Sympathy for the Devil Modes of Identification with the Criminal in Breaking Bad Masterarbeit zur Erlangung des akademischen Grades Master of Arts (MA) an der Karl-Franzens-Universität Graz vorgelegt von Julia STREMPFL am Institut für Amerikanistik Begutachter Univ.-Prof. Dr. M.A. Brandt Stefan Graz, 2015 Table of Contents Chapter 1 1. Introduction: An Audience on the Side of Evil 1 Chapter 2 2. Stylistic Features Set the Tone: Breaking Bad by Genre 5 2.1. Fiction Felt as Real: Breaking Bad as Fictional Television Series 6 2.2. Realistic Tragedies: Breaking Bad as Drama Series 7 2.3. Emotional Involvement: Breaking Bad as Melodrama 8 2.4. Between Good and Evil: Breaking Bad in Neo-Noir Style 10 2.5. Victim or Criminal Genius?: Breaking Bad as Crime Series 10 Chapter 3 3. Walter White and His World: Film Techniques that Contribute to Audience Identification 12 3.1. Characterization Through Words 13 3.2. Mise-en-Scène Carries Symbolism and Meaning 14 3.2.1. Imitating Life in Albuquerque 16 3.2.2. In the Right Light: Lighting and its Relation to Theme 17 3.3. Music as Emotional Trigger 21 3.4. Camera Work Establishes a Connection with the Audience 25 3.4.1. Intimate Shots for Intimate Moments: Close-Ups for Identification 28 3.4.2. The World through Walter White’s Eyes 30 3.5. Editing Assembles the Story 32 3.5.1. Communicating Subjectivity 37 3.5.2. Recalling the Beginnings 39 3.6. Identification through Point of View Narration 41 Chapter 4 4. Cold-blooded yet Kind-hearted: The Creation of an Appealing Criminal 46 4.1. The Criminal as First Person Narrator 46 4.2. “Do you know who I am ?”: Trading on Recognition and the Effects of Physical Appearance 48 4.3. Walter White vs Heisenberg 56 4.4. Fascination with the Dangerous: The Criminal as Typical American Antihero 59 Chapter 5 5. Identification by Means of Emotional Realism and References to Reality 62 5.1. Emotional Identification through Film Techniques 63 5.2. Parallels to the Social Environment Create Emotional Realism 63 5.3. Evidence of Identification in Memes of Breaking Bad 66 Chapter 6 6. From Beginning to End: Close Analysis of the Initial and Final Representations of the Protagonist 70 Chapter 7 7. Conclusion: Every Dark Cloud Has a Silver Lining - Walter White as a Distraction from Heisenberg 78 8. Bibliography 82 9. Webliography 85 10. Filmography 88 11. Appendix 90 11.1. Key to Transcription 90 11.2. Transcripts from Breaking Bad 90 11.3. Transcripts of the Interviews 93 11.3.1. Interviewee Jeremiah Bitsui 93 11.3.2. Interviewee Rodney Rush 95 Chapter 1 1. Introduction: An Audience on the Side of Evil “I am not in danger, Skyler. I am the danger. A guy opens his door and gets shot, and you think that of me? No! ... I am the one who knocks.” -Walter White (Breaking Bad, Season 4, Episode 6: “Cornered”) Walter White has blood on his hands. In the TV series Breaking Bad, the fictional character is one of the most wanted criminals in the southwestern United States. Not only does he deal one of the most dangerous drugs on the market - crystal methamphetamine - he also cooks it himself. What is more, Walter acts violently, hurts those around him, and kills without hesitation. Despite all that, he draws the audience’s sympathy. It can even be said that he gets people’s admiration. Vince Gilligan, the creator of Breaking Bad, admits that he finds it sociologically interesting that the audience still shows affection for Walter White after all that he does (cf. Plunkett 2013). This affection is probably Breaking Bad’s most striking feature. New York Times columnist Ross Douthat (cf. 2013) also notes that critics who expressed an antipathy against Walter White faced rough comments from opponents on online platforms. This exemplifies the deep connection that the audience feels for the character. The television series is discussed in countless blogs and forums, and “Team Walt” has emerged as a legion of fans who attribute heroic features to the character. What is more, when Walter White dies in the final episode of Breaking Bad, an obituary was published in the Albuquerque Journal in order to pay him tribute. On top of that, a funeral was held at Sunset Memorial Park in Albuquerque, New Mexico, in honor of Walter White (cf. Luscombe 2013). Mourners came from all over the world to attend the funeral. For many it was a “way of paying respects to someone you feel like you know really well” (Lohmann 2013). Even years after Breaking Bad’s final episode aired on television, people cannot quite forget the character, and still come to Albuquerque to go on the Breaking Bad tours in order to follow in Walter White’s footsteps. It is a sociological phenomenon that a fictional series like Breaking Bad was able to achieve such a huge impact on real life, especially with respect to Walter White. It is a phenomenon that leads one to ask: who is Walter White and what makes Breaking Bad’s protagonist so special that he creates such great fascination in the spectators of the series? 