#brba theme

[jesse-pinko]

It’s literally not my fault that the themes of Breaking Bad become that much stronger if you read Walter as a closeted gay man… like where to even start okay it’s 2008 and this guy is so, so insecure in his masculinity and so, so resentful of his picket fence family life. He’s done what he was “supposed” to do by societal standards and he still doesn’t feel like enough of a man compared to his brodude brother-in-law specifically. He can’t escape the feeling that something is missing, that it’s all a charade, and he finds it hard to believe the rest of the people in his life really are content with this lifestyle. Nobody seems to understand, and he hates them all for not seeing how unhappy he is. He gets his cancer diagnosis and is suddenly acutely aware that he feels burdened and unfulfilled by the life he’s built for himself, and that time is running out to change things.

It’s when he sees Jesse Pinkman fall half naked out of a window that everything changes. He’s pretty, and young, and floundering without guidance or a support system. He desperately craves human connection and lacks the self-esteem to take his life in any particular direction without someone instructing him. He’s grieving his aunt, the only person he had looking out for him, who died of cancer. He already views Walter as an authority figure. He’s alone.

And with Jesse around, Walter doesn’t have to come to terms with anything about himself that might challenge his masculinity, because it isn’t an equal relationship. Because he’s still “the man” in this dynamic, the one with the power, the one calling the shots, the dominant one, the firm hand. Moreso than in his relationship with Skyler, who refuses to be bullied into the role he would assign her, that of the submissive, subservient little wife who looks to him for guidance and permission. As a criminal, Walt can express care for another man in the only way that traditional masculinity would deem acceptable; through violence. His love language is violence. Violence toward Jesse and violence on Jesse’s behalf. He runs over two men with a car for Jesse. He kills Jane and Mike, a romantic and paternal threat respectively, because they were going to take Jesse away from him. He tries on occasion to verbalize their relationship into something more traditionally familial, as if saying it might make it true, but it never quite fits the mold exactly. He reasserts, over and over again in what he later admits is a lie, that he is doing this for his family, that everything he does is an extension of his masculine role rather than deviant from it. He would kill and die for Jesse, he does kill and die for Jesse. In fact, in a story of self-actualization that still has Walt cling to his delusions of grandeur up until the very end (almost as though becoming Heisenberg wasn’t actually self-actualization so much as an escapist fantasy) his arc concludes with him actually self-actualizing by committing one last act of violence on Jesse’s behalf. In Ozymandias, he tells Jesse about Jane as a way of playing into Jesse’s worst fear that Walter never cared about him, that everything they did to and for each other meant nothing. Walter’s last act on Earth is a refutation of that; it’s an admission of care. His last act of self-actualization was a confession of love for another man.

[kylejsugarman]

it is actually fucking deranged that characters can just look at jesse and immediately tell that he was hurt by walter white. not just hurt, but like fucking wrecked. what an insane inversion of "show, don't tell". we've been shown for five seasons and now the show itself is telling us that yeah, Everyone can see it, it is a canon and in universe truth that one can look at jesse pinkman and see that he has been horribly fucking harmed.

[thepinkpestilence]

“He cares about you.”

[lttleghost]

while watching El Camino with @strawberry-crocodile couple days ago I finally put words to another thing that makes it hard for me to swallow its praise as a story of Jesse finding freedom

and that is - if this movie is supposed to finally be about Jesse having freedom, WHY DOES JESSE END UP GOING TO A PLACE THAT WAS MIKES SUGGESTION AND NOT JESSE'S OWN IDEA? MIKE EVEN SAYS THAT HE IS NOT JESSE WHEN THIS QUESTION IS BROUGHT UP!!! like this piled on top of going out of the way to make sure the audience hears the perspective that Jesse is to blame for the outcome of his life without much attention given to the structural problems that led to the choices he made just means everything falls flat in such a sour way

[likethe-month]

Greetings BrBa/BCS fandom I have some thoughts

Whenever my friend and I finished season 4 of Breaking Bad I really started to think... wouldn't Gustavo Fring make a terrifying and effective yandere? (was I even paying attention to seasons 2 and 3 smh...)

