Katie Funk

Samantha Kirby

English 102

28 January 2018

Breaking Bad and Money Lessons

When the premier of Breaking Bad aired in 2008, there was a financial crisis going on in

the United States. There was a decrease in house and stock prices, and people lost their jobs and

houses due to the weak economy (Bentley 1). Walter White was a high school chemistry teacher

who faced a series of money related issues like most Americans during 2008. As a result, many

Americans who faced financial hardships, either directly or indirectly, were provoked to watch

the show. When Vince Gilligan, the creator of Breaking Bad, started writing the show, he didn’t

expect for the economy to take the turn that it did. Vince Gilligan states that Walt’s goal since

the very beginning of season one was to leave his family enough money to be well off for the

rest of their lives (Snierson). This ultimately lead to the main message of how money can be our

downfall. Although Breaking Bad introduced many money related issues, was it effective enough

to show financially struggling Americans that money isn’t everything? Could the materialistic

American society see the message that while money can buy nice objects, it could cause us to

lose everything we hold dear to our hearts? While Breaking Bad focused on drugs and illegal

crimes, the TV show effectively got its message – that money can be our downfall – across to its

demographics.

Before discussing if the overall message Breaking Bad was trying to convey, we need to

take a deeper look into the demographics of the show. Breaking Bad, along with many other

crime drama and sci fi based TV shows, aired on AMC. On the premier date, the show received
around 1.5 million viewers. The show received roughly that many viewers throughout the first

four seasons, but occasionally, Breaking Bad would hit two million viewers (Harnick). However,

during the “Ozymandias” episode, the hit TV show reached 6.4 million viewers, and when the

last episode aired, the show hit a record breaking 10.3 million views (O’Connell.) According to

O’Connell, 4.05 million viewers were between the ages of eighteen and forty-nine as well as

3.59 million adult viewers between the ages of twenty-five and fifty-four. Based on a superficial

data analysis on the first one hundred posts using the “#breakingbad” hashtag, roughly sixty-

seven percent of the tweets were from white, middle-aged men.

Although Breaking Bad first premiered during the 2008 Financial Crisis, the audience is

watching the show to identify with their own financial and personal problems. Another reason

why the audience could be watching the show is because approximately two thirds of the viewers

were white, middle-aged men so they can identify with the mainly white, middle-aged men cast.

Some of the audience, however, could have watched Breaking Bad to feel a sense of

schadenfreude. Walt has a low paying job, a baby on the way, a son who is disable, and he is

diagnosed with terminal cancer that will kill him. People who are struggling with issues in their

own life might watch this show to feel better about themselves and their problems. Breaking Bad

could also be seen as educational. Since the audience is mostly white, middle-aged men, they

most likely aren’t around drug dealers or involved in the meth making process. Through

Breaking Bad, they can learn about a group they aren’t typically involved with.

The use of semiotics in the season one advertisement helps us identify what the overt and

covert messages are for Breaking Bad. In this poster, Walt is standing in his underwear and he’s

holding a gun. The gun can represent power and death, while his underwear, which are the

typical old, white briefs that the stereotypical older men wear, represent the kind of person
Walter is. In the background, there is an RV with red smoke fumes coming out along with a gas

mask by his feet. This clues the audience in on the use of toxic chemicals to make meth.

Throughout the entire series, the title uses the symbols of the elements bromine and barium from

the periodic table to spell out Breaking Bad. The title itself also indicates what the overt and

covert messages are. The creator of the show, Vince Gilligan, said that to “break bad” means to

raise hell (dave123123). The title itself hints at what the show is about. Throughout the show, we

see the negative effects that drugs and illegal acts have on the characters and their overall life.

This hints at the overt message of show, which is about how making or using drugs and

committing crimes have negative consequences. The covert message, however, is that even when

doing tasks with our best interests in mind, it can ultimately backfire and ruin our lives or the

lives of the ones we love.

