Wednesday, October 2, 2013

Breaking bad

No one ever accused me of being on the cutting edge of cultural trends. That's why after hearing so much about the tv show Breaking Bad for five years, I finally decided to check it out. Right about the time season 5 ended the show for good I began it. I have watched two episodes. I can see how people got hooked on it. It's well done. It's about as good a portrait of the absurdity of sin (it makes no sense) as could be. Walter White is a hardworking high school chemistry teacher who works another job to provide for his family. He is a decent person. Who is also struggling with his job, his marriage and his health - as he discovers his hacking cough is actually lung cancer and he has only a short time to live. In a conversation with his brother in law who works for the DEA he hears an amazing thing. There is a ton of money to be made dealing drugs, especially crystal meth. So he figures with his knowledge of chemistry and a former student, now drug dealer loser, as a team, they could make lots of money. He will die soon anyway and his family will be set for life. A simple plan. But right from the beginning we see it is anything but simple. His venture goes from bad to worse and he is in a mess. The thing is it didn't have to happen that way. He had choices which involved humility, honesty, confession, community, etc, but he chose the other way, the wrong way. And everything unravels. I guess it must unravel for 5 more years before the show ends. Mercifully, it only lasted for 5 years, it often lasts much longer before we realize there is only one way: humility, confession, forgiveness, and community. That's the only way that makes sense of life.