The notion of hegemony is seen often in society, as many socially powerful people utilize their authority to gain control and power. The Oxford Dictionary (2014) defines hegemony as “Leadership or dominance, especially by one state or social group over others.” One such television series that exemplifies the concept of hegemony is AMC’s award-winning drama Breaking Bad (2008-2013), which tells the story of a brilliant overqualified high school chemistry teacher named Walter White, who discovers he has inoperable lung cancer and is unable to pay for his expensive medical bills. In an effort to avoid leaving his family with a mountain debt, the family man “breaks bad” after quitting his teaching position and uses his extraordinary scientific
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With the story growing out of typical white suburbia, Walt is informed about his terminal lung cancer, which gives him the sense of losing control within his own body. Instead of lying down and letting the disease overtake his health, Walter takes the reins and gains back control of his life, liberating him into a lifestyle of playing the game according to his rules and not bowing down to anyone. “Because rebels threaten the status quo and challenge societal institutions, they are often portrayed as dangerously antisocial outlaws who pose a moral threat to their communities…because (they) are both magnetic and threatening, they are often scripted as tragic figures whose fierce independence becomes their undoing” (Holt and Thompson, 2004). This persistent chase for power and pride in being a druglord directly violates the status quo of everyday life that governs society’s laws and rules against criminal …show more content…
Breaking Bad shows two separate underlying ideologies of hegemony, the first relating to Walter’s hegemonic masculinity and his search for successful breadwinner status within the traditional structure of his American family. The second theme highlights Walter’s war against the hegemonic government, and his aim to undermine the DEA, US government, and his brother-in-law. Accepting the general premise of man’s search for supremacy, control and influence within the world of manhood, Walter fueled his need for the role of the family provider under the conventional form of hegemonic masculinity. He went to great lengths to be the “ruler of the family” by providing financially for his wife and kids, reaffirming the dominant ideology of the male supplying the income and social power within the family structure. Although looking like the “man next door,” Walter breaks free from the stigma of the average white male and challenges the hegemonic foundation of the US government and its laws by building an illegal meth empire on his own terms and killing anyone that stands in his way, including his brother-in-law. Walter and his horrible counter-hegemonic actions against the US government transformed his role as “man of the house” father-husband to violent Heisenberg and from protagonist to antagonist. While struggling with his grasp on the power over his world, Walter actively supported the
With the story growing out of typical white suburbia, Walt is informed about his terminal lung cancer, which gives him the sense of losing control within his own body. Instead of lying down and letting the disease overtake his health, Walter takes the reins and gains back control of his life, liberating him into a lifestyle of playing the game according to his rules and not bowing down to anyone. “Because rebels threaten the status quo and challenge societal institutions, they are often portrayed as dangerously antisocial outlaws who pose a moral threat to their communities…because (they) are both magnetic and threatening, they are often scripted as tragic figures whose fierce independence becomes their undoing” (Holt and Thompson, 2004). This persistent chase for power and pride in being a druglord directly violates the status quo of everyday life that governs society’s laws and rules against criminal …show more content…
Breaking Bad shows two separate underlying ideologies of hegemony, the first relating to Walter’s hegemonic masculinity and his search for successful breadwinner status within the traditional structure of his American family. The second theme highlights Walter’s war against the hegemonic government, and his aim to undermine the DEA, US government, and his brother-in-law. Accepting the general premise of man’s search for supremacy, control and influence within the world of manhood, Walter fueled his need for the role of the family provider under the conventional form of hegemonic masculinity. He went to great lengths to be the “ruler of the family” by providing financially for his wife and kids, reaffirming the dominant ideology of the male supplying the income and social power within the family structure. Although looking like the “man next door,” Walter breaks free from the stigma of the average white male and challenges the hegemonic foundation of the US government and its laws by building an illegal meth empire on his own terms and killing anyone that stands in his way, including his brother-in-law. Walter and his horrible counter-hegemonic actions against the US government transformed his role as “man of the house” father-husband to violent Heisenberg and from protagonist to antagonist. While struggling with his grasp on the power over his world, Walter actively supported the