Brock never ate his vegetable and played too many video games. He was a ticking time bomb.
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Yes, but itās not like he killed them BECAUSE they were tied into the drug trade, and he was doing it for some noble reason. He was doing it to save his own ass. He still killed 10 people for his own selfish reasons. Thatās pretty psychopathic as far as Iām concerned.
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Hoping thatās pure sophismā¦
But then, I guess thereās no shortage of folks who can muster the heinous gall it takes to imagine thereās any excuse to pretend they have a right to end anyone elseās lifeā¦ and your avatar is a detail shot of a loaded revolver, so thereās that.
Breaking Bad is very Greek tragedy: the evolution of a man into a monster through hubris. The hardest part of these sorts of narratives is keeping the viewerās empathy throughout. To stay interested in Waltās fall, we have to understand the decisions heās made, empathize with them, and reel in the enormity of their consequences with him.
I feel as if, in part to add some depth to her initially flat character, her recent transition is meant to make her a foil to the readerās own experience. We started out rooting for Walt, but heās evolved to the point where weāre having trouble sympathizing with him.
In contrast, Skylar started out with no understanding of or sympathy for Waltās decisions. As she gets deeper into the muck herself, she finds herself identifying and empathizing with his monsterous and compromising acts: sheās slipping down the same slope and is realizing how hard it is to stop. And connecting with him over the experience.
In a way, her transition is meant to get viewers back on track. Theyāre saying, āRemember, this is all about understanding Waltās fall. You canāt write him off as a villain just yet, youāve still got to identify with his decisions. Youāve got to see the same weakness in yourself.ā Skylar conveys that message by reminding us how easy it is to slip out of moral ambiguity and into darkness. She reminds us that we still should be empathizing with Walt, because we could wake up one morning and realize weāre in freefall as well.
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If you read the whole thread of the conversation, I said that one doesnāt have to be an asshole for wanting Walter to āwinā. I point out several ways one can relate to the character. One may even attempt to rationalize most of the people killed were in no way good people (pointing out the exception of Brock and the kid on the bike).
Naturally, you can take this analysis of a flawed fictional anti-hero, and assume that in the real world I donāt value human life and find no problem with people trying to end others. Obviously, since I have a firearm in my avatar, I am a psychopath who is one bad day away from a murderous rampage.
Not to put any intention behind anybody elseās words, but my guess is that Kimmo was responding to the fact that when I said āKilling 10 people simply to stay out of jailā was perhaps a good example of why people think of Walter as an amoral sociopath (more psychopath, really), you said āWell, theyāre all tied to the drug tradeā - as if that excuses killing all of them simply to cover oneās own ass. Your earlier post probably didnāt much come into consideration.
Yeah - he did have those 10 people killed for selfish reasons, but given they were all criminals I guess I didnāt have much empathy for them.
Walter is a complex character. And a fictional one. I canāt really debate that he isnāt a sociopath or a psychopath, but I think I can make a case for people still rooting for him. Remember that fiction taps into our underlying fears and desires. It is fun to fantasize about behaving badly, even though in real life not only would you never do something like that, but you would condemn anyone else who did.
Some of us figure thereās a limit to the condemnation you have any right to heap on people, short of writing them off as worthless.
Oh, donāt get me wrong. I completely agree with you. Iām rooting for Walter. I donāt need to always cheer for the good guys in my entertainment, and Walter is a totally fun character to cheer on. That doesnāt mean I donāt think heās a sociopath/psychopath though, and thatās all I was talking about when I was referring to him killing those 10 witnesses.
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