Of course, Breaking Bad doesn’t effectively show the negative effects of having a lot of

money has on a person. For example, Walt Jr. wanted a car since he was learning to drive and

hoping to get his license, so Walt bought him a brand-new Dodge Challenger. Studies have

shown that when spending money on oneself, it is less satisfactory. However, when buying an

expensive item for a friend or family member, it is a lot more satisfactory and it increase

happiness (Money and its Effects). By having extra money, Walt was able to buy his son

something he wanted, which showed how it made Walt Jr. and Walter happy. This only shows

the positive side to having money because it creates happiness as well as showing the audience

that earning more money will allow you to buy things you want without setting you back.

Towards the end of the series, Walt bought the carwash that he used to work at after he taught at

his school. He was able to pay for this large business in cash over a span of a few days. This

showed that having a lot of money would allow you to buy whatever, even if it is really
expensive. Ultimately, Walt is able to earn enough money to let his family live comfortably after

he dies. Most people would want to leave their family members a substantial amount of money

after their death, so Breaking Bad doesn’t do a good job at conveying the message that having

too much money can be your downfall.

While Breaking Bad shows the advantages of having money, it ultimately succeeds in

portraying the main message of money being our downfall. From the very beginning, Walter is

obsessed with making what he feels will be enough money. There are several scenes where

Walter puts money above anyone else. For example, when he gets a text from his wife saying

that she’s having their child, Walter decided to follow through with a drug deal instead of going

to watch the birth of his child (St. John). According to Bakken, the happiness we receive when

buying goods always wears off. This occurs in Breaking Bad when Walter buys his family new

items. While they are happy at first, his family grows to resent him specifically because of the

way he makes his money.

Materialism corresponds with low self-esteem, greater narcissistic behavior, less

empathy, and conflicts within relationships. If we become more materialistic, we are more likely

to inherit these negative qualities (Bakker). As the show progresses with each season, we see

Walter become less empathetic and more narcissistic due to the amount of money he is making.

In season three, Walter has a new cooking partner named Gale. Walter finds out that Gus is

going to kill Walter once Gale masters his technique, so Walter tells Jesse to kill Gale or else he

will die. Walter doesn’t want to die yet because he hasn’t reached his money goal, so he forces

Jesse to kill an innocent man for his own benefit. Jesse is upset afterwards, and he is put in

danger for assonating one of Gus’ men. Even though Jesse killed someone for Walt, he still isn’t

very understanding or empathetic when it comes to Jesse’s emotions about killing Gus. As the
show progresses, Walter gains more power as Heisenberg. Many people know who he is, and

they often fear him. This fuels Walter’s ego and causes him to become more narcissistic as well

as less empathetic, which adds to his unfavorable characteristics.

Breaking Bad aired during the 2008 financial crisis in America. It was often very

relatable for the viewers because they were struggling with money like the main characters were.

Even though the show effectively gets the message – money being our downfall – across to its

viewers, the creators were not responsible for educating the audience. Breaking Bad is a crime

thriller that is meant to entertain the audience, not to inform. The show did convey essential life

lessons, but ultimately, it is the audience’s responsibility to educate themselves on issues

occurring in their lives.

Walter began the series as a nice, family-oriented man who had not committed any illegal

crimes. Once he was diagnosed with cancer, he tried to make enough money to cover his

treatment bills and succeeded. As time went on, however, Walter became money crazed even

though he had more than enough to leave his family. Walt would have done anything for his

family, which is why he is set on making so much money, but he ultimately ends up losing them

in the process because of the negative effects money had on his life. This effectively shows the

audience that money is not the most important thing in life and that it can lead to our demise. It

leaves a powerful message for the audience during this time period because many of the viewers

were witnessing or experiencing financial hardships.

 Work Cited

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Wellbeing, University of Minnesota , 2016,
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money/how-does-money-impact-wellbeing.
Bentley, Katherine. The 2008 Financial Crisis: How Deregulation Led to the Crisis. 20 Apr.
2015,
publications.lakeforest.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article.
dave123123. “Understanding Breaking Bad.” dave123123, 8 Jan. 2012,
dave123123.wordpress.com/2012/01/09/understanding-breaking-bad/.
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Huffington Post, TheHuffingtonPost.com, 30 Sept. 2013,
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