Breaking Bad: a Semiotic Film Analysis of the Modern-Day Western

In today’s society, television (as well as other media outlets) plays a big part in the structuring of our society through implementations of traditional mythologies, archetypes, gender codes and other hidden messages. The creator of the show Breaking Bad sums it up very nicely in an interview,

“If you’re committed enough, you can make any story work.”

in other words, you can create characters and a world, as long as you believe there are enough viewers that share the same motivations, such as acceptance for having to do acts normally considered immoral. The show presents us with the lead role, Walter White, a man living a mundane life who quickly becomes victim to horrific news: he has lung cancer and an expiration date. The show then takes us on a journey through Walt’s quest to protect and ensure the well-being of his family after he is gone, through (almost) any means necessary. Walt is qualified for this specific scenario, because he happens to have a very essential skill: chemistry (earned through years of teaching the subject in public schools).

On the way, gender roles are established (for all the world to see and relate with, or else they would not continue viewing); the show is at times very much for viewers that enjoy the idea of having the freedom to run like an outlaw, lawless and not subject to any judgment, besides God. And so, the classic Western genre makes a comeback decades after its initial popular days, in a new more modern skin. After viewers started to understand that the Wild West was not a time of heroes, but rather a genocide of Native, they began to lose interest. Though on the exterior the show Breaking Bad seems to display a tried approach to thriller television shows, the deep interior shares structure learned from ancestral (and [inherently] Western) mythologies and traditional gender roles, as well as the “essential” strategy of subliminal messaging.

The Western was a popular genre at one point, and then it just disappeared without any abruption, taking with it the outlaw antihero character that had become a hero for American television shows. Authors of the text, Signs of Life in the USA, sum it up concisely in the article “Chapter 3 Video Dreams: Television and Cultural Forms,

“The genre was a celebration of the pioneers, settlers, cowboys, and gun slinging lawmen who, as people used to say ‘Won the West.’ … This all changed in the later 1960s and the 1970s, when historical distortions became all too clear… came to be seen as genocidal injustice to the native peoples” (Maasik and Solomon).

The genre had disappeared for a while and most people probably forgot about it, but Breaking Bad brings the nature and structure of a Western feature back; Walt makes the conscious decision to do outlaw work in order to make sure his family is taken care of; he could have of course borrowed money from willing friends, but his decision to produce and distribute drugs is justified by his belief that his motives are good, and so evil things can be done in order to succeed.

The viewer roots for an antihero, a hero in the sense of moral goals, but by immoral means. Linda Seger, author of article Creating the Myth about traditional mythologies and archetypes and their place in television and society, states that “we identify with the heroes because we were once heroic (descriptive) or because we wish we could do what the hero does (prescriptive)” (Seger). The show takes from mythologies that came before it, with broad concepts and innovative implementations of archetypes and story arcs, whilst infusing a current day setting and characters. In relation to the revival Western approach show creator Vince Gilligan takes, you can see in the Pilot episode that the inspiration is there, especially in one of the closing scenes where Walt stands pointing his weapon towards the viewer in a very Dirty Harry like way, making the viewer feeling like a “lucky punk”.

Throughout the show he fights bigger villains, who each teach him something along the way, as well as some partners in “crime”; he learns things like not trusting people easily very quickly, insinuating one must always be skeptical of people, no matter what the situation; he even kills men, almost always being justified by his “good” motives. Though many similarities with traditional myths exist, Walter is a different kind of hero, one that shows us that morals are contextual and situational (Harries).

Another major part of the show’s structure and codes is that of Gender Codes; traditional codes are present, as well as some more modern traditions, such as a growing support for feminism and equality in the workplace.

From the beginning of Episode 1, gender roles become quickly established. Walt is asked to rise above a new issue he faced that puts an expiration date on his life, forcing him to become the “biggest man” he can be to make sure his family’s future is taken care of; he turns down multiple offers of help, which is also unlikely of a traditional hero character. In Episode 3, Walter is again presented as the dominant man in the flashback of his past career as a research scientist, where his supporting secretary role was once again female, not implying degradation of the gender’s value and place in society; on the contrary, the show does a good job of showing why both gender roles work together for the bigger picture (whether that picture is desirable is up for another debate).

In another flashback, Walter’s wife in presented in a maternal role, in labor, setting up another traditional feminine image where a mother’s significance is bearing a child. “Gendered commercials, like gendered programs, are designed to give pleasure to the target audience, since it is the association of the product with a pleasurable experience” (Craig). These gender configurations make it easier to target the audience for specific products, so that is probably the motivation for a lot of these coding constructs. Author of the article Analysing characters’ interactions in filmic text: a functional semiotic approach believes that “The first time we see a character, he behaves in a certain way, and based upon the behavior, we categorize the character” (Tseng). From the first episode, we already put Walter White in a category in our heads, without even really knowing anything about him!

