last night Better Call Saul, is one of the highlights of this “Golden Age of Television”.this prequel breaking bad I’m not a TV critic, so I won’t talk about all of it, but it’s like an opera brought to life by creator Vince Gilligan. I think it’s worth thinking about what a gritty world has to say, especially about American education. .
breaking bad It was the story of a high school chemistry teacher who becomes a killer drug kingpin. As Gilligan famously explained, the concept was to transform Mr. Chips into Scarface.When Better Call Saulunder the direction of Gilligan and co-creator Peter Gould, breaking bad From a mild-mannered crook, you have evolved into an immoral three-ball lawyer.
The truth is that the show is rich in mentoring, almost all of which is rooted in hard-earned wisdom. … [+]
In the process, Gilligan and Gould shed a harsh light on today’s education through indelible characters and intricate plots. These are dark, dense, darkly funny shows about drugs, cartels, and suspect lawyers. Where’s the education?
First of all, it’s interesting how deeply the formal education is intertwined with the story.
Main character Walter White breaking bad, A frustrated and dissatisfied cancer-stricken chemistry teacher. In doing so, I discovered a sense of self that I could not find in the classroom.
White’s partner, Jesse Pinkman, was a terrible high school student who skipped college, became a petty drug dealer, and developed a sense of responsibility and self over the course of his toxic partnership with White.
Then there is the tragic figure of Gail Boetticher, who, like White, uses his chemistry mastery to produce high-quality crystal meth. , dropped out of his National Science Foundation-funded Ph.D.
of Better Call SaulJimmy McGill (who would become his eponymous Saul Goodman) changed his life with a degree in communications law from the University of American Samoa. McGill uses his degree to dabble in increasingly creative and lucrative crimes without being overly burdened with legal and ethical obligations.
Throughout both shows, schools and colleges are places that seem devoid of meaning or moral education. It doesn’t carry any importance. Schools provide qualifications and skills acquisition. Perhaps she doesn’t get the sense that in her 120-hour long story, any character has ever felt educationally enriching or formative.
In fact, for over ten years, breaking bad When Better Call Saul, the only moment I can recall teaching being portrayed as challenging was when Jesse Pinkman said he made a beautiful lacquered box in his high school woodworking shop. Lazy in his attempt to do so, Jesse painstakingly constructed a shiny, intricate box when his teacher, Mr. Pike, asked him what was the best he could do. Jesse trades it for an ounce of weed.
The contrast between these harrowing educational experiences and how the show portrays real learning is striking, especially given how gracefully it captures the teachings that unfold in the midst of crime. The truth is, the show is rich in mentoring, almost all of which is rooted in the hard-earned wisdom and discipline of the criminal enterprise.
Over the course of both shows, Mike Ehrmantraut, a former cop-turned-private investigator (and occasional hitman), has a series about what it means to live by an ethical code despite living a life of questionable morals. will give a rough lecture.As he told the ambitious con man early on Better Call Saul“The lesson is, if you’re going to be a criminal, do your homework…I know good criminals and bad cops, bad clerics, and honorable thieves. You can stand by, but if you do business with someone, you keep your promises…you are now a criminal, good or bad, it’s up to you.
of breaking bad, White’s negative relationship with former burnout student Jesse turns into an invested, almost paternalistic one when they become partners in crime. Watching Jessie become an attentive, proud meth “chef” or watching White carefully explain the importance of equipment is a reminder of what learning can and should be. But that was clearly not the case when Jesse was a student at White.
Better Call Saul When breaking badlikewise interspersed with scenes in which repressed drug lord Gus Fring preaches the importance of discipline and self-control, but the qualified protagonists of Gilligan’s world, a teacher and a lawyer, are swayed by anxiety and appetite. I’m going back.
A complete disconnect between schooling and education, and between education and morality, at least for those accustomed to pondering such things pops up. Indeed, the lack of formal faith and its accoutrements from the show is probably no coincidence.
This is a world where central figures always streamline shortcuts. Education is only part of it. Jimmy McGill tells a shocked applicant for a scholarship in honor of his dead brother: let me say something You weren’t going to get it. They hang these things in front of you and say you have a chance, but that’s a lie.
Jimmy’s advice? “Look, I read your essay. You can do it the way it’s supposed to and work 50 times harder than other people. It makes no difference. They’ll smile at you, they’ll put your head in your head.” — but they’re never going to let you in. But… you’re not going to play by their rules.
Gilligan and Gould’s world of meta-dealers, cartels, and shady lawyers offers an uncompromising look at the mistrust that so many Americans hold toward schools and colleges today. I’m sure Gilligan and Gould would laugh it off if someone suggested they were going to say this.
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