I don't know how to feel about writing my first blog post. I mean, I have written a lot of things in the past but I hardly ever show anyone. I usually delete or shred them into a thousand pieces. I'm not sure if it's caused by my lack of confidence in my writing or just the sheer will to delete and tear things up. Anyway, here I am - blogging, finally. (To be frank, I probably would not have made this post if it was not a compulsory exercise in my Reporting class). I will be posting everyday about everything and anything. Alright, then...let's get cracking.
If you have never seen an episode of the recently concluded television series, Breaking Bad, then I would like to offer you my deepest condolences. You have no idea what you've been missing. And for your benefit, I will give a brief plot. The story is set in Albuquerque, New Mexico. It's about an extremely gifted chemist and chemistry high school teacher, Walter White, who is diagnosed with lung cancer. After being told that the tumour was inoperable, he decides to go into the production of crystal meth with a former student of his. His intention is to pay for his chemo treatments, as well as leave enough money for his family in the event that he should die.
Someone joked that if this series was set in the UK, there probably would be no story because, well, the NHS would pay for his treatments and poor Mr White wouldn't forced to commit crime. I guess we would never know, would we? Because this story is not set in the UK. It is set in New Mexico. It is set in a place where, if you have an illness and cannot pay for it, you are basically sentenced to death. Walter White is a victim of this society.
If you have never seen an episode of the recently concluded television series, Breaking Bad, then I would like to offer you my deepest condolences. You have no idea what you've been missing. And for your benefit, I will give a brief plot. The story is set in Albuquerque, New Mexico. It's about an extremely gifted chemist and chemistry high school teacher, Walter White, who is diagnosed with lung cancer. After being told that the tumour was inoperable, he decides to go into the production of crystal meth with a former student of his. His intention is to pay for his chemo treatments, as well as leave enough money for his family in the event that he should die.
Someone joked that if this series was set in the UK, there probably would be no story because, well, the NHS would pay for his treatments and poor Mr White wouldn't forced to commit crime. I guess we would never know, would we? Because this story is not set in the UK. It is set in New Mexico. It is set in a place where, if you have an illness and cannot pay for it, you are basically sentenced to death. Walter White is a victim of this society.
Things, however, get out of hand. It is not just the simple case of Walter making meth and selling to a group of addicted buyers. As time goes by, we see that he gets more invested in it. He gets mixed with the wrong crowd. He has business deals with dangerous people - people who threaten his life and the life of his entire family. He commits crimes in order to ensure self preservation. He kills people, he tricks people, he lies to his family, he does a lot of horrible and unthinkable things. Even after he has more than enough money to take care of his family, he still cannot back down of the business of meth making and distribution. His product has a signature blue colour and is almost 100% pure. This makes him so popular that his clients want to know who he is. No one really knows who this famous Heisenberg (which is an alias he gives himself) really is.
I know, I know....he is not such a victim, you might say. But it is easier to condemn and rebuke someone when we have never walked in the person's shoes, isn't it? I guess the question we need to ask ourselves is: What would we do if we were in Walter White's shoes? How many times have we been faced with moral dilemma and had to pick one of two horrible choices. Should he leave his family bankrupt after his death? Or should he commit crimes to ensure the financial safety of his family? Should he let the drug lords harm his wife and children? Or should he kill them before they get to his family? Now, I am by no means making up excuses for what he did because, let's face it, he hurt a lot of people along the way. But the answer to whether he is a hero or villain is not exactly black and white. There are so many layers to intercept in this instance.
For me, Walter White is a tragic hero. At the beginning of the season, we see him, a not-so-wealthy chemistry teacher, who is dedicated to teaching. He lives in a modest house. I remember from the first episode that the water heating does not even work. Yet, he seems comfortable with his family and life. We learn later on that he is an overqualified chemistry teacher and that he is in fact a genius. I say he is a tragic hero because, beneath it all, he is a good man. Walter White reminds me of a Shakespearean tragic hero like Hamlet or Othello, who are both protagonists, but still have numerous flaws that lead to their downfall. For Mr White, it is his pride and his inability to back down even when he knows he should. (Okay! And maybe a bit of narcissism...but does that not fall under pride?)
