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Transcription
The TV series Breaking Bad follows the story of Walter White, a chemistry teacher with cancer who turns to producing meth to secure his family's financial future. His pride and toxic masculinity lead him to refuse help from his former friend, Elliot. Walt's actions are driven by greed and he becomes consumed by the illegal drug trade. His brother-in-law, Hank, embodies authentic masculinity and works to bring Walt down for the good of the community. Other characters, like Jesse, also prioritize the public interest over personal gain. The consequences of Walt's actions result in tragedy and the destruction of relationships. Despite some remorse, Walt's toxic masculinity and greed persist until the end. His actions demonstrate the destructive effects of these traits in Breaking Bad. The television series Breaking Bad is about a chemistry teacher named Walter White who contracts cancer and is met with financial instability to pay for his cancer treatments, as well as to be able to solely provide for his wife, Skylar White, his son, Walter White Jr., and his unborn daughter. She doesn't get a name. Because of this, Skylar finds out about Walt's cancer and turns to his former friend in college, Elliot Schwartz, for financial assistance. Elliot and Walt founded a multi-billion dollar company called Gray Matter, but Walt had left this company before he could personally benefit from the company's success, as he and Elliot had a falling out over a woman named Gretchen, who they were both in love with. Walt held a grudge against Elliot since their falling out, and when Elliot offered to pay for Walt's treatment upon Skylar's request, Walt refused to accept Elliot's money. This is the first instance where Walt's pride, a trait of his toxic masculinity, negatively impacts both him and the people around him. This is also the event that causes Walt to produce, or cook, meth with one of his former students, Jesse Paintman. In this podcast, I will analyze the harmful effects of both toxic masculinity and greed, and how they primarily affect the protagonist, Walter White, in the television series Breaking Bad. To define what toxic masculinity is, I'd like to reference how Keith Edwards, who has a PhD that is concentrated in social justice education, talks about how toxic masculinity places men above other genders, some men above other men, and limits all men, which is toxic for everyone. With this definition, if we look at the reasoning for why Walt refused Elliot's assistance, it is quite prevalent that Walt's pride and his need for autonomy stem from his toxic masculinity. When trying to examine toxic masculinity in other characters, the traits of toxic masculinity are not nearly as apparent in them as they are in Walter White. For example, Hank Schrader, Walt's DEA agent brother-in-law, appears to exhibit aspects of toxic masculinity, as he makes stereotypical jokes about communities of color, about people with disabilities, and about women. However, as the show develops, Hank demonstrates that his qualities as a character are more aligned with being authentically masculine. Edwards defines men who are authentically masculine as people who are living in integrity by aligning what one values with what one does. Even though Hank does make harmful jokes, his actions prove that he values guttering his community as a DEA agent, which shows how his words are performatively destructive and his actions are genuinely good. The difference with Walt is that his actions are genuinely destructive and his words are more performative. When Schrader first discovers that Walt is illegally producing meth, Walt defends his actions by saying, everything I do is for this family. This is untrue, as Schrader had given Walt an earlier chance to help his family by accepting help from Elliot, which Walt refused. Later on in the show, Walt and Jesse become very successful in the illegal meth business, which prompts Jesse to ask Walt when they will finally decide to get out of the business, as Walt initially told Jesse that he just needed enough money to support his family and then he would leave. At this point in their success, though, Walt reveals to Jesse how he is in this illegal business because he is in the empire business, which displays how much greed has corrupted Walt. This also displays how Walt does not align his values with what he does, as he says he is illegally trucking meth to help his family, even though he has made enough money to help his family already, and yet, he chooses to stay in the illegal business anyway. Hank differs from this because his actions consistently align with what he values, which is catching criminals who are involved with the illegal drug trade. Throughout the show, Walt operates his illegal meth business under the pseudonym Heisenberg, which becomes notorious in the streets and it catches the eyes of the DEA. It is not until the last season that Hank finds out Walt is in fact Heisenberg, which shocks Hank as he has seen the aftermath of his own brother-in-law's terrible actions. Despite their familial relationship, Hank is determined to arrest Walt, not for his own pride, but for the good of his community and to prevent Walt from causing any more harm. Before Hank knew Walt was Heisenberg, Hank had gained a promotion within the DEA, which came after Hank revealed to the DEA that Gustavo Fring, an owner of a chicken fast food chain called Los Pollos Hermanos, was actually a criminal mastermind. However, the DEA only knew about Gustavo's criminal activities after he had died, and only after Hank had failed to provide sufficient evidence to prove to the DEA that Gustavo was a criminal while he was alive. So Hank received his promotion after the DEA assumed the Heisenberg case had been dealt with, but Heisenberg was notorious for selling blue meth, which continues to circulate the streets after Gustavo's death. In this moment, Hank could have reaped the rewards from his accomplishment by living comfortably within his new, better-paying position. However, he strives to bring in the real Heisenberg, despite how the rest of his department already closed the case. This is an example of Hank demonstrating authentic masculinity as he puts his own values first. In examining other characters' elements of toxic masculinity and greed, I referenced my semiotic square. At S1, there's Walter White. At S2, there's Jesse Paintman. At negative S2, there's Gustavo Fring and the cartel. At negative S1, there's Hank Schrader. The left side of the semiotic square represents greed and toxic masculinity. Walt and Gustavo really only care for themselves. The right side of the semiotic square represents authentic masculinity and the public interest, as Jesse and Hank's interests are for the public. The top half of the semiotic square represents regret, while the bottom half represents no regret. I explained earlier why Hank's interests are with the public, but I never explained why Jesse's interests are for the public. Initially, Jesse was in the meth business to survive. However, once he acquired more money than he needed, he began to regret how he got that money in the first place. There are many events that occur to change Jesse's mind about working for the public's interests instead of his own, but ultimately he does end up working for the public's interests when he decides to throw out his money around the neighborhood, as if it were charity. Additionally, Jesse ends up working with Hank, even though the two despise each other, because Walt eventually starts killing anyone who threatens to compromise his drug empire. This goes to show how Hank and Jesse will put their self-interests aside in favor of the public's interests, while Walt has only his self-interests in mind. The story of Breaking Bad is a tragedy, as Walt and Hank, along with a number of other characters, die. Additionally, families and friendships are destroyed, which are all consequences of Walt's actions. These consequences stem from Walt's toxic masculinity and his lust for greed. Ultimately, if he set up his pride and accepted Elliot's money from the beginning, the events of Breaking Bad would never have occurred. Even at the end of Breaking Bad, when Walt regrets how his actions lead to Hank's death, his toxic masculinity never goes away because he seeks personal revenge and he doesn't put other interests ahead of his own. Before Walt dies, he manages to save Jesse from the murderers of Hank and he gives all of his money to his family. But this is not Walt working in the interests of others. He doesn't go to the murderers of Hank to save Jesse. He saves Jesse as a result of killing Hank's murderers, which he kills to satisfy his own regret. Additionally, he gives his money to his family because he essentially cannot use it anymore. As he becomes a wanted criminal, his cancer comes back, leaving him a dead man walking. Plus, him giving his own money to his family reinforces his toxic masculine traits. Because he wants his own money to outweigh any money that they could ever make or receive. These effects demonstrate how disruptive Walter White's toxic masculinity and lust for greed can be in the television series Breaking Bad.
