David Pierson - Breaking Bad

R. W. Connell (2005) defines masculinity as “simultaneously a place in gender relations, the practices through which men and women engage that place in gender, and the effects of these practices in bodily experience, personality, and culture” (71). He then theorizes that in effect masculinity is best recognized as a form of hegemony. Drawing upon Antonio Gramsci’s analysis of class relation, Connell employs the term “hegemony” to argue that “hegemonic masculinity” is best understood as the “configuration of gender practice which embodies the currently accepted answer to the problem of the legitimacy of patriarchy, which guarantees the dominant position of men and the subordination of women” (77). I use both Connell’s definition of masculinity and his model of hegemonic masculinity to analyze the series and its complicated representation of American masculinity in the figure of Walter White who presents a model of masculinity defined by a need for freedom and control to reclaim masculine authority. It is this freedom from normal obligations and strictures that allows Walter to reclaim his masculinity.

Walter is at first shown to be ineffectual and weak, but as the series continues he shifts to a man who embraces the more traditional models of American masculinity that celebrated aggressive and ruthless behavior, especially in the business realm. And as Walter becomes more adept at managing the drug business in the series he asserts a type of hegemonic masculinity previously unavailable to him both in his business dealings and in his relationships with his wife and son. This reclamation of traditional masculinity, albeit by untraditional methods, reflects the inner desires of some men to reify what they perceive as having been lost.

The pilot episode establishes the major themes and problems that Walter faces as he struggles with feeling that neither his family nor his students respect him and that as a man he is inadequate as a provider for his family. His lack of income is depicted to be the result of his desire to play by the rules and be a law-abiding citizen, good husband, and father, roles, which in some ways allow him to be emasculated because people see Walt as a mild-mannered man and a loser. In truth, Walter is a genius; his boisterous, aggressive, masculine brother-in-law Hank who is a DEA agent, jokes about the large size of Walter’s brain when he toasts him at his fiftieth birthday party. The idea of a man being associated with the “heart” and emotions is celebrated and ridiculed by Hank in the scene when Hank shows off his service weapon to the other men attending the party, including Walt’s disabled son, Walter Jr. It is made clear that Walt Jr. idolizes his uncle and the excitement of his job. Still, Hank attempts to make Walt feel included by letting Walt handle his weapon. Walt, beer in hand, does not relish the opportunity the same way as his son and commenting on the weight of the gun to which Hank scoffs that’s why they hire him thus indicating that only real men, like Hank, carry guns.

The gun in films and television often signifies masculinity and male potency. The gun can be read as a form of cliché for the male penis or it can be read as both a fetish and an object. Roderick McGillis (2009) states that the gun as “a symbol serves as a claming reassurance of the absent penis” and that as an object the gun “exists as something we imagine will satisfy us” (73). The gun validates Hank’s masculinity and challenges Walt’s because a man like Walt is not comfortable wielding a gun and feels the weight of the gun, and the responsibility of the weapon. For men like Hank the gun is an extension of their masculinity and their authority. Walt shows the first signs of dissatisfaction with his status as a man when his brother-in-law, son, and the other men laugh at him. In that moment he comes to realize that his family sees him as effeminate because he does not measure up to a man like Hank.

Hank’s bluster and masculine bravado that overshadows Walt’s birthday celebration is an example of the problems with hegemonic masculinity as it is most often based around the representation of men as boorish and violent. Hank not only shows off his weapon but also commandeers the party’s focus to the television because he wants everyone to see his appearance on the local news as he was interviewed during a meth bust. Walt watches the footage as Hank sits in his chair and marvels at the piles of money that was seized. Hank tells everyone that it was a good day because they took in drugs, weapons, and nearly seven-hundred-thousand dollars in drug money off the streets. Hank jokes that drug-dealing is quick money, unless you get caught, not realizing that his brother-in-law is contemplating the possibility of making illegal drugs in order to protect and provide for his family.

The importance of being seen as a provider and protector is one of the key themes the series addresses as it presents an image of an America where it is no longer possible for most men to be the ‘bread winner’ without having more than one job. Despite the fact that Walt is a man with advanced degrees in science and a teacher, he is forced to work after school at a car wash to help keep the family afloat. Walt’s wife Skyler (Anna Gunn) who is eight months pregnant reminds him to not let the owner screw him on his work hours again. Her statement shows her concern for the family but also indicates that in effect Skyler is the person who is in charge in the home, which is a situation that as the series moves forward it seeks to destabilize in an attempt to make Walt feel masculine and in control.

Kimmel’s (1996) study of the history of manhood in America shows how American men have since the nation’s founding been insecure and sought to use their political, social, and economic status within the home and in the world to ensure that they were in control of all aspects of their lives. In Walter’s case his love of chemistry and expertise as a scientist mark him as different from men like Hank. However, when Walt tells his high school students that chemistry is ultimately the study of change, what he is really talking about is himself. He begins to realize that he is so dissatisfied with his situation in life because he is not in charge of his classroom, his income, his life, or his sexuality.

As Walter and Skyler get ready for bed on the night of his birthday celebration Skyler offers him another present. As they sit together in bed she begins to stroke Walt’s penis while she monitors the status of an item she placed for sale on Ebay on her laptop. Walt is startled at first by her willingness to pleasure him and asks what she is doing. Walt then tries to take charge of the situation and begins kissing his wife and trying to seduce her, but she rebuffs him telling him that her sexual actions are just for him so he should just relax and enjoy it. Skyler, however, becomes less interested in Walt achieving sexual satisfaction when she notices that her item on Ebay is reaching its target price and deadline. As she continues to rub Walt’s penis, Skyler notices that he is not becoming aroused. She asks the question, “Is he asleep?” In this scene Walt becomes a passive figure who cannot even control his own orgasm, nor seduce his wife, who shows more interest in her Ebay bidding than she does her husband.

The importance of Walt’s sexuality and its link to his own understanding of his masculinity is addressed in the last scene of the pilot when Walt climbs into bed, begins to passionately kiss his wife and then mounts her from behind, indicating that he is now the person in control in the bedroom. Where in the previous scene Skyler was in charge of the Walt’s sexual satisfaction, Walt shows that he is beginning to transform into a more dominant male figure. This change shocks and thrills Skyler as she inquiries if her partner is Walt.