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inkybinkyboink · 1 year

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a casual essay on breaking bad as a piece of queer media

word count: 2280

spoiler warning for breaking bad, better call saul and el camino!

essay is under the cut!

its safe to say that the breaking bad cinematic universe is one of the most successful pieces of storytelling in film we have ever come across. all three parts of the story, breaking bad, better call saul and el camino are well known to have all gotten very successful ratings and have been well received by the majority of its viewers. something incredibly fascinating about all three of these pieces of media is the theme of love, and how love doesn't take a place as a B plot, but is rather tightly woven in to the main idea. on top of that, it's execution on screen diverts from the typical imagery we frequently see in film and tv. love and affection is tailored to the characters themselves, and sex is not included unless it's absolutely necessary, or if it furthers the plot. none of the love and affection is gratuitous which makes it all the more meaningful when it does happen, because you know theres an inherent intention behind it.

more specifically, the writing team of the breaking bad cinematic universe don't approach their story with a heteronormative perspective, and not limiting their ideas on gender expression when it comes to the characters. by observing specific instances of this occurring (in no particular order), a greater understanding of not only the characters, but their relationships with others can be obtained.

something that can easily be observed occurring in all breaking bad, better call saul and el camino is the sheer amount of homoeroticism the respective stories contain. homoeroticism is portrayed differently depending on who's doing the writing and filming. for example, kathryn bigelow is well known for her portrayal of homoeroticism typically shot in tandem with violence, with men fighting each other, but very intimately. vince gilligan and co take a different approach, including homoerotic, or same sex affection that is really quite gentle in many occasions. el camino is a good guide for this. over and over we get instances of men being gentle and close with one another, adjusting the action to fit the tone, regardless of if it deviates from the gender stereotype. jesse leaning his nose against the back of casey's head, panicked, allows the viewer to gather just how desperate jesse is, opposed to something heteronormative and stereotypical, like jesse fighting his way out of the situation. and it's not just that instance we see that intimacy between men. other notable scenes include todd lifting jesse's chin up, or neil staring casey down mere inches from his face. in the case of el camino, gentle and quiet intimacy is used as a vessel for control, contrasted to the modern mainstream stereotype that men have to be strong, loud and rather angry all of the time. badger and skinny pete provide a good example as well. they live together in a house and they just vibe. there's a trampoline outside in their yard, and they're clearly happy being around each other all the time. the idea that "boys don't cry" is almost non-existent in the breaking bad universe.

if we look at better call saul, we see this idea of homoeroticism being perpetuated. we see it a little bit, albeit in a slightly different light with amber, nikki and jo. what's interesting about the three girls is that it's never verbally confirmed the state of their relationship both with each other and with nacho. for all we know, they could just be friends, and it's the open endedness of their relationship that reinforces the representation of gender stereotypes and homoeroticism in the story. by that logic, you could assume badger and skinny pete were together too, because there's no qualifiers that inherently say for certain that they are or aren't together romantically. even in the light that the girls and nacho are dating, the point still stands, because it makes it representation for polyamory. the beautiful thing about nacho and his two to three weed smoking girlfriends is the gentility that accompanies them. falling back onto the point of sex not being a gratuitous device, we never see nacho or the girls doing anything remotely sexual. they are simply together in the most literal sense possible.

perhaps the most biting example of homoeroticism being prevalent though, has to do with lalo salamanca and howard hamlin. these two characters, who meet exactly once, and who have little to nothing in common, upon being murdered are lowered into a pit where they will spend eternity together. the thing is, the characters who cleaned up after the murders arguably didnt have to do this. they didn't have to bury lalo and howard together, but they did. the concept is almost laughable because of how absurd it is in nature, but i think that's what makes it so good. not only are they buried together, but their positions mimic real photos of male skeletons being found together holding one another, leading the public to theorize that they may have been gay lovers. it's both beautiful and sad, but also funny because conceivably, the skeletons of howard hamlin and lalo salamanca could be found and assumed to be gay lovers. if that doesn't scream "homoeroticism" i don't know what does.

sifting through all this gay talk, we actually find a real gay in the mix. owner of the cock brothers- i mean los pollos hermanos- gustavo fring. gustavo fring, in my opinion, is one of the best examples of queer rep that exists. though him being gay wasnt something that came out until after the show, gus being gay wasn't an afterthought. it wasn't something tacked on like j. k. r/wl/ng saying dumbledore was gay. you can tell this was a character written to be queer, the subtext is absolutely there, and it's covertness is what makes it all the more beautiful, and makes gus such a strong character. what's fascinating about gus is that his relationship with max is one of the few established and prioritized relationships in breaking bad and better call saul. gus is strongly motivated by max's death, or for the sake of keeping all our ducks in a row, motivated by his lover. the only other people to do this are jimmy and kim, and walter and skyler.

