Sorry to jump on the bandwagon so late, but I recently finished watching Breaking Bad. And it is hands down, the best show ever made in the T.V. history, even better than India’s favorite at the moment, Friends.
It has given us some of the most iconic dialogues like,
“I am the one who knocks.”
“I am the danger.”
“Say my name.”
“You are goddamn right!”
“My name is ASAC Schrader, and you can go fuck yourself.”
And my personal favorite, “Gatorade me, bitch!”
But there is one thing which its amazing team of writers couldn’t compensate for, and that is its shoddy treatment of the female characters.
Let’s take Skyler White for example. She starts off as a loving, caring wife, who gives her husband veg bacon on his 50th birthday, and even though this did not go well with a lot of folks, I found it to be a sweet gesture. She doesn’t nag her husband about finding another job, and in fact is pissed at Bogdan for insulting her husband.
People dislike her for the “intervention” scene with Marie’s talking pillow, but honestly, which woman wants her husband to die? Besides, the chemo did help extend Walt’s life.
So despite the fact that a majority of the audience hated her by the end of Season 1, I was rooting for this law abiding wife who thought her husband was doing pot.
However, as the seasons progressed, my love for her decreased, and annoyance skydived. I mean, she is pregnant. Her son has cerebral palsy. Her husband has cancer and disappears for hours without letting her know. She should be getting ALL the love. Then where did it all go wrong?
Anna Gunn, the actress who plays Skyler White, says the following about the hate her character has received.
“As an actress, I realize that viewers are entitled to have whatever feelings they want about the characters they watch. But as a human being, I’m concerned that so many people react to Skyler with such venom. Could it be that they can’t stand a woman who won’t suffer silently or “stand by her man”? That they despise her because she won’t back down or give up? Or because she is, in fact, Walter’s equal?”
“But I finally realized that most people’s hatred of Skyler had little to do with me and a lot to do with their own perception of women and wives. Because Skyler didn’t conform to a comfortable ideal of the archetypal female, she had become a kind of Rorschach test for society, a measure of our attitudes toward gender.”
I am pretty sure misogyny is one of the factors, but far from the only one. The main reason why Skyler White is hated so much is because of the treatment she has got from the writers.
To clarify, I am not saying Skyler was a victim of circumstances and blah blah.
NO.
But her character doesn’t make any impact, good or bad, and that is where my problem lies.
Jesse Pinkman, for example, got almost an entire episode to himself in Season 2, Peekaboo, where we could see his soft side. Tell me, where exactly, does Skyler get such an episode? The most screen time she ever got was when she was looking to buy a car wash, and that did NOTHING to add to her character. While some characters like Mike and Tuco, while appearing for a little while, are so well cut out, Skyler’s character, on the other hand, fails to make an impact the entire five seasons.
Even Gustavo Fring, who appears for a few seasons, has a tragic backstory that makes us empathize with him (Hermanos), while our Skyler has nothing to her credit. Zilch, nada, zippo.
Skyler White suffers from Bipolar Disorder on another level. She supports Walt in one season, cheats on him the next, launders his money in the third season, is afraid of him in the fourth, and becomes a spineless mammal in the last.
Her transformation from a strong wife and mother to a cigarette smoking whitewashed character is drastic and frankly, I couldn’t follow it.
What happened to the woman who went to Jesse’s house to chide him? How did she suddenly become so afraid of her husband that whenever Walt said they were not in danger (even though they always were), she would not press him? Like really Skyler? Your husband hides ricin in your bedroom and you feel safe?
Heck, even the mute cousins had more of an impact than her. They were intimidating without saying anything.
Anna Gunn is a terrific actress, no doubt about that, but the writing department falls short to give her a full fledged role. Some characters have amazing development (like Mike), while others like Skyler, are, well, there.
And if the female lead is portrayed like that, what can you expect from Marie Schrader? All I recall about her is that-
- She is a kleptomaniac.
- She likes purple, a LOT of purple.
SO. MUCH. PURPLE.
Lydia Rodarte Quayle was dealt with in a similar manner and even though the actress had tremendous potential, her character is often forgettable. All I recall about her is that-
- She has eyebrows way too high up.
- She loves her Stevia.
Yeah, that’s pretty much it.
***
As I finish this rant, all I want to tell the writers is that:
All this being said, I would reiterate. Breaking Bad, you rock!
That Blogger Chick 