He has eyes everywhere and basically unlimited manpower. We saw just how ruthless and powerful he was throughout the show, so reader would basically be screwed.

Once involved in such a dangerous game, the only way out would probably be death.

You could try to disappear, but the moment before getting into the car to escape, you'd hear the cock of a handgun. You'd turn to see one of Gus's men with a hard look on his face. He wouldn't shoot, but if faced with no other choice, he might aim for a leg.

The guard would bring you to wherever Gus wanted through a silent and tense car ride. You would be sat down only to be face-to-face with the dangerous man who had been the object of your deepest fears as of recent. Forced to stare into his endlessly cold eyes, you would try your best not to tremble.

He would lay out his conditions and expect you to fully accept them. Say yes and you're treated like royalty, say no and you might be subjected to "further persuasion."

Trust me, you might want to consider saying yes.

[nonbinarygamzee]

finally sitting down and making the decision to watch nge so might be really normal about that on here for the forseeable future.

[uncanny-tranny]

hello there!! I know I'm being a bit bold with this ask even if I'm hiding to an extent on anon but- I was wondering if you might be interested in watching/sharing this video essay I recently finished on a trans reading of Jesse Pinkman

https://youtu.be/sVh0of5kAQ4

feel free to ignore me and either way I hope you have a good day!

I'm a few minutes into this video (it's close to the forty-minute mark), but so far, I appreciate her insight! Obligatory warning for spoilers about Breaking Bad and a little for Better Call Saul.

I think so many people are attracted to the idea of trans Jesse because Breaking Bad cannot be separated from the analysis of masculinity and toxic masculinity specifically. In these discussions, I think trans people often have unique insights into their experiences with toxic masculinity, and though that isn't always true, I myself certainly know that I and many trans people have a complex relationship with masculinity (and femininity, but I digress).

I think I most related to the idea of a trans reading of Jesse in the scene where Jane observes that not only did Jesse draw himself as superheros, but his kangaroo superhero had a pouch. It was relatable, and almost this sort of realization that Jesse presents himself a certain way, yet other people interpret him differently than he does.

I highly doubt Vince Gilligan intended Jesse to be trans. I highly doubt that Aaron Paul played Jesse in a way that was meant to be read as trans. However, I do still appreciate the trans reading of Jesse, and I think that if it were canon, it would fit neatly into the overall themes of the show (that being masculinity, gender, gender roles, and how people contend with these elements)

[kingoftieland]

Created exclusively for the Better Call Saul: Season One Limited Collector’s Edition on Blu-ray, this postcard vinyl of Junior Brown’s theme song for the show looks great in a frame and is a unique and interesting addition to my record collection! 🎵

Postcard vinyls were invented in 1903 and were typically one-sided. They consisted of a small phonograph record, played at 78 rpm, which was glued onto a postcard. A hole was then inserted through the middle of the record postcard to enable playback on the device of the time, the gramophone. While they may not be as popular or common today, postcard vinyls were all the rage back in the '60s and '70s, when they used to be sold with magazines.

[mikumutual]

finished breaking bad. consensus: holy fucking shit

[the-unofficial-village-idiot]

Gotta say, ford dodging the question every time dipper asks what bill was to him is even funnier after the book of bill

[naughtydogg]

ok but The Ghoul theme from the show is so…..

[willtransform]

oh my god i finished. i need to rewatch immediately

[alexpdcl]

just when i thought that i'm running low on brba art ideas another one pops into my head out of nowhere . this show is genuinely rich in complexities and themes that you can pretty much make art from every scene ...

