Abstract
This article argues that watching Breaking Bad (2008–13) could
encourage people affected by cancer to recognise and reconsider damaging
reactions to their condition. If viewers are invited to see the series’
antihero, Walter White, as an iconic ‘silhouette’ of a better path not
taken, this can provoke them to entertain more honest, constructive
attitudes to cancer and death. Using the theological concept of a
‘silhouette of goodness’ and Jung’s theory of the ego-life and true
Self, this article suggests that symbolic moments in Walt’s descent into
chaotic criminality could help caregivers to meet the ‘need for
symbols’ in cancer care.
Original language | English |
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Pages (from-to) | 223-238 |
Number of pages | 16 |
Journal | Critical Studies in Television |
Volume | 15 |
Issue number | 3 |
DOIs | |
Publication status | Published - 30 Sept 2020 |
Keywords
- Breaking Bad
- Spiritual care
- Cancer care
- Television aesthetics
- Iconography
- Jung