Why Teachers Love "Breaking Bad"

The series finale of the landmark cable series "Breaking Bad" has now come and gone, with much comment by pundits, critics, and fans alike about the worthiness of the final episode and the hidden meanings of various gestures and images. It's worth noting that as series finales go, "Breaking Bad" certainly did a fine job of wrapping up the loose ends and leaving viewers satisfied. There isn't much else you can do, in spite of some fans' complaints that the finale wasn't exciting or "big" enough. We are talking about television, and even this show must keep its plot twists believable within the context of the show. As an anti-hero and a tragic hero at that, Walter White had to meet his end in a certain way, and his relative calmness in the final episode made for some enjoyably tense moments.

One thing that always made this show believable (as a work of fiction) was Walter White's initial status as a middle-class science teacher. He is overworked and exhausted, but he continues to forge ahead, does his work and gives the students some kind of exposure to scientific thinking. He does a few visually dazzling experiments in class, but mostly he seems like a teacher who was once inspired and passionate about teaching, but who is now going through the motions. He's still excited by science, but he's rather tired of trying to transfer that passion to eternally bored students.

As his obsession with his now-rich former partners suggests, Walter regrets that his apparently brilliant knowledge and abilities in science have not made him wealthy or powerful, hence the motive (once he gets sick) for his descent into the criminal world. As he admits in the series finale, it's the power that has driven him more than the money or the need to provide for his family; he's found something he's "good at" that also rewards him with financial gain.

Even though Walter White is ostensibly "evil," teachers relate to and appreciate his special brand of madness even more so than the average viewer, I would argue. They see Walter with his ugly, paid-for Pontiac Aztec and his nerdy short-sleeve shirts, they see him trying to reach a classroom full of distracted teenagers, and they think, yes, I've been there. Even teachers with more passion than Walter (and passion tends to come and go, hence the high burn-out factor for teachers) can relate to moments when he's just not connecting with the students, just not able to make them see what he sees. It's the ever-present challenge of teaching, and it doesn't just go away.

Of course, watching a dramatic show about a semi-bored science teacher would probably be excruciating. What teachers really like about Walter White, and what we like about any worthy protagonist, is that he takes action. He gives himself the kind of power that teachers hardly ever feel. I would argue that male teachers in particular wrestle with questions of job identity and male power, and this is one reason Hank provides such a powerful and initially obnoxious counterpart to Walter. In the early episodes, Hank practically bullies Walter with his overbearing personality and bravado-driven comments about his empowered job as a DEA agent. He gets to fire a gun and push around criminals, while Walter plays with Bunsen burners and grades papers as he's wiping chalk dust from his pants.

Walter changes his destiny, and thereby gives teacher-viewers a vicarious sense of thrilling empowerment. He jettisons teaching, which the all-powerful capitalist society and surrounding culture do not endorse or support through any kind of financial rewards or even prestige, and pursues the purely money-making endeavor of drug manufacturing and sales. Although making and selling meth is clearly illegal, it's also more supported and rewarded by the culture at large, as evidenced by the financial rewards and sense of respect that Walter begins to command. In spite of the law, drug-making is the most purely capitalist activity around; it is totally market driven and is not regulated or overseen by government, except for being illegal in fact. Walter makes a lot of money selling a high-quality product that is in high demand. There's no real reason for the product to exist, but it creates its own demand. 

Walter gives up on teaching because teaching and society have given up on him. Yes, he was living a comfortable existence in a nice middle-class home, and that is where most teachers will stay, and they will be relatively happy with that existence. But the fantasy of Walter White, the fictional science teacher who builds a drug empire, triumphs over this suburban malaise. He makes teachers grin and smirk as they watch television, thinking about tomorrow's lesson plan and the stack of ungraded papers before them. We cheer Walter on, in spite of his evilness, because we know exactly where he's coming from.  

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