1 At first glance, Walter Hartwell White is an everyday man in his fifties who leads an ordinary life in America. He works as a high-school chemistry teacher and lives in Albuquerque, New Mexico, together with his wife Skyler and his teenage son, Walter Junior. However, it soon becomes clear that Walter White does not have an ideal life. His son suffers from cerebral palsy, a physical disability, and his wife is expecting their second child, which has forced him to take a second job at a carwash to provide for his family. In the first episode of Breaking Bad, Walter is working at the car wash when he suddenly falls unconscious and is taken to the hospital, where he is diagnosed with inoperable lung cancer. This diagnosis leads to major changes in his life. Out of despair, and in order to ensure financial security for his family upon his death, he decides to enter the drug business. Together with a former student of his, Jesse Pinkman, he starts cooking the illegal drug crystal methamphetamine in order to turn a quick profit. With his decision to go into the drug business, not only does Walter’s life change dramatically, but who he is as a person does too. He breaks bad. The series follows the protagonist throughout this transformation, from its beginning to the moment of his death (cf. AMC Television). Throughout the five seasons, Walter White commits terrible crimes, becomes obviously dangerous and makes countless immoral decisions. This leaves the open question of why the audience sides with him after all. This thesis will attempt to answer to this question and will discuss the reasons behind it. In order to accomplish this, it will investigate how the feeling of sympathy is created by the filmmakers. It is the aim of this thesis to show that despite the character’s illegal and brutal actions, the audience identifies with Walter White and even raises him to the status of the hero of Breaking Bad. For this purpose, I will do a close film analysis of the television series. At this point it must be mentioned that although Breaking Bad is a television series, throughout this thesis I will use the general term “film” to refer to the theory behind it. First of all, I will determine the genre of Breaking Bad in order to deepen the understanding of the series. Next, I will focus on the aesthetics and examine the strategies that the filmmakers employ to communicate information. This involves the overall composition of the series and its effect on the audience. This chapter will include the script, mise-en-scène, the employment of sound, music, light and color, as well as camera work, editing techniques, and the mode of narration. Furthermore, I will scrutinize the impact of the chosen techniques of representation on the audience, and investigate how they affect the film aesthetically. Simultaneously, the meaning of 2 symbols and the way they imply meaning will also be discussed in this thesis. I will explain in detail those devices that are most relevant for analyzing the creation of sympathy for the protagonist. The devices and techniques that the filmmakers have at their disposal will be examined with examples taken from Breaking Bad, in order to illustrate the theory and reinforce my arguments. Subsequently, the subject of the analysis, Walter White, will be introduced. At first, his position as narrator of the series will be scrutinized. Secondly, the initial image that is represented in Season 1 will be examined closely and personal traits will be identified; and the motives that drive his future actions will be pointed out. Secondly, the changes that the character experiences over time will be looked at. In relation to the great antiheroes of American literature and history, Mr. White can be seen as a typical American antihero who shows a great degree of character development throughout the series. Comparisons to other likable television villains in contemporary American culture will be discussed as well, in order to explore what causes the audience to root for criminal’s like Walter White. The next chapter will concentrate on creating audience identification by employing emotional realism and making references to reality. Chapter 5 focuses on a film’s functional approach rather than on the aesthetics and provides information on Breaking Bad’s sociocultural and historical context. For a proper understanding of the series, it is crucial to know the historical, social, and cultural environment that the protagonist lives in, especially with regard to American healthcare and lower middle class society.