A few months ago, the whole "lol, some morally repugnant morons actually think Don Draper, Walter White, Tony Soprano, and Tyler Durden are cool" discourse had reared its ugly head again, and it got me to thinking about this show and this thread. Here was a post typical of me in the final season:
Quote:
Originally Posted by Baltimore Jones
Are most of you rooting for Walt? I have to re-evaluate whether or not I hate Breaking Bad fans.
Opinions were split on this, but people like me did like to call people rooting for a television character "sociopaths" and things of that nature. That is still a common thing for people to do on Twitter.
I was incorrect on multiple levels.
1) While Walt's continued descent towards the end may have made many of us hate the character at the time, that effect dwindles as the years go on. For those of us who have not rewatched the series since then, what sticks with us? "Say my name", "goddamn right", "I am the danger", "I did it for me". There is no "moral failing" in looking back at the character as a righteous badass, that's how narratives with key moments like that work in your brain over time. (The memes help too of course.)
2) Some scolds like to bemoan the fact that if we love a "bad" character, we're "missing the point", and that we're doing wrong by the creators. No. Vince Gilligan's own intentions are fully in line with loving Walt, look up some interviews. "He went out like a man".
3) If Gilligan did actually try his best to make us permanently turn on Walter (he didn't) and to come to the realization that his actions hurt more than they helped, it still wouldn't matter. He failed. The artist's intention can fail.
4) Tyler Durden, Tony Soprano, Gordon Gekko, Don Draper, etc. are all some combination of attractive, rich, stylish, powerful guys who have sex a lot. Of course people admire them, regardless of whatever artistic intention you believe may be at play.
5) I'd argue that in every one of those cases, the creators themselves also do admire those characters. Like do you honestly believe ****ing Matthew Weiner doesn't think Don Draper is a cool guy that he wishes he could be?
6) This tweet is meant as sarcasm, but should actually be taken as literally true:
https://twitter.com/JimothyBurg1ary/...476605442?s=20
Lots of Real Smart people in those replies bragging about how the dumb masses have "never taken an art appreciation class and it shows" or w/e.