[lottiesboy]

boy mom skyler white headcanons :p

note: let me cook for a sec,,, i love skyler white and brba sm and she’s actually my mom so… theres literally no agere content for skyler or content for skyler in general so i had to made a second batch of headcanons. this will be 100% self indulgent and tailored to my boyre :] i poured my little heart out into these headcanons for no one but myself and it was so worth it eeee :3

ᯓ she has to look at you real carefully to make sure you don’t have anything that’s not supposed to be in your mouth. “do you have something in your mouth? or is mommy gonna have to check?” and you just look and her like this :c

ᯓ she’s seen all three cars movies more than 100 times and cars on the road/mater’s tall tales as well. she knows all of the characters names and which ones are your favorite. she'll catch herself humming the cars on the road theme song while she's doing things around the house :3

ᯓ has accidentally stepped on many of your hot wheels that you leave in the middle of the living room carpet. you always forget until you hear your mama go “ow! dammit!” she doesn’t get mad at you, she knows you wouldn’t do it on purpose.

ᯓ gets you onesies that say “mommy’s little man” and “mama’s little monster” she loves dressing you in onesies and snapping the buttons

ᯓ actually takes bottle feeding very seriously. she bought a bottle warmer and has 10 different bottles to feed you with. she loves it so much it’s her favorite thing to do with you :3

ᯓ telling you not to play too hard out in the backyard,,, then you do and you come crying to her with a scrapped knee. after cleaning and patching you up with a batman bandaid, she’ll kiss your boo boo and wipe your tears while she bounces you in her lap.

ᯓ when she’s putting you down for nap time, she always holds you on her lap in the rocking chair until you fall asleep, patting your back. if you fuss and cry for her, she’ll come back and pick you up. “shhh, what’s wrong, huh, bubba? did my little boy need his mama?”

ᯓ baby talk ughhhh. whenever she does it, you get shy and hide in your blankie or her shoulder, but she still does it regardless. “are you mommy’s baby boy? mommy’s cute little boy, yes you are. yes you are!” you’re a blushy and embarrassed little ball by the end of it.

ᯓ playing action figures with you regardless when the only superheroes she knows of the top of her head is superman, batman, spiderman and captain america.

ᯓ when she goes grocery shopping without you, she’ll buy you a couple of hot wheel since they’re only a dollar and some cents. skyler loves spoiling you when she can :}

[biracy]

The inherent racialization and xenophobia of USAmerican anti-drug laws in general, but especially in the American Southwest, was always going to be something Breaking Bad inherited, and is Honestly, in my Latin opinion, not something it necessarily handles with a lot of grace. I understand that brba is not About that, it's not one of the themes, but it's still there, because you cannot talk about the drug trade in any even semi-serious context without talking about race and class, even if it's not intentional. In general I think brba is more sympathetic towards drug users and more critical towards the police institution than a lot of other shows of a similar vein, but there's still a very clear throughline of "dangerous" Latin America and Latinos, particularly Mexico and Mexicans. I know this is the "white gay people talking about how great 'Problematic Representation' is" website, and that a post about, well, "problematic representation" will probably fall on deaf ears, but when almost All of the lead characters in your show are white, and the main Hispanic characters are a bunch of Mexican drug lords, a Chilean drug lord, and a cop who gets to be One Of The Good Ones by working against The Bad Ones, people (me) are allowed to notice that lol. Obviously I love the show, this isn't a condemnation of it, but it is something that stood out to me and should be allowed to be critiqued lol

[cassowariess]

I REALLY don't like comparing the two shows in tone, because one is gritty realism and one has larger than life folk characters, but I know the creators of BrBa and BCS like The Wire, so I can't help but wonder if Gus Fring's character was partly modelled after Brother Mouzone and -to a lesser extent- if Omar Little was a small influence on Nacho Varga, with the "I only rob other criminals/refuse to hurt civilians" code.

Omar and Mouzone are the only larger than life characters in The Wire and the most likely to fit into a show like Breaking Bad, whereas all the other characters slap you in the face with brutal realism.

I haven't finished The Wire yet, but I have to say on balance I think I prefer BrBa/BCS so far, purely because while The Wire is good, it's a hard watch in places due to how realistic it is. I can say it is an objectively good and well crafted show with important and universal themes. But they are also wildly different shows and it's kind of dumb to compare them. I feel like Breaking Bad has more in common with The Sopranos tonally.

The Wire is a literary essay on institutional failure and BrBa and BCS are folk tales/character studies.