Neoliberalism and Breaking Bad English Essay

Kurt Voss-Hoynes

21 September 2016

Breaking Bad – A “One-Person” Story

Walter calls Skyler, who has learned about the nursing home explosion on TV and, weary of the reply, asks if he had anything to do with it. He replies simply: "I won". Eyes widening, Skyler wordlessly reacts with fear and horror, realizing what her husband is capable of. Walt hangs up the phone and drives away.

Walter White’s lifestyle as we witnessed has become a transformation from a protagonist to antagonist while gathering audience’s converting pathos from sympathetic to apathy, cruelty and disdain. In this scene, Walter reacted to his actions of violence by simply showing a hint of enjoyment and joy. Neoliberalism is the belief that free markets should be the organizing force for nearly all aspects of life, from the economy and governance to social organizations and personal decisions. In Vince Gilligan’s Breaking Bad, Walter White’s continuous struggle in a hypercompetitive, high-stakes marketplace enables him to live the neoliberal dream, a dream where his self-interest and market forces beget violence and financial reward. As a result, Walt has demonstrated the neoliberal ideology of self-reliance and success as his tragedy comes from wishing and deluding himself from controlling his own destiny as well as disregarding the decency and respect for society at large in the pursuit of a buck.

Neoliberal values emphasis on a deregulated market

Neoliberal emphasis on opposition to the welfare state in favour of a deregulated market depends on a high value placed on self-reliance and personal responsibility, obscuring systemic inequalities and uneven balances of power and privilege within society.

Throughout the series, neoliberal motifs have been illustrated from both Walter and Jesse’s character development as well as the character foil between the two.

Thesis Statement Feedback:

Will – First sentence feels like a summary, maybe should be left out of thesis statement.

“American neoliberal dream” – either use one or the other, combining both is awkward, especially when neoliberalism is not an idea just restricted to America.

Cut out “– a dream” and “his” before self-interest

Refer to Vince Gilligan just as “Gilligan” after the first mention

Why? How Breaking Bad and Walt’s self-interest is reflected through his and Jesse’s character development.

What? Scene portrays the violence Walt has built his “neoliberal dream” on

First sentence is defensible and disputable

Second sentence could explain scene a little more, focus an episode instead of entire “TV show”

Rick – Why? Jesse and Walter’s development and relationship exemplifies neoliberalism

What? Breaking Bad reflects the neoliberalist ideas of self-interest and market forces.

Disputable? Yes

So what? The neoliberal dream begets violence and financial reward.

Focus the “So what” on the second sentence.

Harsh – What? Walter’s struggle in a hyper-competitive, high-stake marketplace

Why? Walter’s competition in this marketplace reflects the ideas of neoliberalism

Defendable/Disputable: Yes, with examples from the show, explain Walter’s competition in marketplace in essay.

So what: Emphasis on explanation of neoliberalism in society