“Breaking
Bad” is a show full of violence, death, drugs, and life changing experiences
that the main characters encounter. Walter White, a chemistry teacher who has
been diagnosed with terminal cancer, befriends drug addict Jessie Pinkman in
this critically acclaimed television program. Walter White now dying of cancer decides
to ultimately brew up drugs and sell them with Jessie Pinkman in order to financially
help out his family after he dies. Although the show is praised, violence that
is considered torturous is glorified for the purpose of amusement. In the pilot
episode of the show, Jessie Pinkman runs away from fearsome drug dealers Emilio
and Krazy 8 and happens to trip and fall onto a rock in the New Mexico desert.
The collision with the rock caused Jessie to pass out, giving advantage to the
drug dealers after him. Although Jessie is knocked out cold, they can not
resist to kick him with immense power on the side of his body. Apart from this
scene, there are several instances where Jessie is brutally kicked, punched, or
stomped on. The merciless people responsible for this behavior inflict this
damage on Jessie to prove a point or get what they want, which in this case is
drugs or drug money. Given that the show is fictional along with the
characters, torturous acts are still displayed to demonstrate the circumstances
in a world of drugs and entertain fans of the program.
“American Horror Story”, I have to admit is my all-time favorite show. Although I consider it to be amazing and entertaining, it has an abundance of scenes where pain is inflicted on characters. “American Horror Story” is a dark and twisted supernatural drama that explores humankind’s unsetting capacity for evil. The word "Horror" in the title says it all. A particular season where torture is abundant is in season three which tells the story of modern day witches in the city of New Orleans. In the season, the young witches come across a racist immortal lady that was buried underneath the ground for over a century. The reason she was buried was due to her dark and cruel behavior with African American slaves. The witches’ leader, Fiona Good, employs the lady as a maid to maintain their home/school as a second chance for her to redeem herself. The show flashes back to the maid’s early life in the nineteenth century, where she owned several slaves and treated them terribly. The maid had a chamber of horrors in which she kept most of her “bad” slaves there. Occasionally, she would cut their fingers or certain body parts, break their bones, and slice open their bodies in order to acquire organs and blood for her “special” facials.
In summation, both television shows are hits and are appraised in society, however, they glorify the wicked behaviors of humanity. By showing scenes of torture or the infliction of pain on another human being, it creates this normalization for the behavior and allowing for it to be done. Fans may see it as entertainment, but the reality is they are favoring torture thus adding onto its popularization in today’s media.
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