SOC433 Fall Media Response Paper: Analysis Of Race Depiction

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Course Name: Sociology
Course No.: Soc433
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Semester: Fall
Title: Media Response Paper
1.0 Introduction
‘Breaking Bad’ is a popular film that depicts the daily struggles of a high school teacher who also doubled as a hardcore drug dealer in a frantic quest to generate extra income to support his family. Diagnosed with lung cancer, he struggles with utmost resolve to ensure that he secures a decent life and future for his family before his demise. The film has been hailed and critiqued in equal measure. The film revolves around common social ills such as guilt, forgiveness and pursuit of family and societal dominance. The relationship between the protagonist, Walter, and Skylar, his wife as well as their subsequent interaction’s represent gender stereotypes that are replete in the American society; and masculinity as depicted in most outmoded media texts. This paper will attempt to critique this drama based particularly on the manner in which it portrays race, color, class, gender and sexuality.
2.0 Analysis of Race Depiction
The race problem is depicted in the drama in different scenes and episodes. At the beginning, the Protagonist, who is white, is depicted as a super chemical mind due to his previous discovery that led to a multi-billion dollar company. This depiction of an ordinary, white chemistry teacher as the finest meth cook in the west is a clear indicates of racial supremacy, or perhaps white supremacy against black supremacy. Postmodernism is depicted in the drama through different actors who work in the service industry, notably ‘Walt who is a high school teacher (Revise Sociology, 2017).‘Breaking Bad’ also depicts consumer culture and social fragmentation within the American society. The film is full of racial connotations and in particularly in Season 4. Here Jesse Cooks for Juarez Cartel. The remarks that follow portray the underlying racial supremacy struggles within our society. These remarks are “full of supremacist glee” since “there is no competing with the only white guy in the room.”(Breaking Bad, season 4) Although Jesse lacks scientific knowledge, he is able to follow through Walt’s recipe and eventually delivers a first class product. Omi and Winant (1994) tends to cast the racial inequality portrayed in this film when they state that: “..racial ideology and social structure mutually shape the nature of racism in a complex dialectical manner”(78). In my opinion his assertion that racism like race has changed over time is flawed. Perhaps what has changed is the racial manifestation, but not racism, even though the two are inseparable. The black supremacy and white supremacy ideologies also surface in the movie. I totally agree with Omi and Winant in their assertion that both ‘white supremacy and black supremacy are both instances of racism even though the later overshadows the former (74). Thus ‘Breaking Bad’ can be classified as a ‘racist’ film based on Omi and Winants argument that a project can be termed as racists if it depicts structures of racial domination (71). Brave et al (1998) that racism continues to be perpetuated through a concept he refers to as ‘transposition’ where a person lives in both the past and the present thus perpetuating historical happenings (68). If his assertions are anything to go by, then racism could be a phenomenon that is here to stay.
3.0 Analysis of Gender Depiction
The film has received colossal criticism due to its affirmation of the masculinity. Walter, the protagonist, relates with his wife in a manner that depicts common gender stereotypes that exist within the American society (Wayne 2016). In one of the scenes, Skylar scolds Walter, perhaps concerned that he wasn’t playing his rightful role in the family. At the onset, Skylar is appears to dominate the conversation as reflected by her tone and facial expression. Nevertheless, she also portrays common feminine characteristics such as caring. At one instance, she pauses and asks what ‘we’ could do for the family. From this statement, it’s apparent that women are depicted in a traditional context as simply homemakers or wives whose role is to bring forth children and care for the family. She is portrayed as only having concern for internal family matters rather than long term financial safety which was Walter’s main concern (Wayne 2016).
Women are portrayed as lacking a holistic perspective on family affairs as compared to their male counterparts. This is further depicted when Skylar’s proposal on how Walter could escape danger is disregarded. Walter’s anger is portrayed through his response when he says, “that’s not the truth” Skylar dominates the conversation, but her dominance is cut short when finally Walter stands with an imposing stature, something which he often does whenever he wants to speak (Wayne 2016). Thus going by the protagonist’s body language, posture and facial expression, women insubordination is evidently clear considering that Skylar sits on the bed while Walter remains standing throughout the conversation. Most media publications do not bring out issues of gender using a single character but rather, achieves this through the use of various other characters that help create the stereotype. In Breaking Bad, Skylar is depicted as vulnerable, lacking in physical strength and submissive to the husband. On the contrary, Walter is reflected as strong with a strong sense of command and dominance (Wayne 2016).
Thus Walter’s depiction in ‘Breaking Bad’ is an example of a common gender stereotype found in the mass media where men are portrayed as strong and women as weak. In this particular film, Skylar’s choice to remain sited while Walter, her husband stand is a sign of weaknesses and submission to a higher authority (Lopez 2015). Walter’s decision to remain standing signifies power and authority that is commonly reflected in the mass media. The relationship between Walter and his wife Skylar and their positioning signifies a well-coordinated production that was purposely meant to show the widespread gender stereotypes relating to the traditional husband and wife relationships (Wayne 2016). The film directors purposely depicted Walter as a prominent, powerful and domineering family figure who demands respect and submission from the wife. Perhaps, it was meant to show that Walter, the husband, has more power and authority as he supposedly brings more to the family table compared to Skylar. His stereotypical mindset of power and authority makes him not want to listen to his wife, even though she could have been expressing a ration...