Analyzing Television's Breaking Bad

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America has a long history with television, and since the very beginning those who produce it have been trying to use the medium to spread messages and encourage discussion between audience members. With a show like the one I’m going to analyze, Breaking Bad, very little information gets laid out plainly for the audience. Instead, subtle clues are spread throughout the show through textual elements such as camera work, visual design, and character’s actions, left for the audience so that they may piece it together and discover what lies beneath for themselves. This type of direction for a show also intends for audience discussion and debate, just in a more convoluted way. This is how shows today function as cultural forums. In this essay I will analyze the television series Breaking Bad and examine how it functions as a cultural forum in this way and poses the question, …show more content…

This clearly has an effect on Walter, as he tries to help Jesse overcome this addiction many different times. At one point, Walter refuses to pay Jesse his share of their profits until he becomes clean. When this backfires, he seemingly gives up on Jesse until Walter, on the verge of another major drug deal, finds Jesse and his drug addicted girlfriend, Jane, passed out in Jesse’s apartment on the verge of a heroin overdose. Upon attempting to wake Jesse, Jane roles over and begins choking on vomit. In this instance, Walter does nothing, watching Jane die in eerie silence. Walt looks around frantically, analyzing the situation. Ultimately, though looking grieved, Walter just watches as Jane chokes and dies. He believed Jane was a bad influence on Jesse’s addiction, so he took advantage of the situation and did what he believed was in Jesse’s best interests. Once again, it begs the question, was Walter being a good father to Jesse in this situation? Does Walter have a right to act like a father towards

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