I know, I know....he is not such a victim, you might say. But it is easier to condemn and rebuke someone when we have never walked in the person's shoes, isn't it? I guess the question we need to ask ourselves is: What would we do if we were in Walter White's shoes? How many times have we been faced with moral dilemma and had to pick one of two horrible choices. Should he leave his family bankrupt after his death? Or should he commit crimes to ensure the financial safety of his family? Should he let the drug lords harm his wife and children? Or should he kill them before they get to his family? Now, I am by no means making up excuses for what he did because, let's face it, he hurt a lot of people along the way. But the answer to whether he is a hero or villain is not exactly black and white. There are so many layers to intercept in this instance.
For me, Walter White is a tragic hero. At the beginning of the season, we see him, a not-so-wealthy chemistry teacher, who is dedicated to teaching. He lives in a modest house. I remember from the first episode that the water heating does not even work. Yet, he seems comfortable with his family and life. We learn later on that he is an overqualified chemistry teacher and that he is in fact a genius. I say he is a tragic hero because, beneath it all, he is a good man. Walter White reminds me of a Shakespearean tragic hero like Hamlet or Othello, who are both protagonists, but still have numerous flaws that lead to their downfall. For Mr White, it is his pride and his inability to back down even when he knows he should. (Okay! And maybe a bit of narcissism...but does that not fall under pride?)
In the final episode, he is finally able to be honest with his wife. We agree that he started out with good intentions. Seems ironic doesn't it? - committing crimes with good intentions. Anyway, he tells his wife why he really did what he did and why he could not stop:
"I did it for me. I liked it. I was good at it. And I was...I was alive."
He gives her the closure that she deserves, and at the time, he sheds more light on the reasons for his actions. In the end, Walter White dies. Alone. His children will end up hating him for being a criminal mastermind, his entire family will hate him, the world will remember him as a crook who put his family at risk just because of a few millions of dollars...and so on. Then, there are those people, like me, who will always sympathise with him - because not everything is black and white.
I guess he achieves one of the most important things he wants to achieve, which is to leave enough money for his family, which he does through their family friends. Perhaps, the biggest lesson to be learnt here is that there is always a consequence for each action. I love how, in this show, no one gets away with whatever evil they have done. There is always some sort of karma. As the creator of the show rightly puts it;
He gives her the closure that she deserves, and at the time, he sheds more light on the reasons for his actions. In the end, Walter White dies. Alone. His children will end up hating him for being a criminal mastermind, his entire family will hate him, the world will remember him as a crook who put his family at risk just because of a few millions of dollars...and so on. Then, there are those people, like me, who will always sympathise with him - because not everything is black and white.
I guess he achieves one of the most important things he wants to achieve, which is to leave enough money for his family, which he does through their family friends. Perhaps, the biggest lesson to be learnt here is that there is always a consequence for each action. I love how, in this show, no one gets away with whatever evil they have done. There is always some sort of karma. As the creator of the show rightly puts it;
"If there's a greater lesson to breaking bad, it's that actions have consequences. If religion is a reaction of man, and nothing more, it seems to me that it represents a human desire for wrongdoers to be punished."
I love how the series ends with Badfinger's song titled Baby Blue. The lyrics go something like "Guess I got what I deserve...". Everyone gets what they deserve in this series. Walter dying is some sort of liberation, not just for himself, but for his family and the entire town. All the people who were involved in crime either get killed or have their lives so destroyed that they would probably rather be dead.
Personally, I did not want Walter to die. I wanted him to be cured of his cancer and live happily ever after with his family, and all his sins forgotten. Yes...yes! I watched too much Disney as a kid (and I still do). Maybe it's a good thing I'm not a writer for a famous television series. Thank God for little favours.
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