In the crime-drama television series, “Breaking Bad” we follow see the inner struggle of good and evil within the main character throughout the entire series to the point where we question which side of his personality we are witnessing. We see Walter White as a mild mannered and respectful chemistry teacher who also works at a car wash to help provide for his family just like the typical family man. Walter has a teenage son who has multiple sclerosis, and a wife who is pregnant with their second child. After learning that he has been diagnosed with Stage IIIA lung cancer, Walter decides quickly that he has to secure funds to help pay for his treatments, and also take care of his family after his death. This decision would spark definite change in his lifestyle, relationships, personality, and appearance. The result of this change would create the person we know so well, Heisenberg. Heisenberg is the ruthless, power hungry individual that will do anything possible to make sure that nothing gets in the way of his money, drug business, and security of himself or his family. In this paper we will discuss how certain events make Walter White progressively become darker throughout the series of “Breaking Bad” to the point where he becomes Heisenberg, as well as comparing him to different characters of TV shows on television today.
There are many events that helped expedite Walter White’s transition from the quiet chemistry teacher to the vengeful crystal meth kingpin, but
When Walter loses the money, his views change. He convinces himself that a man doesn’t need morals, and that the only thing that matters is how
Because of this new depression, Walter starts to get himself wasted every day. He hasn’t been showing up to work, and faces the prospect of losing his job. Mama, realizing the potentially catastrophic effect this can have on her family, must intervene. She gives her son the one thing he has always wanted, power. She gives him the remaining $6,500 to use as he wishes (except for the $3,000 to Beneatha’s continued
The newfound distributor turned out to be a sociopath, so in order to protect his identity Walter created the alias Heisenberg for himself. This was the point when Walter’s psychological health began decaying rapidly.
21 Jump Street is a movie that revolves around two undercover police officers. It all started in high school. Schmidt was a less popular honor roll student where as Jenko was a popular jock who lacked the necessary intelligence to get through high school. After graduation, both Schmidt and Jenko joined the police force, which sparked their unexpected friendship. Jenko saw the benefit of befriending the more intelligent Schmidt and Schmidt noticed the athletics of Jenko to use to his benefit. After graduating from the police academy, the pair fall short of being considered quality police officers. Luckily for them, they are assigned to an undercover unit on Jump Street. Their task is to infiltrate a drug dealer’s operation and to find who is distributing synthetic drugs to high school students. During their undercover investigation, they are in awe as they discover the extent of how stereotyping has changed from when they were high school students. However, it remains somewhat the same in the respect that stereotyping still defines everyone within the school.
driven by a force to prove himself but also to get revenge on his father, Walt, whose past continually
When Tarek gets detained by the NYPD in the subway station, and Walter tries to intervene on his behalf, Walter is told that all he can do is make a statement in the station. Walter Vale does everything in his power to help Tarek get free. Even though Walter never had any contact with the immigrant population before, he feels very connected to Tarek over the bond that they share in music, and he helps him despite his ethnicity and race. Walter hires a lawyer to try and get Tarek released, and he visits him frequently. When Walter visits Tarek, he sees how the people are discriminated against and even with all his influence, Walter feels powerless in this situation. Walter was a man of privilege living in America and he never experienced the feeling of such powerlessness in a situation before. This feeling of powerlessness makes Walter fight for what he believes in and he tries everything in his power to help Tarek and set him free.
