Breaking Neoliberal? Contemporary Neoliberal Discourses and Policies in AMC's Breaking Bad
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Book Chapter
Description
Book Title:
Breaking Bad: Critical Essays on the Contexts, Politics, Style, and Reception of the Television Series
Book Chapter Description:
Faced with a terminal illness and a strong desire to take care of his family financially long after his death, Walter White (Brian Cranston), a mild-mannered, put-upon New Mexico high school chemistry teacher, begins producing and selling crystal methamphetamine or meth. He enlists the aid of former student Jesse Pinkman (Aaron Paul) to help him market and distribute his high-end product to large illegal drug operators in the American Southwest. While Breaking Bad's story premise may seem particularly unsavory given the dangerously addictive nature of crystal meth, Cranston's intensely intelligent and empathetic performance coupled with a large dose of dark humor have made the show a hit with cable television audiences. The black comedic elements are evident in the episode “The Cat's in the Bag . . .” (1/27/08), where Walt and Jesse are faced with the gruesome tasks of disposing of a dead body and dispatching a drug dealer who tried to kill them. Walt decides that the best way to get rid of the body is to dissolve it in an acid bath. Jesse, however, botches Walt's specific equipment requests which leads to the upstairs bathtub crashing through the second floor and depositing mounds of partially dissolved body parts splattered all over the first floor. Besides providing viewers with a dramatic and darkly humorous experience, Breaking Bad also addresses contemporary discourses about neoliberalism and their effects on society. Before exploring these issues, it is useful to define the core beliefs that underscore neoliberalism, as well as looking at how it has been investigated in television studies. The central idea underscoring the neoliberal ideology is that the market should be the organizing agent for nearly all social, political, economic, and personal decisions. According to Robert McChesney (1999), initiating with the Thatcher and Reagan Administrations, for the past three decades, “neo-liberalism has been the dominant global political economic trend adopted by political parties of the center and much of the traditional left and the right” (McChesney 7). On the political front, neoliberalism is generally characterized as “free market policies that encourage private enterprise and consumer choice, reward personal responsibility and entrepreneurial initiative, and undermine the dead hand of an incompetent, bureaucratic government that is incapable of doing good for its citizenry” (McChesney 7). Increasingly, neoliberal ideology has eroded the powers of democratic institutions to affect public policy that can be shown to have a negative impact on “the market.” This chapter argues that the TV series Breaking Bad intersects with neoliberal policies and discourses, and exemplifies several of its detrimental social and political effects.
ISBN
9798881886165
Publication Date
11-21-2013
Publisher
Lexington Books
City
Lanham, Maryland
Keywords
television, melodrama, neoliberalism, cable television, masculinity
Disciplines
Broadcast and Video Studies | Critical and Cultural Studies | Film and Media Studies | Mass Communication | Television
Recommended Citation
Pierson, David P., "Breaking Neoliberal? Contemporary Neoliberal Discourses and Policies in AMC's Breaking Bad" (2013). Faculty, Staff, and Alumni Books. 721.
https://digitalcommons.usm.maine.edu/facbooks/721
