From Emmett Till and Medgar Evers to Trayvon Martin and Michael Brown, the defining young black men of their generations are known for dying too young and for no good reason. Every community has their story of a young black man, who, if not dead under suspicious circumstances received railroaded justice. A young man known as Cheetah White comes to mind. I couldn't begin to tell you the facts of that case, only that justice was swift and Cheetah went to prison. It was my first time ever seeing a protest march (as a spectator.)
The thread that run through all of these is that we don't value young the same as we value other members of society. Each case plays out the same way with whites convinced of guilt and blacks convinced of innocence and devolves into blacks protesting and whites saying, "See, destroy your own community...." And then some old white guy like Rudy Giuliani makes some horribly insensitive remarks. This has to stop.
For this to work justice must be blind. A prosecutor must seek an indictment. The bar is low -- probable cause. If you can't get that, you're not trying very hard. Michael is denied his day in court. The black community has no reason to trust the justice system, so they have to protest -- it's their only chance at justice.
Tuesday, November 25, 2014
Thursday, November 13, 2014
A Review of Breaking Bad
I have never felt more American than I do right now. I have finished watching all 62 episodes of a television show that I didn't really like that much. And for most of these episodes I posted an update to Facebook announcing, "Watching episode xx of Breaking Bad." This got likes and encouragement heaped on me as I was finally part of the team. I had given myself to the mindless, pre-diabetic couch-potatoery that American life has come to symbolize.
People genuinely like this show and I am clearly in the minority because I didn't love it. I didn't hate it either. I mostly found it not that interesting and completely lacking in likable characters. The plot appears to be well thought out, but slow. Walt is like an evil MacGyver, using his superior knowledge of science to make the best meth and to kill people in diabolical ways. His motives appear to be fueled by not having lived up to his potential and bailing on his start-up before it made him rich. He has something to prove and his narcissism to satisfy.
Skyler, his wife, has her own craven desires and is almost likable. She does try to protect her family, but ultimately helps Walt launder money to satisfy her own craven desires. Marie, Skyler's sister is an idiot and completely lacking in depth or development. Hank, Marie's husband and a DEA agent is also an idiot and someone I would go to great lengths to avoid having to talk to. Gus, the drug kingpin is a wooden cutout of a man -- but the only person nearly as diabolical as Walt. Mike was about as likable as a thug can be. He tried to aid Walt and Jesse along the way, so he is OK, but really has too small a role to make a difference. Lydia -- the most likable thing about her was that her last name was Quayle. Saul was good for comic relief, but he was also an attorney to scumbags who was about as dirty as they come.
This brings us to Jesse Pinkman. Pinkman is the closest thing to a good person in the entire show. He's a meth cook, drug addict, all-around screw-up who may be the only person in the show with a moral compass that points in the right direction. He is remorseful for hurting people. He loves and treats people well. He is also a killer. He is the only character in the show that has depth and complexity, but even he is a cliche.
I have a few theories about why the show is so popular. First, it plays to the delusion that a lot of people have that goes something like this: I am good, I could never swayed from my goodness and am therefore utterly fascinated by anyone that appears to walk the razor's edge between good and evil. If there is a genius to the show, it is that none of the characters are inherently good or evil -- they all walk that razor's edge and most viewers don't consciously know that they do it too. Like I said earlier, Pinkman is the closest thing to a likable character and his last two girlfriends have died of a drug overdose and being shot in the back of the head by a drug dealer. Not exactly what you would call totally likable.
My second theory is that it is an allegory for our times. If the Wall Street culture of greed is replaced by the meth culture of greed, then all of the characters become investment bankers and people cheer for their greed. Of course you can't cheer for meth cooks so this sets up the dynamic tension of wanting to cheer for the bad guys which heightens its allure.
