Many pixels have been spilled (bad metaphor) over whether Walt starts out good and becomes evil, makes a conscious choice to become evil, or was always a nasty bastard deep down and was just waiting to express it outwardly. I don't know how much it matters, insofar as the critique of the construct of masculinity in the show suggests that under normal circumstances, one can be a nasty bastard but as long as one's actions remain socially acceptable, one can still present as a steady, reliable beta male. >> Yeah, I am not so interested in arguing about whether Walt is "good" or "evil" (even though I sometimes use those terms myself they're not ideas that I really hold stock in), ALTHOUGH sometimes it gives me issues with the construction of the show, heh. Like, with what we see of Walt's personality from the pilot on, I just have a hard time believing that he was ever able to work quietly as a teacher for such a long time without acting out in some other way. And then when we see him in that one flashback to when he and Skyler bought the house, he was ttly acting in a confident arrogant manner that more reflects the position he's in now. I just don't buy that he somehow went from that to having it be in hibernation or something to then bringing it out again later on. It could just be that the writers make him do that b/c it's in service of the plot (they certainly do that with some characters in other cases), but I don't find it convincing. (Although, if it's not supposed to be that Walt was suppressing that part of himself all those years, I think it'd make Skyler's reactions to Walt's early behavior in S1 even ~more~ justified.)
Kind of going back to stuff above about Skyler and also stuff said just now about characters doing certain things in service of the narrative -- I was/am never sure if I found Skyler's decisions about what to do re: Walt in S3-4 convincing. On my first watch-through I found it very OOC and thought that given what we'd seen of her personality so far, she would have turned him in (after he pushed her by moving back into the house especially), but of course the writers couldn't have that happen b/c it would end the show. Now I'm not totally sure. I guess I can buy it more given how they have continued developing the character in S4. And they did kind of plant the premise for her willingness to overlook certain things with the cooking of Ted's books and whatnot. So I remain undecided!
I find New Mexico really pretty ~on film~, heh. When I lived there for a summer I got sick of the lack of green & rain after a week or so. So I think maybe my relationship to that state is better staying in short doses or at a distance. XD And I have shared my love of the cinematography overall as well!! Yes to all those things. One thing I didn't notice as much until I listened to the commentaries is how many scenes they shoot where two characters are talking and the focus is on the character who is listening/reacting rather than the one who is talking. I find that really neat and interesting when they use it.
Re: Aaron Paul (who plays Jesse), he hasn't really had a main role in anything else of note before this. But I've watched many of his guest things in other shows and he tends to often play these characters that I would describe as "ineffectual douchebags," haha. So in that respect matches Jesse in many ways. ;) Anyway it makes me super joyous when ppl also love Jesse like me, YAY.
I LOVE "THE FLY" IT IS POSSIBLY MY FAVORITE EPISODE EVER OF THE ENTIRE SHOW. IT WAS SO AMAZING AND I WAS LIKE, "WOW I CANNOT BELIEVE THEY MADE AN ENTIRE EPISODE ABOUT TWO DUDES TRYING TO KILL A FLY AND THAT IT WAS SO AWESOME."
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Date: 2011-11-11 01:42 am (UTC)Kind of going back to stuff above about Skyler and also stuff said just now about characters doing certain things in service of the narrative -- I was/am never sure if I found Skyler's decisions about what to do re: Walt in S3-4 convincing. On my first watch-through I found it very OOC and thought that given what we'd seen of her personality so far, she would have turned him in (after he pushed her by moving back into the house especially), but of course the writers couldn't have that happen b/c it would end the show. Now I'm not totally sure. I guess I can buy it more given how they have continued developing the character in S4. And they did kind of plant the premise for her willingness to overlook certain things with the cooking of Ted's books and whatnot. So I remain undecided!
I find New Mexico really pretty ~on film~, heh. When I lived there for a summer I got sick of the lack of green & rain after a week or so. So I think maybe my relationship to that state is better staying in short doses or at a distance. XD And I have shared my love of the cinematography overall as well!! Yes to all those things. One thing I didn't notice as much until I listened to the commentaries is how many scenes they shoot where two characters are talking and the focus is on the character who is listening/reacting rather than the one who is talking. I find that really neat and interesting when they use it.
Re: Aaron Paul (who plays Jesse), he hasn't really had a main role in anything else of note before this. But I've watched many of his guest things in other shows and he tends to often play these characters that I would describe as "ineffectual douchebags," haha. So in that respect matches Jesse in many ways. ;) Anyway it makes me super joyous when ppl also love Jesse like me, YAY.
I LOVE "THE FLY" IT IS POSSIBLY MY FAVORITE EPISODE EVER OF THE ENTIRE SHOW. IT WAS SO AMAZING AND I WAS LIKE, "WOW I CANNOT BELIEVE THEY MADE AN ENTIRE EPISODE ABOUT TWO DUDES TRYING TO KILL A FLY AND THAT IT WAS SO AWESOME."