Walt Vince Gilligan's Breaking Bad

With all the recents super hero movie success in Hollywood, many have come to wonder why Superman movies have just never worked. They should right, Superman is the epitome of a superhero, he was the first, the most powerful, and the most righteous. But maybe being the most righteous superhero isn’t exactly a good thing. When people ask why a Superman movie doesn’t work, it’s not because he isn’t a good enough hero, the problem is exactly the opposite: Superman is the best hero, and he always wins, which is a problem. The days of good vs. bad, and black vs. white are over. Batman movies work because he’s not the perfect hero- he’s an anti hero, and that’s what people can relate to. In his show Breaking Bad, Vince Gilligan presents Walt

First, Gilligan introduces Walt’s lack of control in episode two, when Walter panics with his task of killing Krazy-8 and, looking for a weapon, decides to disregard two guns and walk down to the basement armed with a yellow plastic bag. As Walt walks down the stairs and Crazy-8 calls out to him, he becomes frozen in place, stuck between two worlds, and two decisions (Gilligan S1:E2). By framing Walter on the caught on the stairs, Gilligan illustrates the metaphorical conflict of Walt’s decision- whether or not Walter should continue down the stairs and kill Krazy-8, continuing his illegal operations, or turnback, walk up the stairs, and end his villany. Gilligan provokes empathy and presents the powerless nature of Walter White’s decision making. In this scene the viewer can physically see the internal conflict within Walt as the forces of decency and immorality play tug of war and leave him completely without agency. Even Walt does end up killing Krazy-8, the drug dealer forces his hand, taking away both Walt’s agency, and his responsibility for the murder of another human. In the next episode, after a humanizing talk, Walt asks Krazy-8 for a reason not to kill him, once again demonstrating his lack of control. After deciding to release Krazy-8, Walt notices the broken

He is a good man who makes bad decisions, and that’s what makes the show interesting. In most television shows, the conflict is a simple and predictable good vs. bad story, but in Breaking Bad, Gilligan creates a multitude of conflicts. Breaking Bad is interesting because the main conflict happens within the protagonist Walt. Breaking Bad doesn’t have a ninety five percent rating on Rotten Tomatoes because people love or hate walt, it does so well because people genuinely don’t know what will happen. Walter White isn’t a super man: he doesn’t always do the right thing, he’s definitely not bulletproof, and he doesn’t always win. Walter White is a Batman- he is an anti