this is where the idea of the theme of love not taking a backseat really gets kicked into high gear. because the theme of love is so closely woven in with the main plot, the actions a character makes are going to, at least in part, be made because of their loved ones. if we look at gus, this is arguably all we see. he's a man born into poverty, who built himself up from nothing, only to continue to be held back by societies views on something you literally have no way of controlling. it's the one thing you cant "fix" or "work around". especially in the 80′s. despite that hindrance, he still finds someone who loves him unconditionally, who he clicks with, he can work with no matter what, and then that's ripped away from him. it's ripped away from him in the most traumatic way possible. the thing is, gus cant tell anyone about it. he can't even say "i lost my partner" and disguise it as something its not because that would mean outing himself as a gay man in the 80′s.

this is only reinforced in better call saul near the end of season 6, when we see gus go to a restaurant to drink some wine. he runs into an old friend called dave and dave decided to sit down and chat for a little bit. and the thing is, gus is this kind of quiet, very professional, almost superficial guy, but when talking to dave, he's interested and smiling, and it could be inferred he likes this guy a lot, maybe he's even flirting a little bit. it's so different from the gus we're familiar with. and yet, when dave leaves for a moment, we get this incredible close up of gus and i swear to god you can see the cogs moving in his mind. you can see him thinking about what it would mean to pursue a relationship. like clockwork you see him want, realize, hurt, and decide. you see gus decide he doesn't want to keep talking to dave despite his clear interest. whether that's because he doesn't want dave to get caught in the crossfire, or something to do with max is something only the actor would know, but the actions and verbs giancarlo esposito plays come across loud and clear. along with the cinematography, it makes one of the most heartbreaking and well done scenes my amateur ass has seen in a while.

almost all of what we learn about gus' true feelings and past is learned through subtext, or nonverbal communication. not only does this highlight the writing quality of this show, but esposito's acting skill, and ability to shape and build a character. gus is outwardly a villain, but has motivations based in good, something that's universal among many breaking bad characters. all of them do shitty things, but with good intentions, because they think what they're doing is justifiable. no character is purely good or purely bad, they're all just human.

gus' love for max is highlighted most in the fact that gus built a village for him. and not just a village, god no, that would be too easy, but a village dedicated to healing, peace and pure love. not only that but the entire scene between mike and gus has a big fucking highlighted flag on it that says "im literally telling you gus thinks he's in the right doing these things". gus thinks he's in the right to hurt the salamancas and take revenge because they killed max. and he explains this. next to a pond. dedicated to max.

the desire to get justice for a loved one is a pretty universally relatable concept. the want for someone you truly love to live a long, happy life is understandable, so when they don't get that in one way or another, it's upsetting. this idea is shared by gus and mike. gus who wants revenge for max, and mike who understands the will for revenge because of his son, matty. mike is never told explicitly that the village is for gus' dead boyfriend, but he doesn't need to be told. all he needs to be told is "you understand preserving the love you have for someone, and you understand the thirst for revenge".

the theme of love in the breaking bad universe is such a universally understood thing that it wouldn't make sense to confine it to one cookie cutter figure in the first place. it's a good show because none of the characters rely on explicit gender norms to back up their personalities. except for jesse, none of them are hesitant to do things that may make them appear as more or less masculine or feminine. and even though jesse starts off the show as that exception, by the end he comes out the most open-minded out of all of them.

this openminded-ness is stretched across most characters, from saul saying things like "bring your boyfriend or girlfriend to court with you", to lalo referring to max as gus' "boyfriend" even though hector had previously explicitly referred to max using derogatory slurs. breaking bad, better call saul, and el camino aren't love stories. theyre not of the romance genre, but the idea of love is painfully present in all three. love that is romantic, like in the case of max and gus, and jesse and jane is soft and precious. love that is anything but is still just as heart wrenching. jesse hugging walter after jane dies, nacho gently taking the remote from jo, jimmy taking care of chuck, lalo faking his death and only telling hector he's still alive, they're all the product of love, regardless of how fucked up it is conceptually.

the breaking bad cinematic universe has recently had a sort of comeback in the fandom. this could very well be because better call saul ended less than a year ago as of writing this, but i would argue it also has to do with all of the aforementioned points. re: the point about characters not needing to fall back on stereotypes- it's something that is frequently seen in specifically queer circles. a lot of folks who participate in what i guess could be considered fandom culture identify with the queer community as well, because of the large part of fandom culture that is open and accepting of the queer community. breaking bad fits right in by design because of its lack of gender stereotypes.

breaking bad and it's companion are incredible pieces of storytelling, and that doesn't need to be said. obviously, theres more than one answer as to why they are actually so well done and successful. the plot extends far, far beyond just the theme of love, and there's so much more to the story than love. however, you can't look at those other themes and messages without considering the influence of the themes of love, care and affection. part of the reason breaking bad is so good, is because the fundamental concepts are conceptual and relatable. it's people doing what they think is right in order to provide or give to those they care about. as long as you can get one foot in the door, you can weasel your way into understanding everything else. i think that starts with the theme of love. because what is not more relatable than giving to those you truly care about?

#k i wrote this and then clicked published so #not beta read #sources? my brain #all opinions are my own #breaking bad #better call saul #el camino #analysis #tig screams into the void #pls read i swear its interesting oh god please dont tell me im the only one who thinks this is interesting

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