As for the plot (I should probably give a spoiler alert here, but as I am the last person to watch this show there is no point), it's basically a little Robin Hood, a little Gatsby, a little Godfather and little slapstick -- it is the story of post-Modern, consumerist America. In the end, Walt keeps coming back -- not for the money, not for the power but for the fame. He is a narcissist. He enjoys telling Skyler his famous "I'm the guy who knocks" speech even though he is not at that point (and truly never becomes that because his narcissism gets in the way of his building an organization). He gets a gigantic woody when Hank figures out who he is. He comes back. He coerces the Schwatzes into helping him give money to his family. If there series played for another season, it would have Walt writing his memoir from a jail cell.
Walt is America with a coalition of the willing that dwindles to none but still has the power to take out some bad guys before ending up lying in a pool of his own blood on the floor of someone else's meth lab that he helped build.
People genuinely like this show and I am clearly in the minority because I didn't love it. I didn't hate it either. I mostly found it not that interesting and completely lacking in likable characters. The plot appears to be well thought out, but slow. Walt is like an evil MacGyver, using his superior knowledge of science to make the best meth and to kill people in diabolical ways. His motives appear to be fueled by not having lived up to his potential and bailing on his start-up before it made him rich. He has something to prove and his narcissism to satisfy.
Skyler, his wife, has her own craven desires and is almost likable. She does try to protect her family, but ultimately helps Walt launder money to satisfy her own craven desires. Marie, Skyler's sister is an idiot and completely lacking in depth or development. Hank, Marie's husband and a DEA agent is also an idiot and someone I would go to great lengths to avoid having to talk to. Gus, the drug kingpin is a wooden cutout of a man -- but the only person nearly as diabolical as Walt. Mike was about as likable as a thug can be. He tried to aid Walt and Jesse along the way, so he is OK, but really has too small a role to make a difference. Lydia -- the most likable thing about her was that her last name was Quayle. Saul was good for comic relief, but he was also an attorney to scumbags who was about as dirty as they come.
This brings us to Jesse Pinkman. Pinkman is the closest thing to a good person in the entire show. He's a meth cook, drug addict, all-around screw-up who may be the only person in the show with a moral compass that points in the right direction. He is remorseful for hurting people. He loves and treats people well. He is also a killer. He is the only character in the show that has depth and complexity, but even he is a cliche.
I have a few theories about why the show is so popular. First, it plays to the delusion that a lot of people have that goes something like this: I am good, I could never swayed from my goodness and am therefore utterly fascinated by anyone that appears to walk the razor's edge between good and evil. If there is a genius to the show, it is that none of the characters are inherently good or evil -- they all walk that razor's edge and most viewers don't consciously know that they do it too. Like I said earlier, Pinkman is the closest thing to a likable character and his last two girlfriends have died of a drug overdose and being shot in the back of the head by a drug dealer. Not exactly what you would call totally likable.
My second theory is that it is an allegory for our times. If the Wall Street culture of greed is replaced by the meth culture of greed, then all of the characters become investment bankers and people cheer for their greed. Of course you can't cheer for meth cooks so this sets up the dynamic tension of wanting to cheer for the bad guys which heightens its allure.
As for the plot (I should probably give a spoiler alert here, but as I am the last person to watch this show there is no point), it's basically a little Robin Hood, a little Gatsby, a little Godfather and little slapstick -- it is the story of post-Modern, consumerist America. In the end, Walt keeps coming back -- not for the money, not for the power but for the fame. He is a narcissist. He enjoys telling Skyler his famous "I'm the guy who knocks" speech even though he is not at that point (and truly never becomes that because his narcissism gets in the way of his building an organization). He gets a gigantic woody when Hank figures out who he is. He comes back. He coerces the Schwatzes into helping him give money to his family. If there series played for another season, it would have Walt writing his memoir from a jail cell.
Walt is America with a coalition of the willing that dwindles to none but still has the power to take out some bad guys before ending up lying in a pool of his own blood on the floor of someone else's meth lab that he helped build.
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