In 2008, AMC showcased a hit television series named Breaking Bad. Breaking Bad follows a protagonist Walter White, a high school chemistry teacher (who lives with his wife, Skyler and their teenage son who has cerebral palsy) who is diagnosed with inoperable cancer, and turns to manufacturing and selling methamphetamine in order to secure his family’s future (Breaking Bad). Although on the surface Walter White is depicted as a good guy turned bad, in actuality the character is truly embracing his deviant subconscious self. Walter White can reasonably be deemed as an immoral character due to the fact that his criminal behavior was instinctual, he continuously justifies his decisions, and he displays an insatiable desire to commit unlawful acts.
In the beginning, it is fairly certain that he starts manufacturing and selling methamphetamine to secure his family’s long term financial security. But as his work progresses, his infamy grows. The pseudonym Heisenberg he picks for himself slowly begins to take on a life of its own. Unlike Walter, Heisenberg is self-assured and confident. He is able to hold his own against aggressive and psychologically unstable drug dealers, and he only grows stronger as the series advances. Walter White’s long dormant pride and ego start to awaken as the series deepens. The more he taps into his alter ego, the more he shows his true colors. Therefore, throughout the show, it is evident that he is imploring his natural instincts. It comes so
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
Walt was good at his job and doing well to perform his duties, but then few things happened around him, which changed his whole life. The first thing or event was corruption, which he was seeing around him in his company. The second thing was to see the superiors also doing corruption and looting money from the company accounts. And third thing was customers of the company. He saw that even customers don’t pay up their money to the company, but still company is bearing them, so he thought if customers are free to do so, then why he cannot do so. He saw that rules are being broken everywhere, so he thought to do so as well. These three events became the major factors for Walt to think about committing a crime
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.
Walter White is an emotionally unstable genius chemist. He is extremely conscious about his work and treats his drug business as if it were an acceptable career. Walter gets extremely fond of his career due to the wealth and power he gains with the occupation. Once Walter gains the experience, he begins to think he does not need Jesse as a partner and only agrees to do things if they are done his way. Due to having too much superego, Walt begins to be inflexible which causes many disputes and leads to his separation from his
A money needed high school chemistry teacher, Walter White, is diagnosed with inoperable, advanced lung cancer. On a ride with his DEA agent brother-in-law Hank Schrader ,Walter sees a former student of his, Jesse Pinkman , fleeing the scene of a meth lab. He later contacts his partner in crime,Jesse and devises a scheme to become partners in an attempt to make money using their skills to manufacture and distribute methamphetamine, with Walter cooking the product and Jesse using his street friends/gang members to distribute it. Walter says he wants to provide financial stability for his pregnant wife, Skyler, (who divorced him later in the series) and disabled son, and to pay for his very expensive and needed cancer treatment. During Walter
Walter himself is obsessed with pushing the limits of science and changing the truth of reality. The Government incarcerates Walter in a mental institution due to an accident at his lab. When the show begins and Olivia and Peter remove Walter from the institution, he is a very different person. He does not regret what he has done, but he is more considerate with how he proceeds. This change is partially due to time and partially due to brain damage.
His mother cheated and Walt sees this as a violation of social order and knows that cheating is not the right behavior for a married couple. At the same time though his father encourages him to play the field and be with more than one girl even though the father had been cheated on. In the movie it is easily scene that Walt is puzzled by this and pushes on cautiously. He has no concept of the ‘white lie’ or appeasing someone’s feeling which makes sense seeing as the parent lack this as well. Toward the end of the movie he acts with increased knowledge of the morality described as “law and order.”
In recent years, a New Yorker artist posted a caricature that depicted a cop speaking with an inmate saying “I am neither a good cop nor a bad cop, Jerome. Like yourself, I am a complex amalgam of positive and negative personality traits that emerge or not, depending on the circumstances” (Stevens, 2007). Being diagnosed with incurable cancer, Walter White began his metamorphosis from an outstanding citizen into an egotistical drug lord. He was a good man who was led to commit immoral choices due to the situation he was put in. Throughout the series, society judges Walter, some say he is a hero for doing the things he did for the greater good of his family whilst others, justify his actions. Although wrong to judge people for committing unlawful or immoral acts in a stressful situation, it is required in order to keep society from collapsing.
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:
The meaning of Walter and Jesse’s relationship engages the view of success. In order to be successful it is best to get involve in a partnership. For example, classmates, relatives, and business partners. “Apple, eBay, and Twitter -- were built by multiple leaders with productive relationships.” (Shontell). The messages that Breaking Bad fans going into business might get is to get involve in a partnership to climb up the ladder of success. In a world where the most successful men got their titles thanks to their great partnership in business it will be understandable to work together, or would they prefer to work alone. Something to change about those who prefer working alone minds is this, team work gets individuals far in life, just look
Claim: Forman claims that racial profiling is an ineffective way to enforce the law and should be stopped.
He is envious of the people in the establishment who can afford a higher standard of life, while he is stuck in a two room kitchen apartment, where they must share one bathroom with rest of the floormates. Walter hate seeing man around his age or even younger than him having such a lavish lifestyle because he believes that he would gotten the same type of opportunity if it was not for the color of his skin. Seeing his conversations with his mom, the readers can see that Walter feels that he is hopeless in the American
Walter’s dream is actually the great American dream to have your own house in a good neighborhood, a job you love, a wife, and children. But sadly he’s far from his dream. He is a chauffeur for a rich white man, and must drive him around in an expensive car that he could never afford. Walter’s dream is also deferred when he is told that good old Willy Harris absconded with the money for his and his family’s dreams. Hearing this Walter says “Willy!...Man, I put my life in your hands...Man...THAT MONEY IS MADE OUT OF MY FATHER’S FLESH.” (2.3.128). Walter is very angry after when he finally realizes that they received the money because his father died. Then becomes violent at the fact that a man he trusted with his life ran away with the money that symbolized his dead father. So all the pent up anger he had been holding in finally comes out and he explodes.
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,