Countless times he displays masculine acts, acts associated with aggression and testosterone filled motives, like when he stands up for his son in Episode 2, when they were making fun of him for being disabled.

Examples like this and the male dominant position sex scene in this episode, clearly shows the essentiality of male dominance in society, though the women in the show are not completely ostracized; in fact, the women are intelligent and respectable (for the most part), but just play mere supporting roles.

His brother in law, Hank, also displays very masculine features, providing a model for a “real” man, a man with a dangerous career that has influenced his personality to be very aggressive and dominant (the viewer is constantly rooting for him, but also against him for the sake of Walt, the antihero). In another scene, Hank’s wife calls him to let him know Walt’s son Walt Jr is smoking “pot”, according to Walt’s wife. In this scene, male dominance is well affirmed to the viewer who has seen these dynamics in their homes or can relate to a father making the final decisions on issues concerning discipline of their children; once again, this is not demoting of women, but does solidify what feminine and masculine have come to mean, while also following the rules of today’s modern society. Walt’s wife actually has qualities of an independent woman, as she runs a personal online business, exemplifying signs of a stronger woman than would have been in the I Love Lucy days. The show is a combination of traditional and modern day (heterosexual) gender roles, just like the combination of Walt being the good guy and the bad guy simultaneously.

Despite what is presented through the visuals and words of the show, the implied overall meaning can be something very different. On the exterior, the show becomes a journey untraveled before, Walter must take on illegal activities like drug dealing to achieve the positive goal of taking care of his family. This act would normally be taboo, but the show presents to you a scenario where these acts would not be completely immoral. He could have resorted to other options like taking charity or loan, etc., but he made the conscious, educated decision to illegally produce and distribute narcotics, using his “friend with benefit” and brother in law Hank to unknowingly help cover his tracks, as not just any average Joe off the street could come up with an equally well orchestrated plan of this nature; his background in chemistry, and “ins” with the law, DEA specifically, make him the quintessential candidate to carry out such a task, as the opportunity and necessity has presented. this provides an example for viewers that it is okay to do a previously wrong deed, if there is a good motive behind it; this calls for the questioning and analysis of the viewers’ philosophies and moral codes: what may be right in one place may be wrong in another, or what may be wrong in one place may be okay in another! Walter can be an irrationally angry father, but the acts are justified by his end means of taking care of his family; this seems to okay having a quick temper if one’s intentions are good. The greatest underlying message in the show seems to be that morality is contextual and situational.

Creator Vince Gilligan has done a fantastic job at bringing back the outlaw Western theme with Breaking Bad, but there may be more than meets the eyes of the viewer; this show can question one’s moral fiber and prior philosophies, maybe helping the viewer come to realizations, or subconscious changes. Traditional mythologies and gender codes are established to continue what American society has come to expect from TV, with the twist of the antihero leading the way in a way that relates to the viewers more mundane life; the show is a chance of escape from everyday life to a world of lawlessness and freedom to reach goals by any means possible, for heroic reasons.

Works Cited

Craig, Steve. “Men’s Men and Women’s Women”. Signs of Life in the U.S.A.: Readings on Popular Culture for Writers 8th Ed. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2015. 182–192. Print.

Gilligan, Vince. “…And the Bag’s in the River”. Breaking Bad. AMC. Albuquerque, New

Mexico, 10 February 2008. Television.

Gilligan, Vince. “Cat’s in the Bag”. Breaking Bad. AMC. Albuquerque, New Mexico, 27

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Gilligan, Vince. “Pilot”. Breaking Bad. AMC. Albuquerque, New Mexico, 20 January 2008.

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Harries, Dan M. “The Semi-Semiotics of Film.” Academic Search Complete [EBSCO]. Film

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Maasik, Sonia, and Jack Solomon. “VIDEO DREAMS: Television and Cultural Forms”. Signs of Life in the U.S.A.: Readings on Popular Culture for Writers 8th Ed. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2015. 255–267. Print.

Seger, Linda. “Creating the Myth.” Signs of Life in the U.S.A.: Readings on Popular Culture for Writers 8th Ed. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2015. 334–342. Print.

Tseng, Chiao-I. “Analysing Characters’ Interactions in Filmic Text: A Functional Semiotic

Approach.” Academic Search Complete [EBSCO]. Social Semiotics, 17 Oct. 2012. Web.

July 24 2016.