BBad is actually mostly shot on film, not video! So it can relate even more to film as a medium. ;) Though of course in a television format rather than a feature film one.
@ your * #1 (re: The Wire): ahahahaha MCNULTY. See I just h8 McNulty in general for being himself, hahaha. XD
The premise is a deconstruction of the American dream, the trope of the rugged individualist, and capitalism. >> YES YES YES YES YES!!! I keep thinking about trying to write an essay about this but I suck at writing anything substantial these days.
But srsly, Walt is like this perfect combined distillation of these ideas about masculinity, individualism, and capitalism that then in the context of his actions and the show are revealed as being as ttly fucked up and broken as they are. I was also so pleased when Vince Gilligan gave a talk where he was discussing ppl arguing about Walt's motivations etc. and whether in the beginning of the show his motivations were initially "good" or not (I strongly believe they never were). And Gilligan was all, "Well, that's open to ppl's interpretation etc. etc., but for me I think that is settled early on when he's given an alternative (the Schwarzes paying for his treatment) and he refuses it." And I was like YAY VINCE GILLIGAN YAY! Like. There are still various places in this show where I think that I and the show creators may ~differ~ in how we view certain character beliefs and actions (and of course the show has many creators and THEY don't all agree on everything, as one can tell by comparing Bryan Cranston talking about his character with Vince Gilligan talking about that same character), but it still pleased me to know that Gilligan wasn't one of those who thinks that Walt in the beginning is a "good guy." lol anyway, went on a tangent there. :)
I would agree that Walt Jr. is the most morally pure character, but I wouldn't call him ttly pure. And I'd disagree that he's exempt from the macho crap -- for example, though partially it's due to his lack of knowledge about what's going on, in S3 in particular his blame of his mother really gets fused with a strong sense of misogyny (blaming her b/c she's the "bitch mother" who punishes Walt for no reason). Incidentally I think it's interesting that this is directly reflected in the way many viewers (whom I vehemently disagree with) also hate Skyler -- in that case b/c she's the "bitch wife/mother" who "punishes Walt for no reason," etc. I have never understood those ppl at all (do they not see Walt's behavior? how would THEY act in that situation?), although yesterday or something I read some interesting other thoughts about this. That some viewers indeed don't put themselves at all in her position, and instead it's b/c the show is from Walt's POV mainly and the action is centered around Walt, and thus Skyler is often (particularly in S1-midS3ish) an "obstacle" in the way of Walt continuing to do [whatever].
I do think it's unfortunate that female characters overall get such little attention/development/interaction with each other, but I similarly DO like the critiques grounded through the focus on the male characters.
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Oops I gues I'm gonna have to split this into two comments!
Date: 2011-11-11 01:42 am (UTC)@ your * #1 (re: The Wire): ahahahaha MCNULTY. See I just h8 McNulty in general for being himself, hahaha. XD
The premise is a deconstruction of the American dream, the trope of the rugged individualist, and capitalism. >> YES YES YES YES YES!!! I keep thinking about trying to write an essay about this but I suck at writing anything substantial these days.
But srsly, Walt is like this perfect combined distillation of these ideas about masculinity, individualism, and capitalism that then in the context of his actions and the show are revealed as being as ttly fucked up and broken as they are. I was also so pleased when Vince Gilligan gave a talk where he was discussing ppl arguing about Walt's motivations etc. and whether in the beginning of the show his motivations were initially "good" or not (I strongly believe they never were). And Gilligan was all, "Well, that's open to ppl's interpretation etc. etc., but for me I think that is settled early on when he's given an alternative (the Schwarzes paying for his treatment) and he refuses it." And I was like YAY VINCE GILLIGAN YAY! Like. There are still various places in this show where I think that I and the show creators may ~differ~ in how we view certain character beliefs and actions (and of course the show has many creators and THEY don't all agree on everything, as one can tell by comparing Bryan Cranston talking about his character with Vince Gilligan talking about that same character), but it still pleased me to know that Gilligan wasn't one of those who thinks that Walt in the beginning is a "good guy." lol anyway, went on a tangent there. :)
I would agree that Walt Jr. is the most morally pure character, but I wouldn't call him ttly pure. And I'd disagree that he's exempt from the macho crap -- for example, though partially it's due to his lack of knowledge about what's going on, in S3 in particular his blame of his mother really gets fused with a strong sense of misogyny (blaming her b/c she's the "bitch mother" who punishes Walt for no reason). Incidentally I think it's interesting that this is directly reflected in the way many viewers (whom I vehemently disagree with) also hate Skyler -- in that case b/c she's the "bitch wife/mother" who "punishes Walt for no reason," etc. I have never understood those ppl at all (do they not see Walt's behavior? how would THEY act in that situation?), although yesterday or something I read some interesting other thoughts about this. That some viewers indeed don't put themselves at all in her position, and instead it's b/c the show is from Walt's POV mainly and the action is centered around Walt, and thus Skyler is often (particularly in S1-midS3ish) an "obstacle" in the way of Walt continuing to do [whatever].
I do think it's unfortunate that female characters overall get such little attention/development/interaction with each other, but I similarly DO like the critiques grounded through the focus on the male characters.