as proper or morally correct while we dislike characters whose actions
and motivations we judge as improper or morally incorrect… This intertwining of
affective dispositions and moral judgments permits and governs our emotional
involvement in the drama” (Pg 74). Meaning that the viewers’ appreciation of
characters is linked to moral judgment. In Breaking Bad, Walter White gets
justified for all of the criminal activities he has committed. Rationalizing
his actions as being “the right thing to do,” “this couldn’t have been avoided,”
“I’m doing this for my family.” People are attached to Walter White.
According to London Evening Standard, Paul Cheston, a
middle-aged woman tried to kill her mother by using the methods from Breaking
Bad. In October of 2014 Paul acquired some poison from a drug dealer and tried
to slip it into her mother’s coca cola. Her statement was “It was like I saw myself to be some kind of Mexican
drug warlord. I would think it through as if I was the main character in
Breaking Bad.” Paul Cheston associated herself with the main character so much
that she pretended to be him. A much less extreme case would be Warren Buffet, an
eighty two year old billionaire and a huge “Breaking Bad” fan. He said that he “would
do business with Walter White.” That is because of his tactics and his business
mindset. "He’s my guy if I ever
have to go toe-to-toe with anyone."
You raise a thoughtful point in television and movies. Many times the "hero" of the movie performs illegal or wrong acts but are still portrayed as the protagonists because their intentions are sound. Breaking Bad is a good example since it revolves around a character that cooks meth, one of the worst drugs on earth. Keep in mind that you said "violent" shows, but cooking meth is not violent. Pay attention to the contradiction here. The blog would be more insightful if you explored how he is portrayed as a positive character in a specific episode. What techniques did the show use to achieve this?
ReplyDeleteOne detail you would want to pay attention to is how you define "moral." Moral is often defined as what is your duty as a human being at the moment, regardless of the consequence. In this case, cooking meth is morally wrong because it is a drug, regardless if the money is for a good cause. Relating to this concept, you could extend your paper to utilitarianism versus deontology in the big picture. Does end justify the means?
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ReplyDeleteYour analysis of how the meth cooking protagonist Walter White decision's are portrayed to the audience as good because he is playing the hero role in the show is interesting. People would normally think that a person that cooks meth is a bad person or would play an antagonist role in a television show. Walter White cooks meth to make money as his only option given the situation he is in. People are attached to this show because the protagonist does actions that people wouldn't normally do in their lives. You say the decisions he does are not moral even though to the audience they can be viewed as good ones. Viewers of breaking bad need to understand that those action will always be bad. People who are becoming violent because of watching the show think that it is okay to be like the character Walter White. It would have been easier to portray how violent the show if you referenced a specific episode. You could have gone more in depth of why people are so attached to Breaking Bad and how it is attracting..
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