Watching the Breaking Bad series helped me understand how one's superego can deteriorate into their id following Freud’s psychoanalytic theory. Walter White, the anti hero, takes us on a journey which vividly illustrates Freud’s thesis. From watching the series and reading critiques on the Freudian aspect, I will develop my own report on:
Do you ever look back on your good old high school yearbook pictures and say to yourself “what in the world was I thinking?” You often catch yourself wanting to hide it or rip the picture frame off the wall that your mom once proudly put up. You find it hanging on relative’s refrigerators, or being the topic of laughter on holidays. Trends throughout the years often change. Many of these changes happen quickly. One week something is “in” then the next week it is totally “out”. Imagine having to go back to school 10-15 years after graduating and trying your best to fit and blend in with the teenagers of that time period. In the movie, 21 Jump Street, that is what they attempted to do. The movie is starring Channing Tatum and Jonah Hill. It’s about two police officers who are forced to relive their high school days. They are assigned to go undercover as high school students to prevent the outbreak of a new synthetic drug and capture its supplier. An “honor roll geek” and “athletic underachiever” work together to fight crime and form an inseparable friendship while doing so. The police officers are forced to gain the mindset of a teenager. They have to learn how to fit in and interact with others during that time period. They realize that some of the things that were once “cool” are no longer as cool as they once thought they were. This movie features various different stereotypes in high school. Styles have changed, along with attitudes, and new clicks have formed. The
Walter's great achievement appears as a failure at first before revealing the man that he has become. The destruction
Orange is the New Black by Jenji Kohan has been streaming on Netflix since July 2013 by the production company Lionsgate Television. The television show is about the main character Piper Chapman who just got in jail. She is serving time at Litchfield Penitentiary, a federal prison for women in upstate New York, for drug smuggling with her ex-girlfriend (Alex) a couple of years ago. When Chapman goes to prison she is reunited with Alex, even though their relationship goes through ups and downs as the time goes by. The main focus of the television show is to present a public discourse about the criminal justice system, particularly incarceration in the United States. Through the social cognitive theory and the agenda setting theory one is able to see how Orange is the New Black draws attention to different issues within our incarceration system, specially imprisonment of women. From the social cognitive theory aspect,the filmmaker has communicated an acceptance towards distinctive identities by having a variety of characters in the show. Apart from this, agenda setting theory comes into play when particular issues within imprisonment are presented, like solitary confinement was throughout many episodes. These can be further examined and analyzed looking at all the elements Jenji Kohan implements in her scripts to open up a public discussions about social issues.
Walter struggles in understanding who he needs to be for his family. He wants to take his place as the patriarch of the family, but he feels incapable of providing them with the lifestyle they deserve. This concern is always at the forefront of his mind, and it affects his attitude and outlook. The anxiety that Walter is dealing with creates confrontation with his sister. He fears that her dream will interfere with his own agenda of making a better life for his family. The severity of the tension becomes more and more apparent with Walter’s unwise investment. Walter is dealing with the burden that he has let his family down, while Beneatha is flabbergasted by the reality that her future has been snatched away from her, and she had no control over it. While reflecting on the situation, Beneatha remarks, “ I sound like a human who just had her future taken right out of my hands! While I was sleeping….things were happening in this world that directly concerned me and nobody consulted me—they just went out and did things—and changed my life” (Hansberry 3.15). Walter and Beneatha’s individual issues with the outcome of the situation cause them to find fault with one another during a time when their family needs to pull together to get through such a financial hardship. Walter is in an emotional pit; his turning to alcohol and music instead of his family for support expands the
"There are two kinds of pain: The sort of pain that makes you strong, or useless pain. The sort of pain that 's only suffering. I have no patience for useless things”. This opening quote from the Netflix original series, House of Cards, sets the tone for the ultimate theme of power displayed over the course of the show. The main character, Frank Underwood, played by Kevin Spacey, first speaks to the audience after mercilessly killing his neighbor’s dog after it was hit by a car. Because the dog was injured, it became a useless being and merely a nuisance to Underwood. This example seen in the first episode is a blunt introduction to a main character that is not only power-hungry but also shows no sympathy for the weak. Frank Underwood states that power lasts centuries while money causes people, and things, to fall apart. According to the article by Sivanathan, power is based on an individual’s intentional and effective capacity to control, modify, or influence others by “providing or withholding resources or administering punishments” (Sivanathan). Frank Underwood chooses power because it allows him to leave a legacy that will never be forgotten, while simultaneously granting him access to other types of power.
At the beginning of the 1970s, two men, by the names of Martin Scorcese and Robert De Niro, met and started an extremely successful and world renowned string of movie director/actor collaborations. Over the course of 22 years,spawning from 1973, with their first film Mean Streets, to 1995, with their most recent work Casino, the duo paired up for 8 movies, most of which are considered some of the greatest films of all time. The most notable, however, would have to be their 1990 movie Goodfellas, a classic film which was nominated for 6 oscars, winning one, and named the greatest film of all time by British film magazine Total Film, an organized crime movie which is one of my favorite movies.
Because of this Walter has lost his self esteem and will to do anything to make his life better. This is important because it shows that Walter does not have a firm grasp on his own identity.
Breaking Bad is a TV show about a science instructor, Walter White, turning to cooking methamphetamine when he finds out that he has terminal cancer, so as to leave some legacy for his family. The show accompanies Walter as he changes from a compliant and empathetic father to a cold, merciless drug kingpin through the wrong decisions he makes in life. Vince Gilligan made the show with a dream of having the hero turn into the adversary as the show advances and to investigate the subject "actions have consequences." In giving Bryan Cranston a part as Walter White, Gilligan picked a performing artist whose livelihood bend dovetails uncannily with his character. As Walt changes from such a family man himself into a force eager executioner,